{Info-Prim Neo feature from the series “Independent for 21 years. New Moldovans coming?!” with Elena Lesan, mother of 8 children, who passed through a series of difficulties, but never gave up; she considers that her children are her biggest treasure. ORIGINALLY published on 16 August 2012} Elena Lesan has six girls and two boys. The elder boy turned 25 this year and the youngest girl is 7 years old. The woman also has a grandson from her elder daughter. “My vocation is to be a mother. Some women turn into successful businesswomen, others become scientists, but I am the mother of eight beautiful, smart children, who are my treasure”, says Elena. She recalls being the only child of her parents. Without brothers or sisters, she always dreamt of a big family. Now, her biggest pleasure is when the whole family gathers on holidays. The holiday table is crowded, since she already has a son in law and a grandson. Elena Lesan says she is truly happy, despite some difficulties, as she is raising the younger four children alone. The elder already have their own families. When she got married, Elena Lesan was living with her mother. Her first years of marriage went well, until her husband abandoned her with four children. The youngest one was 5 years old. After she remarried, her mother asked her to move out. They moved in with some relatives in another village. Three more children were born and the family was having a hard time coping with the situation. They ate only what they managed to grow in the garden; in years with drought, there were days they didn’t eat anything. When they had to leave their relatives’ house, they moved into a trailer, without electricity, heating or other utilities. They had a garden where they grew vegetables, and sometimes the neighbors helped them. Only the husband was working and the aid for each child was 50 lei, with which they didn’t afford too much. When the blizzards came, they realized they couldn’t survive in the trailer. They moved into a house in Chisinau’s Schinoasa neighborhood, which was to be demolished. They would heat up the chimney with wood from a nearby forest. They lived there for a year, during which the aid for children was annulled on grounds that her husband was employed. The elder children went to a boarding school, and when they’d come home, they’d bring porridge to the younger ones. Their financial situation didn’t improve even after the husband went to work abroad. When children got sick, Elena knitted to earn money for medicines. There were 8 children in the family and they all lived in a basement. Elena says she never got any support from authorities, but on the contrary, was suggested to give the children to an orphanage. The light at the end of the tunnel was a nongovernmental association from abroad, which helped them with food and clothing. Each child had a sponsor from different countries that sent them gifts every year. After her mother’s death, they moved in to her apartment. They requested social aid, but it was denied to them. They were told they were not eligible, because they had a TV, a fridge, a mobile phone and a washing machine, even if it was old. The woman explained that most of them were donations. Elena Lesan is now raising her younger four children, who are going to school. She is coping alone, as her second husband abandoned her as well because of the difficulties. “I want to raise them to be role model citizens. My children understand that you can succeed only through hard work”, she added. The elder children have all come of age. One of her daughters went abroad. They all work and dream of opening their own business. [Elena Nistor, Info-Prim Neo ] ****** {The first time the Info-Prim Neo Press Agency used the sentence “New Moldovans coming” was in the summer of 2010, also at the anniversary of Independence. It seemed appropriate to us, to attribute this description to a category of people whom Moldova can lay its future hopes upon. The Info-Prim Neo team believes that Moldova has changes for adequate development only in the case when the society will accumulate a critical mass of new people. We did not refer strictly to young people, and strictly to ethnical Moldovans. “New Moldovans” are all the people who adopt new visions and experiences, new will and mentality; all those who care about themselves, their family, and their country. It is true that the Agency found it necessary to end the sentence “New Moldovans coming” in an exclamation mark (!), as a symbol of hope, and an interrogation mark (?), in order not to scare our luck away. Info-Prim Neo }