I AM THE PASSENGER

The Passenger

I'm starting to really warm to Moldova. The people, the culture, the city, even the weather. However, there is one thing that I'm not sure I will ever get used to - the public transport.

There are several ways to travel around the city. The cheapest (and my most preferred method) is by trolleybus. A single trip on the trolley costs 2 Moldovan Lei (about 10p) and in my opinion, it's the comfiest way of getting around. They're pretty shabby and can be freezing at this time of the year because it would appear that the seals on the windows and doors haven't been replaced since the fall of the USSR, but all in all they're good value for money, especially if there's a heated debate onboard. Unlike buses in the UK, you don't get on and pay the driver, rather a kind of conductor comes along and takes your 2 lei and gives you a wee ticket. However, there are still people who believe that they shouldn't have to pay and it's not uncommon to see a full-scale battle on the bus. This has happened to me only once.....

A trolleybus on the street where our office is

It used to be that the number 3 trolleybus (the one I get to and from work), decided that to pay a conductor was a waste of money as the route is quiet. So instead, you had to buy your ticket from the bus driver when you got on and then go and punch it in a slot to validate it. However, Chisinau Public Transport do not quite yet have the same safety standards as good old Scottish & Southern Energy, thus you would hand the driver your 2 lei once he had already set off at breakneck speed and he would attempt to rip a ticket from the ticket book while the steering wheel lurched off to the left or right. To save time (especially in the evening when the bus was packed), I would buy 10 tickets so that I could just get on and punch my ticket and be done with it. Smart thinking? No. This is Moldova, after all.

The last time I did this was a couple of weeks ago at the end of the working week. When it came around to Monday morning again, I followed my usual routine of getting on, punching my ticket and then floating off to another world of humour with the Radio 4 News Quiz on my iPod (a must for all comedy fans by the way - get the podcast weekly here). But what's this? A conductor on the number 3? Yep, they'd decided to do away with the previously life-threatening manner of distributing tickets (had Ian Marchant been in touch?) and reverted back to the normal way. I showed the conductress that I'd stamped my ticket and she nodded and was on her way. It wasn't until the next night on my way home that I had gone through the same motions and when the conductor came to collect my cash, I showed him my ticket. He said that this method had stopped the previous week and that I would have to give him another 2 lei to buy a proper ticket. Not wishing to do any such thing, I refused and explained that I had paid for these tickets previously and would he kindly be on his way. He didn't budge. Ears were pricking up and I was starting to receive interested glances (more than usual which is another thing you get used to as a foreigner in Moldova) from my fellow passengers and so I came to realise that I couldn't back down. I continued to debate with the conductor that I had paid 2 lei last week for this ticket to the same transport authority and would not be paying the fare again. This went on for a couple of minutes before he (thankfully) realised he was fighting a losing battle and could not physically remove me from the bus (he was a wee lad and even if he wanted to, he'd have to push me through a packed crowd who by this time were well and truly on my side judging by the positive nods, grunts and occasional cheers). Victory was mine and justice had been served. It was a real moment of triumph. Then, in typical Moldovan trolleybus style, the rods on top of the bus slipped from the electrical cables, leaving us in cold, dark and stillness so we had to get off the bus and wait for the next one and.....of course, pay another 2 lei to travel on it.

On a chilly and busy Chisinau trolley bus

The most popular way of travelling around the city (and most convenient as there are more routes) is by mini-bus (marshrutka in Russian - it's a much better word than the Romanian translation which is rutiera). There are hundreds of these fleeing around the city ranging from new Mercedes to ancient Fords but to me, they are all death traps. They are more frequent than the trolleybus and cost only 1 lei more (taking the grand total of a journey to 15p), however to me, you take your life into your own hands when you board.

If you've read Tony Hawk's book Playing The Moldovans At Tennis, you might remember him talking about his first experience on a marshrutka. He talks about getting on, handing over his fare to the driver as he takes off at breakneck speed (see the aforementioned number 3 trolleybus driver) and then slowly getting pushed to the back of the vehicle. On stagecoach buses in the UK, drivers (usually) strictly adhere to the guidelines of sitting and standing passengers. The marshrutka buses are all privately owned and as a result, there are no such guidelines. In fact, they will cram as many people as possible onto these buses. I have seen marshrutkas whizzing by with arms out of windows, faces pushed up to the glass and even a line of backsides lined up along the front windscreen. People push, shove, grumble, groan, grope, grab, complain, lean, need help with hygiene and personal boundary issues and generally are miserable on marshrutkas.

A line of marshrutkas in Chisinau

There are also proper buses which are less frequent and more expensive than the trolleybus. It costs 3 lei to get on these and if one comes along going in the right direction, I'll get on it. They're fairly quiet, comfortable and new. The instructions on how to disembark are only in English so I'm not sure how the Russian babaooshkas (old women) manage to figure out how to get off but somehow they manage. They're smart cookies, you see.

So hopefully this gives you an idea of how best to get around in Chisinau. Trams are a thing of the past (hear that, Edinburgh City Council??) and gondola cable cars have been banished with the Soviet era (although the stations and cable towers can still be seen rotting in the city parks) so we're stuck with the above-mentioned methods, and I for one am happy with them. Well, the trolleybus anyway.

THANK YOU

Cheers

I've been back in Chisinau almost a week now and it's been a week of ups and downs already. I really was apprehensive about coming back after a brilliant two weeks (minus 2 days because of fog at the beginning of the holiday keeping me at Chisinau airport) seeing family and friends. One Peace Corps volunteer told me that the feeling of dread and despair you get when you begin the descent into the Chisinau is a pretty dismal experience and when I saw that the fog was still lingering around the airport, I was filled with doom and gloom before I even got off the plane. But I shouldn't have been as there has been a lot of positive news this week for the Hospice.

We have had some great news from some prospective supporters. Prior to Christmas, I had written a grant proposal to The Souter Charitable Trust, an organisation based in my home town of Perth, who give generously to charities which aim to relieve human suffering. Yesterday, I received an email from them stating that they were delighted to award us with a very grateful donation which will go a very long way towards ensuring the Hospice will run well into the second quarter of 2011. A big thank you to them for their generosity!

It costs around £75,000 per year to run the Hospice and the foundation's donation has helped us get off to a great start in 2011. There are many ways in which you can also help raise money for Hospice Angelus. Many of my friends and family have already committed to running the Edinburgh Marathon, Half Marathon or 10k at the end of May.

If you would like to run for the Hospice you can find more information about the marathon here. Please let me know if you would like to run and I'll get some information to you. Additionally, if you live elsewhere and would like to run a marathon, host an event or would like some ideas about how to do so, give me a shout and I'll gladly assist. Furthermore, if you fancy going somewhere a bit more exotic for a run, I've also managed to cajole some friends into running the Bucharest City Marathon in October. It's a great opportunity to see Romania and to help a great cause. Again, if you're interested, please let me know and I can send you some information. And yes, I will be taking part in this also - not the full thing (I'm no daft), but the half. Or the 10k. Depends on the training schedule.

More good news came today when we had the regional head of a very big and well-known accountancy firm who not only offered to give us IT equipment, a team of volunteers for event organisation and pro-bono account auditing, but also a substantial donation towards the running of the Hospice. I really have been bowled over this week by the generosity of some people and this is not limited to just in-country.

A friend of mine who works for the Scotsman in Edinburgh recently published this article and the response has been amazing. On the back of Jane's article, we have received emails from around the world, including Canada, where an organisation has already shipped us much-needed stoma bags and the necessary adhesives. Additionally, on the back of an email I sent out to my contacts before Christmas, while I was home I received 5 boxes of medical supplies from Perth Royal Infirmary and a promise to help in the future. This kind of help is crucial and so gratefully received.

Finally, I had word from my mum yesterday that Auchterarder Golf Club (click here for how to book a round at this incredible Perthshire course) have decided to make Hospice Angelus Moldova their charity of choice this year to support.

Would your organisation want to do this too? If so, get in touch and I'll be happy to help. Thanks to all at the golf club for your support.

So this post is just to say a massive CHEERS, THANKS, MULTUMESC AND MERCI to all of you who have supported the Hospice in 2010 and to those who plan to help us in 2011. Your efforts and donations do make an incredible difference and I'd like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for getting involved.

.......AND START AGAIN

Start Again

I've only been doing this blog for a couple of months but so far I've had so many views from around the world so I wanted to wish everyone who has been following my adventures in Chisinau, a very happy new year and all the best to you in 2011. Lang may yer lum reek!

Here are some of my 2010 highlights:

Fiona and Tony got married on Waiheke Island, New Zealand, in January

 

 

 

An amazing day with friends and family

Spending time with old friends from PYT in Dunning in April

Taking to the stage with AMOPS in Thoroughly Modern Millie in April

Seeing Whitney Houston with Justine in Glasgow in May. She kinda sucked but we were 3rd row.

Robbie and Emily get married in Musselburgh at the end of May

A last minute appearance at T in the Park in July

A visit to Moldova in August to meet my new colleagues at Hospice Angelus

Being part of Team Ben Nevis to raise money for Jack's Fund in September

After 10 years together, Mike and Gillian get married in September

6 years with SSE, but it was time to move on to pastures new in October

There have been so many highlights of moving to Moldova, but meeting Eurovision star Geta Burlacu is up there as one of the most memorable

Here's to more memorable moments in 2011......

HAPPY XMAS (WAR IS OVER) - NOT FOR ME AND VICTORIA

Happy Xmas (War Is Over)

So I need to ask you all a favour.....
Our volunteers at the Hospice have all been busily making Christmas cards over the last month or so and they are now up for auction on our Facebook page here. I know that this may be too late for December 25th but Moldovans celebrate Russian Christmas on January 7th. HOWEVER I can have these cards to you in Perth this Friday 24th December (as long as Heathrow gets its act together) OR you can buy these lovely cards to send in 2011. All proceeds go direct to the Hospice and I assure you that any money you can donate does make a difference.

Additionally, there is this beautiful card above made by own of our best volunteers (yours truly) and it is up for AUCTION. Bids will be accepted up until lunchtime tomorrow and I would appreciate anyone bidding on it who can (as it's in competition with another card - not as nice as mine - to get the most amount of money). So PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE comment below or email me direct to have this original piece of art in your mitts. Again - ALL PROCEEDS GO TO THE HOSPICE. You know you want to.....and I want to raise the most.

P.S. Here is the competition

DO YOU REALIZE?

Do You Realize?

This week has been full of ups and downs at the Hospice. As some of you will have seen from my emails and Facebook updates, we are out of colostomy bags and this is a real dilemma. For many of our patients, they rely directly on these bags and for us to turn them away has been a real heartbreak for our medics. However, we have really had an answer to prayer and every day this week we have had patients' families coming into the office with their unused bags. Additionally, thanks to a friend of mine who works at the Scotsman in Edinburgh, we have had some great publicity in yesterday's edition of the paper which you can see here. Since then I have had emails from a couple of hospitals and from some of you who have suggested how we can get more. Thanks to all of you who have assisted and I hope I'll be coming back to Moldova in January with a case full of colostomy bags. Not sure if I'll manage to get through customs though without a bit of explaining....

We also found out this week that we received our accreditation to the House of Medical Insurance which is a big boost for the team and the Hospice. The team worked exceptionally hard to ensure we were meeting the right standards in the hospice and in our inspection assessment we only dropped 1 point. This is the first step to getting the Ministry of Health onboard to assisting with our funding. Palliative and hospice care is not recognised by the Ministry of Health here and we have been lobbying at the government and Parliament for this to be included on the national health. We are one step closer....

At the end of the week, I went out in the blizzards with Andrei and Polina, two of our medics, to visit some of our patients. We visited a 53 year old man with cancer of the intestine who lives in the country with his wife and daughter. Andrei had told me that this man was a bit of a hard nut in his day and was diagnosed in March with cancer. Since then he has deteriorated rapidly and when we arrived at his house it was a real struggle to see this man who was growing ever weaker struggle to even talk. He hasn't been eating and only drinks a bit of water a day. I asked how he could survive like this and Andrei said that at this stage, they recommend that the patients should not eat. It didn't occur to me until later when Andrei told me that it was likely that the man would probably slip into a coma later that day and he would be dead by Monday. When Andrei delivered this news to the man's wife and daughter, they didn't seem upset and I later asked Andrei why. He said that they have become used to the fact that this man, a husband and father, will lose his battle with cancer very soon. This was a really humbling moment and it was then that I realised that these doctors and nurses see this pain and suffering every day and that the work they do is so important. And to have to deliver news like this to someone's loved ones must be the hardest thing. Without Hospice Angelus and our fantastic medics, there would be more people living their last days in severe pain and discomfort. The latest figures show that 8000 people die in Moldova every year from cancer and this year we have worked with 400 patients. It's a small fraction and I can't help think of the thousands of others who do not have access to proper hospice care like we do in the UK, Europe and the West.

Here are some pictures of our doctors, including Andrei, working with our patients which we use on our website and in our presentations. Some of them are no longer with us, but it is comforting to know that they died with the minimum amount of pain with real care.

Andrei and Natalia, two of our doctors, consult an elderly patient in her home

A young patient with her mother at the Oncology Hospital

We treat many children at the Oncology Hospital

How can you not love a face like this? 

As I prepare to go home for Christmas and see some of you, I would like to remind you that the Hospice still needs help - both financial and medical - so if you would like to organise an event, make a donation or can help us out in any way, catch me when I'm home or drop me an email. Your efforts are so appreciated and believe me when I say that they CAN make a difference.

WHY?

Why?

I'm being a bit lazy today and sending you a link to someone else's blog that I found this week. It pretty much sums up what I have in the courtyard behind my flat. It's an alcove of about 15 big steel wheelie bins and what this couple talk about is pretty much how I start my day when I leave the house. Read about it here.

These guys have a great blog and this next post really touched me and about how this is how we should all be acting as we are called to help others not as fortunate as ourselves. Whether you be Christian, Muslim, atheist or Jedi, we can all learn a bit from what this woman did (and also from how her poor husband reacted at first).

Again, I can't help but feel so lucky to have had so many privileges in my life. I've never had to rake through a bin for my next meal nor relieved myself in a rubbish tip in front of strangers. But equally, I don't know if I've ever gone to help someone who I've seen do so nor offered them a place to go when they're out in the cold. I see poverty every day here on my way to work, whether it be the wee old man who begs on the street corner between my house and the bus-stop or the young lad who guides his blind mother through the passengers on the bus asking for money. But do you know what the main difference here is? EVERYONE gives. When the blind woman got on the bus today, people were falling over themselves to get into their wallets and handbags to hand something over. School kids run up to the wee old man and hand him some cash and have a wee joke and giggle with him. It's humbling to see that people with so very little themselves are quick to look after their own. I'm not telling you to hand over your last pound to the next homeless person you see nor am I trying to guilt anyone into donating to charity, but what I am saying is that this woman who the Australians wrote about could have been anyone. She could have been someone's mother or sister, but she was definitely somebody's daughter. She could have had a rich husband, a well-paid job and a massive house. She could have been a top-class business woman. She could have been you or me.

I hope I remember this tomorrow on my way to the office.

BACK IN THE USSR

Back In The USSR

This past weekend has been a real contrast. It started brilliantly with a trip to the motherland, Romania, and its capital (or crapital as I used to refer to it), Bucharest. The event was the Hospice Casa Sperantei, our Romanian sister organisation, 10th Anniversary Edelweiss Ball.

The bus to Bucharest was an overnighter, leaving 10.30pm from Chisinau and arriving at 7am in Bucharest. It wasn't too bad a trip actually and is preferable to the train as you don't have to wait 3 hours at the border to be airlifted onto the European train wheels from the Russian ones. Crossing the border from Moldova into the EU is just like it used to be crossing the border from Romania to Hungary 10 years ago. Granted, there are no guns or 4 hour delays but there is still a sense of excitement and change. When you arrive at the border, everyone is traipsed off the bus and put through passport control. So far, so normal. Like at most border patrols around Romania, there are fighting stray dogs, nonchalant guards and plenty folk just hanging about to watch what's going on. But then the bus is boarded by the guards dressed like those in the Elton John 'Nikita' video and they can be pretty scary when asking the Moldovans why they are going to Romania, how long they are staying for and if they have an invitation letter. Indeed, two passengers who were sitting either side of me were dragged away for interrogation and only one of them reappeared. Then one of the aforementioned scrapping dogs (which I then noticed was a police alsatian with a POLITIA jacket on) bounds around the bus sniffing for who knows what and then does the same to our bags (and in the process nabs a woman's sandwich much to our delight). I'd really like to have taken photos at this point but security prohibits it and after realising that the girl sitting next to me wasn't coming back, I knew they meant business and kept my camera in my bag.

After 90 minutes of standing in the freezing cold passing through two borders, we were on our way to Bucharest and I slept pretty much all the way there. Arriving in the country's capital you come to realise that it's a bit of a dump. At the peak of dictator Nicolae Ceausescu's power, he destroyed a lot of the city's old buildings and turned them into apartment blocks. The city which was previously referred to as 'The Paris of the East' was completely renovated to make it seem like a rich and prosperous city. Ceausescu decided to build a river through the centre, and amongst other things, built this, the second largest building in the world, Bucharest's Palace of the Parliament:

While it's an eyesore, and most Romanians I know hate it and what it symbolises, you cannot fail to be awestruck whenever you see it. It really is impressive and prior to my visit this weekend, would have been the only thing I would recommend as a must-see in the city.

I arrived at the venue of the ball, the Athenee Palace Hilton at around 7.30am, after being suitably conned by a local taxi driver, and checked in (the team at Casa Sperantei had VERY kindly booked me in to one of their complimentary rooms). The theme of the ball was Around The World and man, the team did a spectacular job. More on that in a bit.....

The hotel was situated on Revolution Square where the Bucharest part of the Romanian Revolution in 1989 kicked off. I had watched the video of when the crowds started booing Ceausescu all those years ago (and the look on his face when he realises that they are not cheering his address - at 2:40 - is priceless - see here) which signalled the start of the revolution and I got to see where it all started.

The building is now the host to some government ministries but there is a monument to remember the people who lost their lives during the revolution where those crowds once stood.

Shortly afterwards, the Ceausescus had to escape by helicopter and eventually were executed on Christmas Day 1989 but it was a real experience to see where it all began. A sobering experience for sure and a stark reminder of what could happen in Moldova should the Communists get back in after Sunday's shocking election, the third in the last two years. The Communist party received 39% of the vote while the 3 democratic parties (who have formed a coalition) managed 52% between them which equates to 59 seats, just short of the 61 seats needed to elect the President and overcome Communist resistance to a more Russian-influenced state. Many people are worried here that the Communists could steal some of the coalition to have a majority and if this happens, there could be a repeat of last year's riots where the Parliament and Presidential buildings were both ransacked by young protesters (see here). Most young people here are worried and have vowed to leave the country if the government turns its back to the west and looks back to the old Soviet Days.

Back to the ball, which kicked off around 7pm. As I said, the theme was 'Around The World' and we were treated to some amazing table decorations for each of the 18 tables which represented a different country.

The top table, Scotland of course

The Italian table

The China table (my favourite)

The Dutch table

Japan's table

It's Brazil (my table)

South Africa

Romania's table (the grandest, of course)

England shows off its table

We were hard-pushed to guess this one. No, it's not a squirrel or a beaver, it's a kangaroo. I give you the Australia table

Another favourite of mine, the New Zealand table

The table from the USA

The Canadian maple leaf

A sombrero represents Mexico

The French table

There were a few other tables, including a German one represented by a steiner but I didn't manage to get photos of that. Highlights of the night included an incredible auction where some great prizes were auctioned off including:

• Your chance to star in a children's book to be published in 2011
• To have your child walk out with the captains at the Liverpool V Steaua Bucharest match this week
• A weekend in Edinburgh
• A weekend at the not-even-opened-yet Waldorf hotel just outside London
• A VIP weekend to the Budapest Grand Prix with money-can't-buy-tickets at the start and finish line

The auction raised about 70k Euros for the hospice work in Romania, a great result. Full of ambassadors, celebrities, rich folk, royalty and Ethan Hawke's mum, it really was a fantastic night culminating in their new promotional film about hospice work which has a very special soundtrack from a very BIG rock band who have given the hospice permission to use one of their most well-known tunes as the backdrop. Sadly, I'm not allowed to disclose who the band is yet as things are not finalised, but man, what a result. A huge congratulations to the Bucharest /  Brasov team who managed to pull it all together and make it seem so easy. I'm slightly nervous now at having to organise a similar event in the Spring.

But as usual, there was a major McKellar celebrity embarrassing moment. Romanian actor, Dragos Bucur, who was in a brilliant Romanian film called the Death of Mr Lazarescu and is in the new Colin Farrell movie out next month, was there and I was determined to get my photo taken with him. So I tracked him down and congratulated him on his work and asked about Mr Farrell. He said he hadn't been in a movie with Colin Farrell and was actually a guy called Dragos Bucurenci, a famous Romanian journalist, charity supporter and former contestant on Romania's version of Strictly Come Dancing. I apologised profusely, smiled in a mortified manner and quickly made my exit. What a tube. Anyway, here's the pic.

So I left Bucharest with a changed opinion and somewhere I want to go back to again to explore more. For all you Londoners, you can get really cheap flights from Luton with Wizz Air, so let me know if you fancy a long weekend and I'll see you there. Back to Chisinau on Sunday on the minibus (made all the more boring by me standing on my headphones thus having no music) and I got home to a bit of snow in Moldova. It's by no means shut down the country like it has done in the UK but finally, winter has arrived in Moldova and it's bloody freezing.