In our very first American Councils

Moldova Newsletter we will recount

the various projects and activities in

which our staff and alumni were ac-

tively involved since September

2012 until the end of the year.

Our most recent addition to the

Open World alumni list included

important leaders in the Moldovan

media, judiciary, local

administration, NGO sector, such as

Liliana Palihovici, Deputy Speaker of

the Moldovan Parliament, Mircea

Surdu, Director of Moldova 1,

Nichifor Corochi, President of the

Superior Council of Magistrates,

Sabina Cerbu, Chief of the Minister of

Justice Cabinet, Lorena Bogza, PRO TV

policital talk show host and producer.

Our American Language Center registered

over 200 open enrolment students and its

new corporate clients include Ministry of

Education, Coca Cola Moldova, Institute of

Educational Sciences and Moldtelecom.

Our Access Microscholarship Program

grew from 4 sites to 8 sites, inlcuing

Bender—from 80 beneficiaries of the first

round of scholarships to 120.

We would like to thank our staff and

alumni for their contribution to the

development of the organisation and

wish everyone A Happy New Year!

Inside this issue:

December 2012 American Councils Moldova

American Councils Moldova

Newsletter December 2012

Open World alum-

nus elected Direc-

tor of national tele-

vision channel Mol-

dova-1

First generation

of LFP alumni from

Moldova attend the

annual re-entry

event

FLEX alumna

raises $1000 at a

charity concert

Access students in

the regions imple-

ment community

development pro-

jects

On December 1st, the first gen-

eration of LFP alumni from

Moldova met at the American

Councils office for the very first

LFP re-entry event. American

Councils Moldova Country Di-

rector David Jesse welcomed the

new alumni and encouraged

them to act as agents for demo-

cratic change in Moldova and

engage in community develop-

ment projects. David Strashnoy,

Criminal Justice and Law En-

forcement Section, US. Embassy

in Chisinau introduced the LFP

alumni to the small alumni

grants and democracy grants

programs and explained in de-

tail how to put together a grant

proposal in the legislative field

and receive funding from the

Embassy. Lazari Alexei (Project

Manager at ROLLINSON

FOUNDATION) and Unciuc Ion

(First lieutenant, Deputy War-

den for educational activities,

social and psychological assis-

tance, Penitentiary nr.1-

Taraclia.), our first Spring LFP

alumni, presented their out-

bound project implemented in

August-September 2012, enti-

tled Intercultural exchange be-

tween Judicial Systems in the

US and Republic of Moldova.

They shared the challenges in

putting together an outbound

project and implementing it in

Moldova. Daniela Munca-

Aftenev, LFP Moldova Program

Officer talked about other fund-

ing opportunities for LFP alum-

ni projects, such as the Alumni

Engagement Fund offered by

State Department and intro-

duced the alumni into the basics

of project writing. The alumni

analyzed the international LFP

projects which won the competi-

tion in 2012.

fers to its finalists. Then,

Natalia talked about her fel-

lowship at the Department

of the Attorney General of

the State of Hawaii: depart-

ments she was placed in,

duties of attorneys within

these departments and her

daily responsibilities and

duties. The Moldovan stu-

dents from NIJ were inter-

ested to learn about the

In order to share from her

LFP experience, on Decem-

ber 19, LFP 2012 alumna

Natalia Vilcu-Bajurean had a

meeting with the students

from the National Insti-

tute of Justice of Repub-

lic of Moldova. The meet-

ing started with a general

presentation on LFP, its se-

lection process and the op-

portunities the program of-

US attorney general system

and its role in the judiciary.

Natalia shared her experi-

ence from her attending var-

ious trials in Honolulu Cir-

cuit Court, so the students

could compare the court

systems in US and Moldova.

The meeting ended with a

nice talk about life in US, its

people, culture and tradi-

tions .

First generation of LFP alumni from Moldova attend annual re-entry event

LFP alumna shares her experience with students from National Institute of Justice

LFP alumni appointed Head of Department of Direct Taxes Administration

Veronica Vragaleva was recently pro-

moted to the position of Head of De-

partment of Direct Taxes Admin-

istration in the General Direction of

Taxes in the Republic of Moldova

Main State Tax Inspectorate. Her

new responsibilities include reengi-

neering of business processes regard-

ing income tax, withhold tax, corpo-

rate tax and other taxes connected

with income, as well as elaborating

the legal framework of this sector of

taxation.

Page 2

American Councils Moldova Newsletter December 2012

OW September 2009 alum-

na Marina Lita facilitates a

study visit for 50 students

from Hungary, Macedonia

and Moldova at the Moldavi-

an National TV, Radio and

Newsprint "Jurnal Trust

Media". The students had

the opportunity to catch the

stars of Jurnal TV working in

the studio. They could ob-

serve the broadcast of live

news, see the equipment

used by journalists, talk to

journalists and discover

some secrets of contempo-

rary television, radio and

newspaper. Mrs Lita men-

tioned her own experience

while visiting the Channel 9

News in Washington D.C.

with the Open World pro-

gram in September 2009

and took initiative to open

the doors to these young

students. She convinced the

headquarters of the im-

portance of such visits for

the benefit of a better media

understanding.

Open World alumna Marina Lita initiates a study visit for 50 students from

Hungary, Macedonia and Moldova

Open World alumna Olga Melniciuc launches the second edition of the LeaderSHE project

OW alumnus elected Director of National Television Channel Moldova-1

as his rivals Ion Terguta and Alexandru Grosu received two and respectively, one vote by observers. Surdu is known as moderator of the talk show "Buna Seara" at the national television. In 2005 Mircea Surdu was named the "TV Face of the Year" by VIP Magazin as one of the most influential peo-ple in the national mass me-dia.

Chisinau, 14 December The Council of Observers (CO) of the Teleradio-Moldova public company today elected Open World alumnus journalist Mircea Surdu as director of the Moldova-1 TV Channel. This was the third attempt to elect a director for the national television in 2012. About five members of the CO voted for Surdu, where-

Page 3

American Councils Moldova Newsletter

“My goal is to

modernize this

institution I have

worked in for 27

years.”

Open World alumna Olga

Melniciuc launched the

second edition of the Lead-

erSHE project entitled

“National Mentoring Pro-

gram – Inspire Her!”, a

project made possible due

to the small alumni grants

offered by US Embassy in

Moldova. The project aims

to develop and support

young ladies (16-18 years

old) in their leadership

abilities, self-discovery,

respect for diversity, healthy deci-

sion-making, and civic engage-

ment in order to contribute to the

emergence and development of

the strong women leaders’ genera-

tion in Moldova. The mentors

within the program: Marie Moser

(US Ambassador in Moldova Wil-

liam Moser’s spouse), Ingrid Ters-

man (Ambassador of Sweden in

Moldova), Silvia Radu, Fenosa Gas

Natural General Director and

many other notorious women

leaders from Moldova.

Iurie Gutu

I had a very interesting day shadowing Mr.

Brent Colligan, our school principal. I

observed him filling a School improve-

ment repot, which in my opinion is a very

useful thing, because in my country people

try to improve things, but if member

would fill out such a form them maybe

each staff we would have where to start

from. I also mentioned to him that all the

staff members are really friendly, and he

said its part of their job to make kids feel

that they are needed, because it not only

helps them get better grades, but also

prevents kids from doing crazy things. I

actually learned that a principal's work is

not only sitting in a comfortable chair and

giving orders, but I covers a whole spec-

trum of work, and also that the

principle in America is much

more integrated into the school's

life. And I think that some

things are much more thought

about in the whole school sys-

tem then what I've seen before,

and some of the terms men-

tioned above actually work very

good so they could be integrated

in other school systems.

Elena Rusu

We spent a day with Evan

Wynn; he is a representative of

the 43rd assembly district of the

state where we live - Wisconsin.

Evan Wynn cares about people.

He always listens to them. One

of the main problems is insur-

ance. Sometimes insurance com-

panies refuse to pay people, if

something wrong happened. So,

Mr. Wynn makes new bills and

policies to make companies pay

to people. Mr. Wynn supports

opened government and he

wants people to know, what's

going on and what politicians

are doing. "Government works

well when people are involved",

he says. After our conversation

he gave us Blue Books - books

about State of Wisconsin, its

history, important facts and

events. It's very interesting and I

can get more information about

the state where I live.

FLEX delegates share impressions from US

FLEX alumni from Moldova in the anniversary FLEX Newsletter

FLEX alumni raises $1000 at a charity concert

and asking for tickets. We had

people standing during the concert

because there were no more free

seats. It was a great success and the

audience loved the concert. We

have proved to our community that

a well-organized group of volun-

teers can make a difference. It was

the first Charity Concert in Calara-

si. The Mayor, in his speech, men-

tioned that he is very proud of the

Calarasi youth and that we took

initiative in our hands. During the

concert, we have got a $200 dona-

tion from a lady who lives abroad;

she heard of our concert and want-

ed to help children and elderly

people. We have opened some new

talents to the community, but we

had some guests from outside of

Calarasi as well, Sanda Cheibas

(FLEX'11) and Andrei Ciochina;

and our special guest-Anatol

Mirzencu. After we concert, I got

many phone calls and messages

from different people: starting

with friends and ending up with

economic agents. They said that

the concert was something

unique that Calarasi have not

seen before. Many of them men-

tioned that the 20 lei price for

tickets was too low for such an

amazing and wonderful concert.

Nicoleta Dvornicov, FLEX

alumna

"The Charity Concert "Intinde o

Mina de Ajutor" was held at Casa

de Cultura, Calarasi on the 15th of

December. We have risen about $

1000 trough selling 500 tickets and

donations. We bought a clothing

washing machine for the Elderly

House, Calarasi; toys for 60 chil-

dren with special needs, and prod-

ucts for personal use (shampoo,

soap, toothpaste, toothbrush, etc.)

for 50 children from vulnerable

families. During the preparation

time we have faced different obsta-

cles, but in the end, we had a huge

success- our dream came true. It

was a great surprise to have people

calling 30 minutes before concert

Page 4

American Councils Moldova Newsletter December 2012

Elena Rusu

with

Evan Wynn,

Wisconsin State

representative

“When we were preparing

for the concert, we have

faced different obstacles,

but in the end, we had a

huge success- our dream

came true. ”

“The Right to Information” project was developed by a group of Access students from Transniestria, and im-plemented in the high school “Evrika” from Ribnitsa town, by installing an information-al board which will include periodical news updates. This way, 213 pupils and 30 teachers and other personnel from this educational insti-tution will have the possibil-ity to be informed about all the events happening all around the community, re-gion, country, or abroad. The main goals of the project were to make an informa-tional board, to install it on

the first floor of Evrika high-school, to create a group of volunteers who will periodi-cally update the news on the board, covering all interest-ing topics; thus involving students and adults in news sharing, debating and find-ing new solutions for the problems the school or com-munity has. At the end of the project all participants ac-quired good skills in manag-ing a real community pro-ject, through an active col-laboration with different organizations and communi-ty authorities, and, the most important, through group cohesion and power to strive

for the best results.

“It's for the first time in the history of our institution when students will provide news from around the school. It's a good oppor-tunity for them to practice themselves as journalists.” „I am sure that the news will be available not only during the project period, the news board will serve for other

generations too.”

Denis Dogoter, Access 2012 alumnus

Rezina/Ribnita-Access grant project:

“The Right to Information”

Ungheni-Access grant project implementation: “Making big

changes starting with the smallest ones”

help us stop the traffic in work

areas, involving more volunteers

in realizing the project, and

painting beautiful musical notes

on the road. This kind of pro-

jects have been done in some

well-known cities and had a

great popularity as it's some-

thing not only beautiful, but

useful too. The big difference

from the rest of white-black

crosswalks makes the idea as a

very interesting and innovative

way to keep drivers' attention

while driving near the place

where usually dozens of kids

pass by. "Being Access students

and studying the U.S Culture

and Civilization we learnt a lot of

useful and interesting things,

which we decided to adapt and

use in our community. So cross-

walks, and not the usual ones,

were things that we wanted to

implement in our town. Drawn

in a shape of musical notes near

schools, now they have the mis-

sion to increase the level of secu-

rity of each pedestrian, as each

driver stops to our signs." "We

worked hard, but in the end we

obtained the result we wanted,

the crosswalk is done and it is

situated near Lyceum "V. Al-

ecsandri" from Ungheni.

The community project "Making

big changes starting with the

smallest ones" was developed by

a group of 10 Access students

from Ungheni aimed to increase

community attention , especially

drivers, to the necessity of fol-

lowing traffic rules while driving

near schools, and , at the same

time, to make the town more

beautiful. Lasting 6 weeks, from

October to November, 2012, the

project included well-organized

activities, starting from contact-

ing authorities to obtain a for-

mal permission, buying all nec-

essary equipment and tools for

road painting; asking police to

Page 5

American Councils Moldova Newsletter December

„It was a exiting and interesting

experience for me as a coordinator

as I learnt how to listen all mem-

bers of the group and how to de-

fend our point of view to achieve

good results.”

"Against all obstacles we had, we

learnt that everything is possible if

you are strong motivated and you

really want to do it, there are no

limits. It is all about hard working

and strong desire to achieve your goal

successfully"

Ungheni-Access Grant Project Implementation: “Rocking Chair”

The idea of “Rocking Chair” pro-ject was to contribute to the im-provement of village Pirlita, Ungheni, especially the kindergar-ten which is very beautiful, and hosts a lot of children, but does not have enough equipment for the playgrounds such as rocking chairs, swings, slides , etc. So, the main goal of the project was to construct a rocking chair for the playground, paint it in national tricolor colors and install it in one of the poorest playground areas

from the kindergarten. To suc-ceed in their intention, under local smith guidance, the Access students bought all necessary materials, developed an original sketch of the rocking chair rele-vant for the kindergarten kids’ age, colored it in an attractive way, and then assembled on a playground. It was a wonderful experience for all involved in this project, as each of them learnt to work in group, to be more organized and responsi-ble , but the most important is

that everybody felt him/herself useful inspired to do may things for their community.

“During this project we under-stood that problems aren’t a wall in your way of achieving your goals. Yes, we worked a lot, but the result made us not regret about the effort that we have done. Children’s smiles, the brightness of their eyes motivated us to do this kind of projects, because they deserve this.”

In October 2012 the Amer-ican Language Center opened its new branch in Ungheni, hosted by the “Vasile Alecsandri” Lyce-um and coordinated by Diana Retcu, one of our Access English Micro scholarship teachers. The subdivision offers English language instruction to 5 groups of 40 students as part of a 4 month academic course which includes 64 academic hours. Respect-ing the curriculum and academic policies of the

American Language Center in Chisinau, the subdivision focuses on balancing tradi-tional teaching methods, such as the Communicative Language Teaching, Audio-Lingual, Presentation, Prac-tice, Production, and modern ones such as The Direct Method, The Silent Way, Task Based Instruction and the Four Skills approach. The courses pay a particular im-portance to the combination of 4 language skills: listen-ing, speaking, writing and grammar.

American Language Center (ALC) opens

branch in Ungheni

TOEFL and SAT preparation classes

four sections: Reading, Listen-ing, Speaking, and Writing, as well as improve their TOEFL, IELTS and SAT vocabulary and grammar vision by learn-ing useful techniques neces-sary to succeed in a real exam.

Our new corporate clients this semester are:

Coca Cola Moldova

Ministry of Education

Moldtelecom

Institute of Educational

Sciences

One of the most recent Eng-lish for Specific Purposes courses offered by the Ameri-can Language Center in 2012 was TOEFL, IELTS and SAT exam preparation. The cours-es are offered to Moldovan students planning to study or work abroad in an English speaking environment or to those who need an evaluation of their English level for im-migration purposes. The ex-am preparation courses are designed to help students achieve the best scores at all

Page 6

American Councils Moldova Newsletter December 2012

A new ALC project—English through Skype

One of our most innovative projects is English through Skype for Alumni, a project in collaboration with US Embassy in Moldova. Based on a grant offered by the Embassy to provide remote classes to US ex-change programs alumni from various regions, a special course taught through Skype was de-signed for 3 groups of dif-

ferent levels: beginner (six alumni from Cahul, Chisinau and Ialoveni), elementary (three alumni from Chisinau and Ungheni) and pre-intermediate (two alumni from Chisinau and Tiraspol). Classes are or-ganized 3 times a week and combine Skype teach-ing with online resources found on YouTube, Real

English, U.S.A. Learns and other free EFL / ESL web-based multimedia systems for adults learning English as a second language. Us-ing Skype’s group call op-tion, students from vari-ous corners of Moldova can listen to each other, engage in group discus-sions, write online dicta-tions and watch interest-ing movies online.

ALC new corporate clients

On November the 7th the American Councils for In-ternational Education in Moldova registered a quar-terly publication with the National Book Chamber of Moldova. The “Modern Trends and Resources for Teachers of Foreign Languages” was conceived to celebrate our 20th anniversary in Moldova and offer Moldovan teachers and university professors the opportunity to learn from our expertise. In 20 years of experience in teaching English, Russian and Romanian and

administering exchange such programs as Carnegie, FLEX, LFP, Access and Open World we accumulated valuable teaching techniques the Journal would help sharing with you. The Journal is designed to serve as a practice-oriented quarterly publica-tion for all those involved in the field of teaching English as a foreign language devot-ed to publishing practical papers in various aspects, fields and scope of the Eng-lish Language, such as but not limited to teaching and learning English as a For-eign Language (EFL).

American Language Center launches its first Teaching Journal

FLEX alumni visit orphanage in Căușeni with Christmas presents

from American Councils Mol-dova purchase personal hy-giene products for 35 students at the orphanage. In addition to that, the team of volunteers danced, played Secret Santa, made cards, etc. with the chil-dren and brought sweets, pas-try and fruit for the children. All the children were really happy, while the administra-tion admitted they were look-ing forward to seeing FLEX alumni team again.

On the 24th of Decem-ber Maxim Grama, FLEX 2012 alumni and FLEX city representative for Chis ina u organized a visit to the orphanage in the remote village To-cuz, district Causeni. Maxim was joined by his alumni colleagues Nicu Gaibu'12, Nicoleta Nichi-for'12, Alexandr Hrip-tun'08 and Aliona Apos-tol, and using a donation

Page 7

American Councils Moldova Newsletter December 2012

2012 has been a year for growth, development and innovation for American Councils Moldova. We brought two new ex-change projects to Mol-dova: Access Micro schol-arship and Legislative Fellows, we extended our American Language Cen-ter to Ungheni, Edineț

and Cahul and offered more scholarships to Moldovan citizens than in 2011. To account for all our results in 2012, we published our annual report in Romanian and English versions on our website.

American Councils Moldova publishes 2012 Annual Report

76 Kogalniceanu St.

Chisinau, Moldova

MD-2009

Phone: (+373 22) 22-58-60

Fax: (+373 22) 23-48-73

E-mail:

daniela@americancouncils,md

American Councils Moldova Newsletter December 2012

Ana Indoitu as FLEX alumna of the Month of November

We are on the web!

www.americancouncils.md

Ana Indoitu '11, FLEX's City Representative to Tintareni, Moldova is our CR of the Month for November. Thanks for a job well done, Ana!!! Ana has only been in the position since October, and within a short month of taking up the responsibility, she and another FLEX organized a two-day leadership seminar for high school students, which involved 35 participants and sup-port from the district's Department of Education. It was also covered re-gionally by the media.

In November, she also cooperated with Orange company and NGO "Viata Noua" to educate people in Anenii Noi about HIV/AIDS through flier distri-bution and a dance flash mob. This public health effort reached at least 100 people in the community. As if this wasn't enough to make us proud of Ana's amazing accomplishments as a FLEX alumna, we're excited to report she recently won second place in the National Volunteer Festival's essay contest on the topic "An Active and Involved Volunteer is a True Citizen." She is a participant in the LeaderSHE project as well as a member of the NGO "Astra," too.

Thank you, Ana, for everything you do, and for setting such a great example to us and to members of your community, both there in Moldova and across Eurasia!