A letter from Uncle Billy During His Visit In Moldovia, July 2006





Hello to all NYC Rotarians, and friends as well as my Public relations director for Blogspot sir James. I am at complete loss I sent an email yesterday from this Headquarters of Movitative Moldova Assn, and when I check my email box, I found there was no copy of my message sent, now I don’t know if it went through or not, so I will start all over again. Yesterday I left Georgia as I completed my assignment at the ACTS Diabetic camp in Bakuriani and returned to Tbilisi to prepare to leave on the Georgia air flight to Kiev, Ukraine, and then on the sleeper train to Chisinau, Moldova. I was met at the train station by the President of Chisinau Rotary and the Director of Moldavia Camp. It was a sad good bye for the Diabetic camp as the boys and girls hugged me and kissed me good bye as the Uncle Billy Mask Parade which I sponsored along with Barbara Lang our new Rotarian who supported this event of which I honored her at the event as I gave out Award Prizes for the top Masks, first, second and third winners in the children’s divisions and three awards in the teen division as our Rotary contribution, will tell you all about the event when I return in late August. This is a completely new experience as I am staying in a house that was designed for disabled people who practically live in wheel chairs and are taught that they have reason to enjoy life as we see it, the kitchen is designed so they can cook and make food, the exercise and game room is designed for indoor activities, arts and crafts, disco music and wheel chair dancing from the hip up, shake shoulders turn the head about wave the hands and roll the eyes, as they are doing that I am dancing in front of them and they really cool and shout right on Uncle Billy, as most all know English and others understand it, the house is designed in ramps and levels so there is no problem getting about, ages are from 20 on up and all are happy and go lucky, some became conpasiated through accidents, bad surgery and by birth, but all seem to have adjusted to their life style through teachers, parents and volunteers. They look forward every year to vacation in Chisinau, as they come from all over the parts of Moldova, and in groups of five to ten for one week and then comes a new group throughout the summer months. The Rotary Club Government and UNISEF support the project along with Private Funding, this is my first for this type of program in all my years and I must say it is an education in its self. The guest are smart, well read and seem to have adjusted to their way of life, a program long to be remembered, next week comes a new group so I will be waiting to meet new friends, I am working with local volunteers and a volunteer from London, Tom Reder a young college student. I invited our American Ambassador to join me to the Rotary Dinner next week along with the Salvation Army and the Executive from this Organization Motivate Moldova SSN (Association). Bye for now I am off to a rock concert and then off to bed. Uncle Billy the Vagabond Rotarian
Note: This was my first experience with the Republic of Moldova Volunteer project Motivation Association (Independent Living Center and summer Camp for Children with Disabilities. This camp is a model of Foundation Motivation Romania, and I have heard of their great work, when I was working at Casa Sparanti Orphanage 2005 in the mountains of Transylvania.
When visiting the American Embassy, I had a chance to find our more details, as the Sweden Gov. supports this operation which supports children and young people from towns and villages surrounding Chisinau. The initiative focuses on rehabilitation and social adoption, and focuses on young people with mobility disability.