wants to build a sports field in a tiny village in Moldova Winfrey will be done with her two-year stint in the Peace Corps in July but she hopes to leave a lasting legacy in the beautiful agrarian country where she has been working as a health educator since 2010 and the local community has pledged about $4,000 “That’s an insane amount of money here,” said Winfrey via an Internet phone connection “It’s definitely something the community is really behind and excited about.” A typical family in Scorteni — pronounced “scort-sen” — makes about $80 to $140 a month so coming up with $4,000 to spend on a sports field is pretty impressive “It would be impossible for them to do this on their own,” she said Winfrey’s plan includes construction of a basketball court — the current court is in such disrepair that it’s dangerous She also hopes to reinforce the soccer goal posts and install playground equipment and benches The whole complex would be fenced to keep out livestock and stop cars from driving through Simple things are much more difficult in Moldova an Eastern European country that became independent in 1991 as part of the dissolution of the Soviet Union While the economy has started to improve lately a large percentage of the population has to leave the country to find work “It’s definitely a country that’s on the rise,” said Winfrey has been working to institute programs to improve health practices in the village of 2,400 residents She has addressed issues relating to nutrition and exercise and led the way in an effort to get sinks in the school and medical center so people can wash their hands more often “We put seven sinks in the school and one in the medical center,” Winfrey said The majority of people don’t have running water The school here is served by outdoor squat toilets.” show an impressive looking school building that looks relatively modern It was a bit surprising to hear that it lacked plumbing “Moldova is a developing country — it’s not like living in the bush but it’s also not like living in a developed country,” Winfrey said Now it’s kind of hard because they don’t really have the funding to maintain it but it doesn’t heat enough that you can take your coat off.” While many people live without plumbing in their homes a few residents are well off enough to have installed wells and septic systems Winfrey has found much to love in the country She has learned to speak enough Romanian to communicate with residents carrots and onions wrapped in grape leaves and covered in a tomato and chicken broth Winfrey worked at OSF Saint Francis Medical Center on the general medical floor for two years after graduating from Goshen College in Indiana with a bachelor’s degree in science and nursing Having grown up in a religious family with a deep commitment to community service the idea of going into the Peace Corps was always in the back of Winfrey’s mind “My parents were missionaries in South Africa,” she said Winfrey’s parents both work at South Side Mission in Peoria Frank Winfrey is assistant executive director and senior pastor “They instilled in us the importance of service,” Bethany Winfrey said Living so far away from home has been difficult for her at times Winfrey had just begun dating the man who recently became her fiance But the Internet has made keeping in touch with family much easier for Peace Corps volunteers in recent years “We talk twice a day,” she said of her fiance which will happen a month and a half after she returns to Peoria Winfrey knows the programs she started will continue through her local assistants they are then trained and can continue the work without me here.” Ten percent of the cost of food orders will be donated to help build a sports field for the children of Scorteni To donate to Bethany Winfrey's effort to build a new sports field for the children of Scorteni, Moldova, visit www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=261-221 and click the 'Donate' button on the right side of the screen To learn more about the work Bethany Winfrey is doing in Moldova, visit her blog at twoindiansinthesamecanoe.blogspot.com Leslie Renken can be reached at 686-3250 or lrenken@pjstar.com EUROPA PENTRU TINE!Află despre beneficiile și oportunitățile oferite Republicii Moldova de Uniunea Europeană Chișinău - About 9 million lei will be allocated from the government’s intervention fund for the repair and reestablishment of the deteriorated public roads in nine settlements from the central Telenesti district hit by the torrential rains with hail from 11 June 2024 A decision to this effect was approved at a today’s meeting of the Commission for Emergency Situations (CSE) Coropceni and the commune councils from Suhuluceni Ghiliceni and Tirsitei will benefit from the money Another 388.99 thousand lei will be earmarked for the repair of the roof of the five-storied apartment block from the Taul village and 106.6 thousands lei – for the repair of roofs of 14 houses from the region The dwellings were deteriorated by heavy rains with hail and strong wind from 17 July 2024 the CSE members ruled to allocate 1.3 million lei to cover the expenses for the repair of the sports hall of the Alecu Russo Public Institution Theoretical Lyceum from Orhei The hall was damaged following a storm on 11 June 2024 the roof of the hostel for pupils No 2 of the Public Institution Vocational School from Orhei was destroyed CSE will earmark about 1.8 million lei for its repair All materials featured on this site are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) Technical-technological administration: Information Technology and Cyber Security Service.