Moldova has a strange and convoluted history, which has given rise to some curious social and geographical developments. Gagauzia is an autonomous region in the south of the country, home to the Gagauz people, a Turkish-speaking ethnic group. It has a unique cultural identity, and there is tension between its leadership in the regional capital, Comrat, and the Moldovan government in Chisinau.
The people in Gagauzia face significant economic challenges. A high number of parents leave the region in search of work abroad, leaving their children in the care of grandparents or other relatives. This has led to an urgent need for structured support systems to provide not only academic education but also emotional and social stability for these children. Thankfully, more and more day centres are opening in Gagauzia, offering children a safe space to do their homework, access further support, and receive a warm meal. But there has been a problem of a lack of suitable material for those running these centres.
A holistic approach, encompassing physical, emotional, spiritual, social, and intellectual development, is essential for the children in these centres, as they often serve as the primary environment where they might receive guidance, learn about the world around them, and their inner selves. The lack of holistic material has meant that children have not been receiving all that they need. A six-book educational programme, Progressio, developed by our partners in Moldova, Beginning of Life (BoL), has been designed with this in mind.
Early this year, a BoL team successfully introduced the Progressio materials at a seminar attended by representatives from eight organisations running day centres in Gagauzia. A workshop was also conducted on inclusive education, highlighting ways to integrate children with special needs into the Progressio learning process.
Although some educators were initially resistant to the material’s approach, Progressio courses have now become an integral part of their programmes. One teacher shared a particularly touching testimony: “After our Progressio lessons, I often leave the classroom with tears in my eyes. This is when the children truly open up, sharing their thoughts and struggles. Every lesson is a learning experience for me as well.”
Through these lessons, children find a safe space to express their pain, thoughts, and emotions. They learn to accept themselves and others, to analyse, be creative, and love. In an engaging manner, they explore topics such as animals, different cultures, books, emotions, their health, friendship and God’s love for them and for every person on earth. And these children will need all the help they can get in a land weighed down by its history, current political and economic instability, and the friction created by the larger countries around it.
The BoL team have also been promoting this material more widely: Progressio manuals have been taken up by nearly sixty centres in twelve other countries including Poland, Uganda, India, South Korea and Uzbekistan! The eagerness with which Progressio is now being received is a great encouragement for the small team from the strange and curious country with big problems.
