A Mother's Fight to Keep Her Children Warm

It’s been three months since 49-year-old Larisa lost her job. Separated from her husband, who struggled with alcohol and terrified their four children, she now faces the challenges of single motherhood alone.

Winter has arrived in Moldova. Temperatures plunge well below freezing, and for Larisa, keeping her children warm, fed, and clothed feels almost impossible. Job opportunities in her small village are scarce.

Larisa once worked at a leather factory near her home. “In the mornings, I took the younger children to kindergarten and then went to work. Because I was officially employed, I also received monthly child support from the state,” she said. But when the factory closed, so did her only source of stable income. Now, anxiety often fills her heart as she thinks about how to pay bills and meet her children’s needs in the harsh months ahead.

The family live in a small, crumbling house owned by a relative. Inside, Larisa and her four children; Julia (16) six-year-old twins Taisia and David, and five-year-old Laura who share just one main room. There’s no kitchen, only a small table beside the heating stove, and no bathroom, just a basin for washing.

Still, Larisa has done everything she can to make their house a home. She repaired the stove, patched the ceiling, and even built a wall to stop the freezing wind. “There aren’t many job opportunities here,” she said. “Many people do seasonal work or travel far away to earn a little money. I’m grateful that I manage somehow sometimes even buying food on loan from the market, because the saleswoman trusts me.”

Firewood is expensive, so Larisa gathers fallen branches to heat the home. “I even had to cut down the walnut tree in our yard,” she admitted sadly.

Despite the hardships, Larisa’s children are full of energy and dreams. Laura wants to be a teacher, Taisia a doctor, and David a police officer. They love kindergarten, but often have nothing warm to wear. Their thin jackets and worn-out shoes offer little protection from the freezing cold.

That’s when Oleg, a Mission Without Borders staff member, arrived with winter essentials warm clothes, sturdy shoes, and 500 kilograms of briquettes for heating. The children were overjoyed. “We couldn’t have afforded these briquettes ourselves,” Larisa said. “Firewood costs so much we’d need three or four cubic metres just to keep the house warm.”

The children couldn’t stop smiling as they tried on their new clothes. “Thank you so much,” Larisa said. “Now my children have what they need for school, for playing in the snow, and just to feel like other kids. The girls say, ‘Now we feel like princesses!"

“In this village, most people live in deep poverty,” Oleg explained. “Many can’t afford firewood or winter clothing. The support we bring whether it be briquettes, clothes, shoes, blankets or food is a lifeline for these families.”

Through the Mission Without Borders child sponsorship programme, Larisa’s youngest three children receive regular support. And thanks to compassionate donors, the family can face another harsh winter with warmth, hope, and dignity.

This winter, you can help keep families like Larisa’s safe and warm. Your gift can provide firewood, food, warm clothing and hope to those who need it most.

👉 Give warmth today and change a family’s winter into a season of hope.