Abingdonian 2020

50 The Abingdonian Moldova Project The last academic year has seen significant developments in Abingdon’s long-standing partnership with Agape, a charity working in Moldova, the poorest country in Europe. The Abingdon team that visited Moldova in July 2019 to run summer camps with Agape were very grateful for the support they received from a team of young Moldovan volunteers who organised the activities of the camp with them and acted as interpreters. At the start of the new academic year those volunteers put together a display about the work they did to present to their peers and teachers at Petre Stefanuca School in Ialoveni. Each of them felt that they benefited greatly from the camps themselves, not only developing their English public speaking and presentation skills, but also enjoying the opportunity to work as a team in collaboration with the Abingdon boys. They then wanted to make a difference in their local community and so worked with Agape and their teachers to organise a four week activity programme in December for Moldovan primary school students. As a thank you for their efforts, Agape presented them with a selection of books aimed at helping them further develop their skills. To quote one of these volunteers reflecting on what they feel they have gained from the experience: “This has been a great opportunity to discover something new about leadership and self-development and to learn new things about ourselves that we didn’t even know we were capable of. This project really changes people and their way of thinking and I am grateful for that.” Lower School undertook some fundraising for Agape in the Michaelmas Term through a charity pool doubles tournament and a collection after their carol service. Over £300 was raised. They also wrote Christmas cards which were delivered to children at several different schools in Moldova. The Moldovan students then sent cards back – which also gave them an excellent opportunity to practise their English! Some of the money Abingdon has donated this year enabled Agape to organise events in the villages of Bardar, Puhoi, Milestii Mici, Ulmu and Zîmbreni in the district of Ialoveni aimed at encouraging young people to read more. Many schools in Moldova, especially in villages, struggle to find the funding to provide reading resources for their students and so this offer of help was gratefully received. About 300 books were bought and donated and were soon being eagerly devoured by lots of children. The donation also created the opportunity to build a solid partnership with these schools and consequently Agape has offered consultancy and training opportunities for several groups of young people from each of them as well as from Ialoveni. Their aim is to create a real movement among these young people to get involved and make a difference in their community. Although the coronavirus pandemic meant that the annual trip to Moldova planned for July 2020 had to be cancelled, the group of sixth formers who had signed up to go on it still agreed to undertake a fundraising event in aid of Agape. The plan had been to use the school’s gym equipment to collectively travel 398km, the distance that the river Dniester flows through Moldova, but, due to the school closure, this plan was adapted and the boys used whatever equipment they