TİKA Volunteers In Moldova

Volunteer students taking part in the "2019 Experience Sharing Program" organized for the third time by Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) carried out activities oriented towards Gagauz Turks residing in Comrat, the capital of Gagauzia in the Republic of Moldova.

Fifteen Turkish volunteer students who have been receiving training primarily on health came to Moldova as part of the Experience Sharing Program, visited the Turkish Embassy in the capital Chisinau, Turkish Airlines' Chisinau Office, and TİKA's Chisinau Program Coordination Office, and obtained information about the activities conducted in the country.

After official visits, volunteers who visited the city of Chisinau went to Comrat to implement projects for the Gagauz Turks living in Comrat, the capital of Gagauzia in the Republic of Moldova. The volunteers visited the Nasreddin Hodja Preschool, the construction of which was first commissioned by TİKA in 2017 and which was opened to service in 2018, gave gifts to the children, and played games with them. The preschool provides pre-school education to children between the ages of 3 and 7 in Gagauzia whose families work abroad for economic reasons and are separated from their children; moreover, it allows the children to experience the Turkish culture at a young age through the activities and educational programs it organizes. The volunteers then visited the 20-year-old Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Library, which was constructed by TİKA in 1998, and learned about the cultural activities oriented towards the Turkish language in the region by speaking with the library's director Vasilisa Tanasoğlu and the Gagauz journalist-author Todur Zanet.

Moreover, the volunteers donated the Turkish books they brought from Turkey to the library. The volunteers then visited the Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Nursing Home, which was renovated and equipped by TİKA in 2012, gave gifts to the residents of the nursing home, and assisted them during health screenings.

Throughout 4 days until August 25, thirteen volunteer students, with 8 studying medicine, 1 studying dentistry, 2 studying nursing, and 2 studying pharmacy, will provide healthcare services together with physicians at the Aziz Sancar Diagnostic and Treatment Center, which was constructed and opened by TİKA in 2018 on the campus of Comrat Regional Hospital.