Handicraft centre and local brand involving natives to be set up in Pelinia

Chisinau, 18 April /MOLDPRES/- A traditional handicraft and costume centre will be set up in Pelinia village, Drochia district, for the 40 local craftsmen to practice the craftsmanship of the area. The centre will have an area of about 200 square meters in the House of Culture and will be put into operation by September 2018.

All this is possible thanks to an economic project implemented in the locality by the mayoralty and Association “Băştinaşii din Pelinia" (Masters of Pelinia), with the support of the Swiss government, which offered a grant of 25,000 dollars. The support is part of the Migration and Local Development project, carried out by the United Nations Development Program in Moldova. At the same time, the city hall will offer 3,000 dollars, and natives are urged to collect 2.5 thousand dollars on Guvern24 fund-raising platform.

“This is a perfect model for solving many problems at local level by using the existing elements in the region: preserving traditions, creating a local brand that will promote the image of Pelinia village, and creating a community business that will bring incomes to the people and respectively, will reduce the migration rate, especially among women,” project manager Olesea Cazacu said.

“We will arrange a workshop for making popular costumes. Also, the centre will allow to organize sessions and courses for young people in order to transmit the art of creating costumes and crafts, which will become a visiting card of the locality, as well as a source of income for the population,” Mayor of Pelinia village Titus Sărăteanu said.

To reunite the natives and make them known the new project, the villagers organized a session where the craftsmen taught the young people and others to weave carpets, towels, etc.

Thanks to the implementation of this project, the House of Culture in Pelinia will be provided with heating, water and sewerage. “The first community project was the development of the park in the locality. We are glad this new programme will help the inhabitants of the native village. We will always support such projects and we will come up with new initiatives, as we care about the people who stayed in the village, the children here and homeland,” Viorel Borș, head of the Association of Natives in Pelinia, said.

Pelinia is one of the 15 localities benefitting from grants offered by the Swiss government for local economic development. The Migration and local development project supports 38 localities in the country, selected on a competitive basis, to turn migration from the problem into opportunity.

(Reporter L. Grubîi, editor L. Alcază)