Call Center

My name is Yulia Sirenсo, and I am a volunteer at RVC.

Before becoming a volunteer at the RVC, I had no prior experience in volunteer work. I must admit that I had doubts about whether I could handle the responsibilities placed on me. However, I heard that our Center has a special atmosphere that makes it a place of strength, and that here, you will always find support in difficult moments.

I started by participating in environmental and large-scale projects, and now I devote most of my time to the "Call Center" direction within the "Information" project.

Why "Information"? Because I want to spread knowledge about jewish traditions and culture. Besides volunteering, I study at a Jewish lyceum, and I have much to share in order to preserve and pass on knowledge to future generations. I especially enjoy making calls related to Jewish holidays because it makes me feel connected to the traditions of our community.

To volunteers who are just starting their journey, I would say:

Find what motivates you to volunteer. For me, the motivation is overcoming myself. Sometimes, to be honest, I can be an undisciplined person, but I always strive to improve so that I can carry out my volunteer tasks with full dedication consistently.

Hello, my name is Olga Beller, and I have been a volunteer at the Republican Volunteer Center since March 2024. My journey into volunteering lasted 1.5 years, during which, after moving to Moldova in July 2022, I tried to adapt to the new country and put my experience in organizing events for people of all ages to good use. The Volunteer Center has become a place for me where my skills and experience are gratefully accepted, and where like-minded people await, for whom helping those in need is more than just words.

In March 2024, I became part of the friendly RVC team, and my duties included working in the Call Center as well as delivering food packages. A great help in fulfilling my volunteer duties was obtaining a Moldovan driver's license, which allowed my husband Vladimir Vasilenko and me to actively participate in Good Deeds Day, delivering "Healthy Breakfast" food packages to our beneficiaries.

Congratulating people on Pesach from April 22 to 29 also brought me many positive emotions in return. I enjoy working in the Call Center: I love communicating with people, informing them about various events, congratulating them on holidays, and providing necessary information support. I am happy that I once made the right decision to become part of the large RVC team!

My name is Elizaveta, or Liza for short.

In 2022, due to a chain of random events, I joined the Republican Volunteer Center as a volunteer for the "Call Center" project due to the military crisis in Ukraine, and this moment significantly influenced my life thereafter.

After completing work with clients from Ukraine, I also began participating in projects aimed at interacting with various age groups from our country. Throughout the summer of 2022, I taught drawing lessons to children from the Jewish kindergarten, and besides that, I had the opportunity to participate several times in the "IT-Grandparent" project aimed at increasing technological literacy among the elderly. I also participated as an interviewer and copywriter in the "20th Century Kishinevians" project, and later became part of the initial composition of the Jewish youth theater "Dor." Among the recent projects, I can mention "IMPRO-media," where, under the careful guidance of Viki and Nata, a large team of volunteers created an animated film dedicated to the holiday of Purim, which gave me the opportunity to try myself in various production formats: dubbing, script writing and editing, as well as recording musical accompaniment.

Honestly, now it's difficult for me to remember all the projects in which I was involved in one way or another, but I can confidently say that all of them had an undeniable and extremely significant influence on me and my personal development.

I am very glad that I became a volunteer at RVC, because it was here that I got acquainted with Jewish culture and unexpectedly discovered the presence of Jewish roots on my father's side, which I had not suspected or thought about before.

Thanks to RVC, I attended the wonderful family Jewish festival "Anavim" and subsequently began attending the Jewish youth platform "Haverim," which gave me a huge boost in understanding my Jewish identity.

If not for all these elements, I would hardly ever have had the opportunity to participate in organizing and conducting large-scale events such as Community Shabbats, Avdalas, or off-site events, such as the volunteer conference in Ukraine or the "Generations Shabbaton: Festive Tishrei" as a madrich.

In conclusion, I can only say that I am very happy and grateful to fate for introducing me to such a wonderful community and such wonderful, friendly people who have truly become close friends to me and my loving family. I like "KEDEM" because here you are accepted as you are, and all your skills find application in the most suitable and interesting format, including for yourself. As a teenager, I was able to acquire a huge amount of skills and knowledge necessary for the future, and I really feel that I am developing my potential, so I want to express my immense love, respect, and gratitude to all those whom we encountered in one way or another on this path!

Curiosity led us to volunteering. My sister and I attended Romanian language classes at the International Training and Professional Development Center at KEDEM and became interested in the stands of the Volunteer Center. They were so bright and interesting that we wanted to learn more about it.

So we became volunteers for the "Call Center" project, which is designed for communicating with elderly members of the community. Our task is to provide information about upcoming events, congratulate them on holidays, conduct surveys, and find out what assistance they need. When the military actions started in Israel, we also called the elderly to provide prompt assistance.

We have also been involved in other volunteer initiatives. Last year, Kristina participated in the "Clean Chișinău" campaign on the Good Deeds  Day, and I helped organize a master class for the elderly in Buděšty. Together, we also assisted in conducting a master class for participants of the "Day Center" project.

We participate in the IMPROmedia project, and among other things, voiced an animated video on the history of Purim. We also joined the "Memory in Documents" project, but it is currently suspended due to the military actions in Israel. We have made several festive visits to community members with gifts and have also participated in workshops on making crafts and gifts for the elderly.

Volunteering for us is an opportunity to lead an active life, communicate, and help those in need of support. We take part in various events organized by the Volunteer Center and KEDEM, and we are very glad that we once followed our curiosity!

Hello, my name is Maria Barmina.

My desire to develop myself and interact more with people led me to volunteering, and the first step was participating in the "Bring a Smile" project, where I was invited by a friend. That's when I got acquainted with the Republican Volunteer Center and realized that it was the place where I could express myself and learn something new. The first experience turned out to be successful, so I decided to continue my volunteer activities.

In six months of volunteering, I have had the opportunity to participate in various projects. Within the "Call Center" project, we called elderly clients, communicated with them, and found out what assistance they needed. I also worked with children in a kindergarten and continued active participation in the "Bring a Smile" project. Each project requires deep immersion and encourages the discovery of new talents.

In addition to participating in projects, I attended a seminar for volunteers at the Volunteer School Hub, where we were taught how to launch and implement new projects. I am grateful to the center for giving me the opportunity to discover new facets of my personality by participating in various volunteer initiatives. For me, RVC has become a home where I am awaited by close friends and like-minded people. Together, we are capable of a lot, capable of changing people's lives for the better, and we do it every day! Now I can proudly say "I am a volunteer" and invite everyone to become part of our friendly team!

Hi all! My name is Linda Shcherbatova, I am 35 years old. I am a studied catering technologist-designer. At the age of 15, I joined the Jewish Cultural Center «KEDEM» and began to expand my educational horizons.

Volunteering has always held a special place in my heart, thanks to my parents and grandparents who raised me the right way.

At the moment I am participating in the project «The Origins of Mercy», which brings me joy, especially considering that my grandmother Greta is far away from me, because due to circumstances she had to move to another country. Often I meet older people who resemble my loved ones Greta and Izya. Their manners, habits or appearance give the impression that my relatives are next to me.

What does it mean to be a volunteer?

This is a moment of sincerity when you lend a helping hand in any situation. It is a manifestation of gratitude when you accept the arms of a person who has lived for many years. In their eyes you see only positive emotions accumulated over the years of life, and upon returning home you feel the aroma of the velvet skin of their hands. Being a volunteer makes me proud! This is a charge of positive emotions in our difficult time!

Hello! My name is Arina Tiginyan, I am 16 years old and I am in the 11th grade. I learned about the RVC at the end of a long journey in 2019, but I was afraid that he would not go because of the pandemic, and in the end he came only in 2022. During these almost 4 months, I managed to participate in many RVC projects aimed at improving our city and at socializing people’s diseases. I managed to take part in the projects “Clean Chisinau”, “Give me a paw”, “Chisinau residents of the 20th century”. In addition, I conducted English classes for children in the Jewish kindergarten, I was a volunteer at the European Cup among juniors in Chisinau 2022 in August. In September, I was lucky to be a member of the VC Festival for 4 cities of our Republic. Now I am helping to coordinate the School Ready project, which allows preschool children to learn the most important knowledge in mathematics and spelling. And this is far from all my activity, which I do in the Volunteer Center. The RVC is a volunteer center, where you sometimes get tired of voluntary activities, but at the same time it is a place of inspiration and learning new things. The concentration of happy people per square meter is simply over the top. Perhaps the outcome was natural in my life. I met common people, a couple of whom became my very close friends and my support. The Republican Volunteer Center is not a place and not just a couple of offices in KEDEM, it is a family and a second home.

Hello! I am Savchenko Ekaterina and I am 18 years old. I study in the 12th grade.

I learned about the Republican Volunteer Center from my grandmother. We moved from Ukraine to Chisinau in the spring, I had a lot of free time and few ideas for its implementation.

I have been volunteering for half a year. Previously, I had experience in conducting children’s parties as an animator, which significantly influenced the choice of the main direction of volunteering.

The main activity is working with children, since nothing is more invigorating than a couple of mischievous guys and preparing interactive educational programs.

The volunteer movement makes it possible to realize oneself as a person, to make our world a little happier and kinder, and just to relax in a circle of people who are close in spirit and occupation. For me, volunteering is an outlet.

There are a lot of stories related to the RVC: calling volunteers and informing the elderly, environmental campaigns, campaigns with animals, accompanying the elderly, working with children, excursions — all this breathes life into gray everyday life and provides an invaluable opportunity to develop and move forward.

I am glad to be a volunteer and actively promote this movement to the masses. I want to make this world brighter and kinder.