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From the 30th of March to the 1st of April, the Municipal Library B.P. Hasdeu in Chisinau hosted an exhibition and sale of handmade work realised by inmates in seven penitentiaries in Moldova. During these three days, the public was invited to admire and buy unic items and handmade work such as traditional embroided shirts “Ia” made at Rusca, decorative candles from Leova or even wooden sculptures from the penitentiaries Nr 10 and 13.

This event was organized by RCTV Memoria, together with the Penitentiary Department, as a display of the project “Joint efforts for better access to psycho-social and medical services in Moldovan prisons” implemented since october 2015 and financially supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The project's goals are to improve, on one hand, detention's living conditions and, on the other hand, relationships between staff and inmates. The aim beyond this program is mainly to contribute to detainees’ process of resocialization and rehabilitation, a sensitive and essential issue in which Memoria has been involved for several years.

The money raised will be used to purchase the needed materials in order to maintain the occupational activities of the project. But, first of all, the exhibition was organized to raise public awareness of the value and necessity of this kind of program.

By Celine Mewissen,

EVS Volunteer at RCTV Memoria