On holiday from hell
As the war in Ukraine continues, Fairpicture photographer Mikhail Kalarashan visited Caritas facilities in Moldova.
Moldova is accepting more Ukrainian refugees per capita than any other country. According to local UN Human Rights Advisers, it is estimated that more than 400.000 refugees have fled to Moldova since February.
Caritas Austria works together with local partners to house Ukrainian refugees in shelters or residence centres. In one of those shelters volunteers of the organisation Ludobus arranged a holiday for children. They hope to offer the traumatised children an uplifting distraction.
Client
Caritas Austria
Date
March 2022
Photographer
Mikhail Kalarashan
Location
Chişinău, Moldova
Shocking images of the war in Ukraine have become part of our daily lives lately. However, our Moldovan photographer Mikhail Kalarashan came across uplifting stories in a Caritas shelter in Chişinău.
Client: Caritas Austria
Date: March 2022
Photographer: Mikhail Kalarashan
Location: Chişinău, Moldova
Escape from the danger zone
Tatyana Tkachenko (46) had lived a normal life as a housewife. When the war started, everything changed abruptly. She didn’t wait for missiles in her area as the neighbouring region had already been heavily shelled. Tatyana left Nikolaev and went to Moldova together with her 14-year-old son and her dog Lulu. Now her way leads her to Finland where her husband works.
Relief through amusement
Anna-Maria Gutu studies at the Lyceum Doina and Ion Aldea-Teodorovich. She has been volunteering there as an animator for a little over a year.
Her specialty is to cheer up children. Together with two colleagues she organised a party for children in the Ukrainian refugee centre.
Client: Caritas Austria
Date: March 2022
Photographer: Mikhail Kalarashan
Location: Chişinău, Moldova
This is a difficult task since the children are very hurt. They had to leave all their friends behind. We try to cheer them up, but it's obvious that they are sad. In the end, they came to hug us, which is heartbreaking already.
Anna-Maria Gutu (Volunteer)
Client: Caritas Austria
Date: March 2022
Photographer: Mikhail Kalarashan
Location: Chişinău, Moldova
Anna's passion
The job of an animator is very complex. Not only does it require acting talent, but also a keen sense of audience. When Anna gets into character, she feels absolutely natural. The children listen to her closely and show great interest. This energy is absolutely sincere and pure. You can't fool children, but you can at least distract them for a little while.
