The Jahorina papers

Part 2-1: Born to suffer

Part II: The Nicoleta Mosanu story

Chapter 1. Born to suffer
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Until 1945, Moldova was part of Romania but after the end of World War II, it was incorporated into the Soviet Union. Although independent from the USSR since 27 august 1991, Russian forces have remained on Moldovan territory east of the Dniester River supporting the Slavic majority population, mostly Ukrainians and Russians, who have proclaimed a "Transnistria" republic. Moldavia is one of the poorest nations in Europe.
The official local languages are Moldovan (official, virtually the same as the Romanian language), Russian and Gagauz (a Turkish dialect).
The country enjoys a favourable climate and good farmland but has no major mineral deposits. As a result, the economy depends heavily on agriculture, featuring fruits, vegetables, wine, and tobacco. Moldova must import almost all of its energy supplies from Russia.
The country is composed of many counties and provinces. Balti is one of them.

The Balti County is situated in Moldova’s north-eastern part near the Romania Border. The city of Balti (pronounced Belts), sometimes called the “northern capital of Moldova”, has a population of 155,000 and is the county’s main administrative and economic area. The city of Balti is some 125 kilometres north of Chisinau, Moldova’s capital. The city is situated on the Raut River...

The Balti County is the second most populous county in Moldova, with a population reaching half a million inhabitants, which is about 12 percent of the entire population of Moldova. Outside of the city of Balti, the county is mostly a patchwork of farmland set amongst rolling hills. A number of small rivers snake through the County, including the Prut river, which separates the Balti county from neighbouring Romania, Raut, Ciuluc, Camenca, Cubolta and a number of other small rivers. All these rivers are quite small. The Prut River, which flows into the Danube and separates Moldova from Romania, is the biggest waterway in the region, but it is not suitable for navigation. The lake Stinca-Costesti, one of the biggest in Moldova, has been formed by a dam on the Prut River and has a total area of 540 sq. km. The county’s underground is rich in calcareous rock, stone, pebble and sand.

After Balti, other big towns in the Balti County are Biruinta, Costesti, Falesti, Glodeni, Riscani and Singerei. Together with the city of Balti, these towns account for about two thirds of the Balti County’s inhabitants.

About 44 percent of the Balti county residents live in urban areas. Moldavians (51 percent) and Ukrainians (11.7 percent) are the predominant nationalities in the county, with Russians and other nationalities accounting for the remaining portion. The majority of the county residents are of the Orthodox confession.
The city of Balti grew around a patch of swampland about 600 years ago, during the era of Turkish domination. The city is also host to one of Moldova’s leading academic institution – the Balti State University Alecu Russo. Balti County is known for its colourful folk dance groups, for which Moldova is famous in many countries of the world.

One of the main advantages of the Balti County is its location by the Romanian border. Two customs crossing points are located within a convenient distance from the city of Balti: one such point is at Costesti, in the north-eastern corner of Balti County, while the other crossing point is at Sculeni.

The road system in the Balti County is quite well developed. The Sarateni-Balti portion of the Chisinau-Balti highway, which is currently being upgraded to European standards by Italy’s Cavallieri Ottavio, within a project financed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, is approaching completion.

Railroads connect the city of Balti with Romania, through the town of Iasi, Romania, and with Ukraine through the towns of Moghiliv-Podilskii and Slobidka. On the border with Romania, trains have to change wheels to fit the narrower European railway tracks.

The Balti County is an agricultural and industrial economic area. The county’s agriculture is based on one of the world’s most fertile black soils, chernoziom. Agricultural land covers an area of 324.2 thousand hectares.

Nicoleta Mosanu was born in Singerei, a town which is situated about 30 kilometres south east from Balti town. She was the youngest of three children. Her sister was 3 years older, her brother 2. Her parents were farmers, as most of the people in the region and they were living in a small farmhouse. The family was living from the own harvest production as from the cattle breeding, the goats and the poultry. On very young age, Nicoleta had to work on the fields, in the cow house, the sty and the poultry house. She had to help with the cleaning of the animal housings, milking the few cows and the goat and she was doing her part in the production of cheese, making jam from different fruits and gathered berries on the hills. They were also selling their milk, cheese and eggs to the neighbours.
Despite the lack of luxury and money, Nicoleta passed a happy youth. She went to the lower school and was eager to learn. Her mother always told her that knowledge was necessary in order to have a chance for a better live. At school she also learned the Russian language, because until 1991, Moldavia was part of Russia.

The farm was too small to feed 5 hungry mouths. Anyway, daughters in that region marry very young. So did her sister who was lucky that her husband was belonging to the middle class. He was not a farmer and had a good job in town.
Nicoleta's brother left the house some short time later, in order to look abroad for his fortune. She stayed alone at home with her parents and the hard labour. But she did never complain and felt still happy. Her mother helped her as much as possible with the school work, sometimes late in the evening after finishing the daily work. Her mother taught her how to treat diseases in using oils, elixirs and alcohols extracted from plants growing on the huge fields and on the hills spread out all over that region.

Her father was still too young when he got ill. He was only 51 years old and he never recovered. He died a few months later, probably of cancer. It was a hard time for mother and daughter, but that was their destiny. That's the destiny of the majority of the people living in the rural areas. The independence in 1991 brought freedom, but not wealth. On the contrary, it was every man for him. Her mother understood during that period that Nicoleta should start thinking about her future and get married. She was only 14 years old when she got related to her husband, who was almost 20 years older. He was the only survivor of another farmer family, who formerly had been designated by both patriarchs as Nicoleta's future husband. She went living with her husband, celebrating the wedding due the local habits. Shortly after, her mother joined them, because she was not able to handle the whole farm alone. Her husband made the necessary arrangements and sold the stock. He was now the new patriarch, but he was a sluggard and preferred to spend all his time in town, where he joined his friends, drinking a lot. The earnings of her mothers sold belongings went in his pocket. They were now living in his property and he was the head of the family. Nicoleta didn't complain and continued what she was used to do. She went to school during the day, came back in the afternoon and helped her mother. Most of the time, her husband arrived late in the evening, completely drunk, causing inevitable discussions which could be extremely unpleasant.

In the meantime her sister became pregnant and she couldn't come over anymore. She loved her older sister, the only person with whom she could discuss about her problems and feelings. She didn't love her husband, but there was no way out. People didn't marry for love, but for security. She was condemned to make the best of her marriage. A woman doesn't discuss her own situation, she only obey and serves her husband. Now she was feeling the solitude as she never had felt before. Her mother was weakening and it was obvious that she was suffering from rheumatism. Every day it was getting worse and finally she was condemned to stay in bed. She wasn't able to walk anymore and she needed permanent nursing. They didn't have money for a medical treatment and Nicoleta was taking care of her, using all the knowledge that her mother once had given her. Her mother needed a daily massage, in order to avoid unpleasant injuries caused by permanent lying on the back. Her husband didn't care. He continued enjoying his own life.

Nicoleta got pregnant. She was barely 16 years old. But she had to do the farm work and to take care of her mother, while her husband even didn't respect her. This probably resulted in a miscarriage. A village doctor advised her to take a few days off. But this was impossible. The cows couldn't wait a few days for food neither to be released of their milk. Her husband was never available for her, neither was he willing to take over the most difficult tasks. And her mother also needed constantly help.

Her mother’s agony lasted 5 years. One day, a few days after her 19th birthday, Nicoleta lost her mother, the last person who really cared about her. She saw her sister again during the funeral, after a long time of separation. Years ago, her husband had forbidden any visit from her sister, after they had a heavy discussion together.
Time passed, but the situation didn't improve. Her husband maltreated her all the time, even when she became pregnant again. The result was the same as during her first pregnancy: she quickly lost the unborn child. The doctor once again warned her that she had to take care of herself or she risked never being mother. But at that time, a Moldavian woman didn't oppose to the husband! Without complaining, as usual, she continued with the daily routine as before, as she already had done it since an eternity.

Her sister was already two times mother and her husband had bought a small car. When she knew that Nicoleta was alone at home, she came visiting her. During those short moments Nicoleta felt so happy. She was 21 now, a good looking young woman with long black hair and dark, but sad looking eyes. She eagerly wanted children, but she knew that it would be difficult due the way she was living. However, nobody could help her.

She got pregnant again and she tried to be as careful as possible. She happy was really happy some 6 month's later because for the first time the baby continued growing inside her. She begged her husband to do the heaviest work, but he was just laughing in her face, saying that it was not his problem, leaving her alone and going for his usual trip to town. But this time she reached the end. Although she had to work until the last day, she had a successful delivery. Her sister visited her that day by coincidence and helped her during the last hours. Her husband wasn't there. It was a daughter. She was so happy. In the late evening her husband waked her up, complaining that she wasn't even able to give him a son! Her sister who was staying overnight heard what happened and she told him what she was thinking about his behaviour. He just grinned and went to sleep.

Time passed and nothing changed the drag of daily life. Two years later she got another daughter and 4 years later, she got a son.
The situation in Moldova had changed a little bit and in 1994 a new constitution had been accepted. People were able to become owner of their house. One day, her husband showed her the documents proving his ownership of the property. She ignored how he had managed that and where he got the money from. He refused to discus the matter and she understood that she had become a prisoner in her own house. Nicoleta's life didn't change, but she started to dream. She wanted to be free, have her own house in a big town, far away from this area, living quietly with her children, leaving her husband far behind.

She was thirty now and still a beautiful woman, but her hands were becoming rough and as strong as those of a man. She loved her children as nothing else on earth and she wanted to give them a better life than what she was still experiencing. However she knew that her dream would never be realized when she would stay in the farm.
Her husband remained less and less at home and she suspected him of adultery. She didn't care, because that gave her more time for her children and she could visit her sister more often, even she had to walk one hour to get there. Once a week, her sister took her and the children to Chisinau. These were the happiest moments of her life.

One day in 2000, Nicoleta heard by coincidence that some travel offices were looking for young people who were willing to work abroad. They could earn a lot of money in the rich European countries as in Germany, Austria, and France. For the first time in her life she felt hope. She discussed the issue with her sister, telling her that she wanted to be free and that she would leave her husband. This was a brave but dangerous decision in this country. Her sister knew the whole situation, but she was hesitating and didn't accept Nicoleta's plan.

Before getting involved in a ridiculous quarrel with Nicoleta, she first advised her sister to visit one of those recruit centres in order to get an opinion. There were a lot of them in the capital. Nicoleta accepted and they visited one of those offices. They were received by a young, good looking, and friendly man in a dark suit. He explained that the European countries were cheerful to receive young hardworking people because they were cheaper. Nevertheless, according the Moldavian standards, the salaries abroad were quit attractive. In a few years she could have enough money earned allowing her to buy her proper house. The smart recruiter understood immediately what the young women was looking for. Nicoleta, who never before visited a foreign country, heard the bells ringing. That was it. A fairy tale would become true. Her sister was not so reassured and asked a lot of questions but the young man new the right answers.

No, there was nothing illegal. No, she didn't have to pay in advance for travelling, because the company had a contract with the European businessmen. A special bus would bring them to Austria, because that was the country which was actually looking for foreign workers.
What had she to do then? Request a visa? Go to the Embassy?
In fact, it was much easier as she had ever imagined. The company was doing all the administration work. She just needed a passport! But no panic, the agency had employees which would prepare everything. She just had to pick it up when ready. The next bus would leave in two months. There was time enough to arrange the trip to Austria. She was choosing for a painting job in Vienna. She filled in a formulary with her name, address, family, phone number (her sisters)...

When they left that office, Nicoleta was already purchasing in mind her own house...
She was determined and nothing could stop her anymore. A new life was waiting for her but she didn't know that she was going to enter hell...