Romanian Ambassador Marius Lazurca, Executive Director of the Social Investment Fund of Moldova (MSIF) Mircea Eşanu participated intoday's inauguration of the "Mărţişor" kindergarten in the Abaclia village, raion Basarabeasca, renovated with the Grant provided by the Romanian Government, through MSIF.

On this occasion, but also because it's the first day of spring, a workshop was organized in kindergarten, at which children have painted polymer clay brooches and made martisors for their mothers. Mircea Eşanu and Marius Lazurca were also involved in this activity - they helped children to make martisors. Divided into two teams, children were painting and reciting poems.

Marius Lazurca, the Ambassador of Romania to the Republic of Moldova in the opening speech said: "Romania has devoted so far 23 million euros for the reconstruction of more than 800 kindergartens in the Republic of Moldova. Fortunately, we were able to renovate some of them, as in Abaclia, almost entirely. In each of the places we went, this money were spent in a proper way and for the common good and had a good, happy impact on the life of the whole community."

"We want better conditions for children, and we are glad that due to the grant, provided by the Romanian Government, MSIF has managed to do this in Abaclia. With a relatively small amount allocated to this village, we managed to improve significantly conditions for children and for kindergarten employees too. At the end of the cold season we found that it was warmer by 3 degrees in the kindergarten for the same maintenance costs, due to renovation and thermal insulation of the building," said Mircea Eşanu, the Executive Manager of the Moldova Social Investment Fund.

600,000 lei from the Grant offered by the Government of Romania were allocated to kindergarten in Abaclia and the Primaria contributed another 270 thousand lei. These money were spent for insulation of the exterior walls of the building, the facade renovation and the courtyard paving of the kindergarten in Abaclia. New doors were installed and the floor from the ground floor was renovated in the interior of the building. Also, the kitchen of the kindergarten has been completely renovated and a part of the sewer system. 

Abaclia Mayor of the village, Victor Niculiţă, thanked the Ambassador for the support provided by the Government of Romania and the Moldova Social Investment Fund to support during the project implementation. "Thanks to this investment, we managed to bring smiles to faces of our children. We are glad that we benefited from this support and created a nice, well-appointed kindergarten, where we can educate this young generation.

Previously, also with the support of MSIF, other reconstructions were made in kindergarten and following which the number of rooms expanded. At the same time, a part of the kitchen and the laundry have been repaired and a part of the doors and windows have been replaced. 170 children are enrolled at the "Mărţişor" kindergarten, and the institution provides jobs to 40 villagers of the Abaclia.

Background information:

Government of Romania has allocated 20 million euros through the "Program of technical and financial assistance provided by the Romanian Government for preschool institutions in the Republic of Moldova" and 3 million euros through the "Enhancing access and the degree of children's participation in early childhood education in Moldova " project for the renovation and equipping of kindergartens in the Republic of Moldova.

Over 800 preschool institutions in the Republic of Moldova have been renovated with use of funds from the grant offered by Romania. Beneficiaries of the program are more than 200 thousand people - children, parents and teachers.

The financial resources provided by the Government of Romania are used for the following purposes: capital improvements of buildings, replacement of roof, heating systems, electrical networks, development of playlots, windows and doors replacement, insulation of exterior walls, construction of water supply sewer systems for kindergartens, sanitary blocks arrangement, providing equipment, furniture etc.

MSIF is an institution created by the World Bank and donor countries in order to help develop the Republic of Moldova by managing the external assistance.