Family Moraru live in a village to the west of Chişinău. Mother, Valentina, works as a cleaner at a school in Chişinău and leaves home on the 5 o’clock train in the morning. This means she has to get out of bed at about 4 o’clock in the morning. She works all day and doesn’t arrive home until about 10.30 at night. This she does three days a week however, she has two children to look after and her husband has serious liver problems and is currently in hospital. They live in a house with no electricity however, the neighbours are very kind and there is a small cable that runs from the neighbours house to theirs. When I called to see them they had just killed a chicken but it was a chicken they had borrowed from a neighbour and it was being prepared for food for the husband who was in hospital.

The children work very hard at school and although they live in the most horrid conditions they are quite healthy. The children, Dumitru aged 13 and his sister Oxana who is only 8 years old.

Valentina works for long hours three days a week but her monthly income amounts to only about 462 Lei per month, (£23 per month). This is nothing like enough to provide for her two children and to enable her to visit and help her husband who is in hospital.

The children had no shoes for the winter and these alone cost about 700 Lei, over one months salary.

They are a really good family and do need support and about £25 - £35 would be superb if a sponsor can be found. A little more would obviously far better.

Life is really tough and they do so well to survive.

Another family, the Afanashi family. They live in another village not that far from Chisinau. Granny Vera suffers from epilepsy and mother, Violetta, is left with four children to look after. The father left just over 3½ years ago when the youngest child Artur was born.

The house in which they live is falling down and at the time of our visit was bitterly cold. The children Petronel, aged 14, his sister Snejana aged 12, Nicoletta aged 9 and 3 year old Artur are all good children and work to help their mother.

It is very difficult for Violetta looking after her family as Granny has fits several times a day and with the children to look after it is so difficult to obtain work. The only income she has is 200 Lei per month, less than £10. This is ridiculously low and if any of the children are ill they would have to call the ambulance and that alone costs 220 Lei, more than a months income. They are therefore effectively deprived of any medical help.

The Chiriac family live in a disused hospital in a village near the Dnestru river to the east of Chişinău. They haven’t had anything decent to eat for a very long time and only have a very smoky log stove upon which to cook any food they have. At the time of our visit they were eating flour which had been mixed with a paste with carrot, a few potatoes and onions. It is amazing how all the children look so fit and well living as they do.

Ilie Teterez was working in Russia and was a victim of an accident which resulted in his leg being amputated. He returned home to look after his three children, Andre aged 13, Sergiu aged 11 and Anna aged 9. They live in one tiny room in a house in Beltz. Ilie is trying to build a house for them to live in but as he has been unsuccessful in obtaining any proper work, it is very difficult for him. He has received some help from a Church in Romania but there is still a lot of work to do before they can move in.

As his accident occurred in Russia the Moldovan authorities are not willing to give him any sort of pension for his disability and as the Moldovan authorities are effectively ignoring the fact that he has no leg they say he can work so there is no child benefit for his children.

Being a one-legged builder it is virtually impossible for him to obtain proper work so he does odd jobs for people around Bălţi.

Their house, a tiny single room, is unbelievable. Four of them live in the tiniest space as one room is their bedroom, bathroom, sitting room, kitchen etc. When we were there they had a small stove burning to try and give some heat but this created a lot of smoke. This is a hard working family with very supportive children but unfortunately the mother disappeared some years ago and no one knows where she is. Ilie tries his best to provide for his children but it is a seemingly impossible task.

There are many families we know who are surviving in the most unbelievable conditions. With the failed harvest and prices increasing their future is grim but if we can find families or groups willing to support such families we can do so much.

We run a family support programme whereby we encourage an English family, (or group), to sponsor a specific family in Moldova.

This is of huge benefit and although doesn't make anyone wealthy, can provide the underlying finance for the very basic needs. If you have every been poor you will remember the fear of "tomorrow", the fear of the letter from the bank, the trepidation of the post landing on the mat with a dreaded letter. For those in Moldova it is not the post, (very few people ever receive a letter), it is the future. How can the children be fed? How can the medicines be bought? I work all day, every day; what more can I do?

Frequently families will write to each other and get to know each other which is wonderful and a source of great encouragement to the Moldovan family.

Sponsorship for a small family is from as little as £15 - £20 per month ranging to a large family at £40 to £50 per month. This is a wonderful way to make a real difference and change lives in a meaningful way. All you have to do is act today. Download the Standing Order form and send it to us. You CAN change lives.

If you would like to help, why not make your decision today and download the Standing Order Form and send it to us today, Christian Response, 3 Lumley Close, Kenton, Exeter. EX6 8HT. As a totally voluntary charity we have no paid members nor any rented offices, hence the domestic address.

Download Standing Order Form

If you are a taxpayer we should be able to reclaim the income tax if you complete and sent a Gift Aid Form.

Download Gift Aid Form.

These are just a few of the families who need sponsors:-