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Project Name: Water System Renovation
Gas User’s Association: "Flacara-Gaz" – Baraboi, Donduseni

Last year in the village of Baraboi, school was closed for two months after raw fertilizer and cow manure penetrated the depleted water system, causing an outbreak of hepatitis. With a strong will to solve the urgent lack of potable water in the upper part of their village, and based on the success of their previous gasification project, members of the local Gas User’s Association sprung into action, formulating a plan to renovate their water pumping and supply system. Citizens will be divided into five clusters of 40 people, each with a designated group leader and active members who can provide expertise in engineering, geology or fiscal issues, as well as unskilled labor for digging canals, installing polyethylene pipes, strengthening the foundation of the water tower, creating protection zones, and offering food or materials and transportation services. Citizens have agreed to contribute 70% of the total project cost, while also volunteering to cover cost shares for their disadvantaged or low-income neighbors. They have also committed to sustain the project through citizen-based oversight of the renovated water system, and to expand citizen participation through replication, adding new projects such as road repair and development of recreation facilities. As one citizen put it, “through these activities, the citizens of Baraboi aspire to improve the living conditions in their village, to be equivalent to conditions in larger towns, with running water, gas, telephone, local TV channels and other normal amenities”.

Project Name: Together, For a Better Life
NGO: "GIM-CHET-2" – Chetrosu, Drochia

Tired of freezing chills in winter and stuffy unventilated classrooms in summer, the 9th-graders of Gymnasium N-2 in Chetrosu spawned an initiative to improve their school. Especially in the music and physics classrooms, rotten window casings are no protection against cold winds, and are too fragile to allow windows to be opened for air. So the teenagers, supported by teachers and the school administration, banded together to convince their parents, mayor, other citizens in their village, and the IREX Selection Committee, that they jointly have the energy and skills to replace 109 windows and frames, and six paned-glass entryways with new wood and thermal glass. Ultimately, their enthusiasm was contagious, the project was approved, and the team is ready to begin. Older students will assist in taking out existing windows and sanding and refurbishing useable wood frames, while younger students will participate in cleaning and painting tasks. Students will also actively model leadership roles through their participation in project fundraising, monitoring, evaluation, financial management, and dissemination of information about project results.

Project Name: Building a Well for the Community
Initiative Group: “Victor Scripnic” – Drochia

Planting a tree, building a house, and digging a well are, in Moldovan tradition, three of the most important milestones of a lifetime. This initiative group, inhabitants from the newest residential area in Drochia, decided to have a three-in-one project around building a water-well for the community. After digging and preparing the well, citizens will construct a gazebo with benches, and then plant flowers and trees around it. “The well will not just be a place to come for water”, said one of the youngest members of the initiative group, “it will be a social place where young people can meet and chat and share ideas. It will serve as a youth center for this part of town”. Youth are actively participating in gazebo design and will be responsible for issuing informational flyers about the project, while their parents will obtain necessary approvals to dig the well, select the firm to perform the digging, build the gazebo, and install chairs for relaxation and comfort.

Project Name: Creation of a Youth Centre in Badiceni
NGO: “Viitorul” – Badiceni, Soroca

After being turned down on their initial project to create a Youth Center, the active citizens of Badiceni got more people involved and resubmitted a stronger project to engage residents in offering services and cultural activities for 794 youths, including disadvantaged Roma, children with disabilities, and unemployed youth. In its improved form, the project to finish constructing a local Casa de Cultura (partly built earlier, but left incomplete due to lack of funds) was approved by IREX. Aside from citizen participation in the initial infrastructure works, various groups will also work in partnership to maintain and run the center. NGO “Viitorul” will collect and administer funds; partner NGO “Viza” will organize and plan cultural, social and artistic activities; the Local Youth Council has already conducted a public awareness campaign and an opinion poll to gauge needs and preferences of 67 youths; the local government will ensure maintenance of the building, including payment of utilities and ongoing repair and will institute an Artistic Administrator position paid from the local budget. Finally, under a grant from CONTACT, the Association of Parents and Teachers Association will promote Center activities in the school newspaper.

Project Name: Potable Water Supply for the Population of Cotova
NGO: “Alliance of Farmers from Drochia” – Cotova, Drochia

Nearly 90% of the wells in Cotova are polluted due to shallow ground water and a vast cemetery that covers two hectares of land. Half of the village lacks adequate access to water. In an earlier project, the Alliance of Farmers mobilized citizens to rehabilitate the village spring. This next step brings together the village school, local public administration and four business entities to tackle the problem of potable water and avoid a reoccurrence of Hepatitis A, which hit the school and several households last year. This current project will renovate and extend the system of water pipes and repair village artesian wells and adjacent water towers. Acknowledging the importance of citizen participation, over 2,000 beneficiaries from neighborhoods that lack water, including the kindergarten, school, medical office and four local businesses, have come together to ensure the success of the project and to emphasize the importance of hygiene by instituting health and hygiene education throughout the village.

Project Name: A Chance for the Blind
Grantee: NGO “Luminatorul” or IG “Teilic Nicolai” – Soroca

Moldova’s difficult transition to a market economy left several factories bankrupt or shut down, and a number of people lost their jobs. In Soroca, the visually impaired citizens of initiative group Teilic Nicolai got hit from both sides: when no one could afford to update equipment, the specialized factory where they worked ceased operations, and due to their physical disability they were unable to find equivalent work. “We are tired of extending our hands for money and help from merciful people; it is high time for us to solve our own problems,” said leader Nicolae Teilic. So, the initiative group united their efforts to form NGO “Luminatorul” (the one giving light), while also organizing meetings to identify possibilities for employment.

After conducting some market research, the group decided to purchase specially-adjusted equipment (for the visually impaired) in order to produce and sell vegetable and fruit crates needed by farmers in northern Moldova. A local factory has agreed to offer space to produce the crates and to sponsor social events like concerts and social gatherings for people who are sight impaired. Project roles have been divided between members of the initiative group and their families. Group members will plan production and make the crates, while family members will help identify clients, sign contracts, advertise and sell to farmers. Citizens will also help with needed factory repair and will plant trees to create a mini-park for the employees. The initiative group itself will monitor all grant funds and spending. Once production is underway, net income (after salaries and production costs) will be used to assist other visually impaired, providing groceries and sponsoring social events.

Project Name: Opening a Bakery and Shop
Grantee: IG “Vera Iachimova” – Visoca, Soroca

Distant from the highway and having a poor road into town, the citizens of Visoca are often short on fresh bread or special bakery products needed for traditional festivities during weddings, christenings and funerals. Meanwhile, many young village women are urged to leave their families in order to find work and earn money abroad. Thus, citizens from Visoca decided to open a local bakery and bread shop. At least eight young women will be trained by the Raion Labor Office in bread production and will then work at the bakery when it opens.

“The bread that gets to us is old and hard,” said the leader of the group, “and maybe now is the time when we can use our knowledge and minds to implement this project.” The initiative group has already raised 6,000 Moldovan Lei and will collect construction materials necessary to prepare a space offered free-of-charge adjacent to a mill owned by a local businesswoman. Citizens will evaluate bread products and make comments in a “suggestion box” installed at the bakery entrance. Schoolchildren will be in charge of disseminating information on a message board and via local newspaper and radio. Once opened, children will be encouraged to come to the bakery and see how bread is made, and some of them might even find jobs there as the bakery succeeds and expands.