Marco Povero was born in Italy but he has been working in Moldova for the past three years. Marco is the project coordinator for Social Mission Diaconia, an organisation which is addressing the needs of the most vulnerable people in the country, mostly elderly, women and children. Diaconia is the social body of the Metropolis of Bessarabia which is the Romanian Orthodox Church in Moldova.
Poverty is widespread in the countryside but a sense of community is still strong and pervasive in the villages. Elderly people, often alone as a consequence of the migration of family members, receive the support of other villagers. On the contrary, in cities such as Chisinau, there is often no safety net for pensioners who sometimes have to survive on basic pensions (800-100 lei, 40-50 euro).
Marco has been observing how the international cooperation network works, which sometimes seems to be the true, effective welfare state of Moldova, and shares his ideas with us.
