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Adriana Buciușcanu, a young woman from Orhei, has started her own business using European money while being on maternity leave. Being a teacher by profession, the woman opted for an area which she is most familiar with – educational services. The Center “Magic Key” which was launched one year ago succeeded already to get to be known, hence the number of beneficiaries is constantly increasing.
A spacious and bright hall, very colorful and joyful furniture, lots of toys and teaching materials – this is what parents see when they take their children to the educational center “Magic Key”. The center was launched thanks to a grant of about 10 000 Euro, that Adriana obtained from the EU's Support to Confidence Building Measures Programme, implemented by UNDP with the financial support of the European Union.
The center provides services for several dozens of children from Orhei city, the majority being of preschool age. Before the launch of this center, most of the children were just left home alone, if the parents were busy with other things. Now everyone is pleased. The parents are sure that somebody supervises their children and trains them appropriately. The small ones are even happier, as they get in the center the comfort a child may wish for, and every day learn new and interesting things from teachers.
In the very morning, the center is visited by the youngest beneficiaries – children aged 3-4 years old. Sitting around a table, they learn the letters and the figures, being guided by Daniela, one of the volunteers of the center.
Erica, a four-years-old girl, with a joyful smile and a girlish pigtail, comes to the center three times per week. Although she is one of the youngest children in the center, she gets along marvelously and succeeds to keep the pace with other children. The girl has been attending the educational center since its opening, and the mother is happy for having the possibility to offer her some additional knowledge while she is busy with the baby of the family, Dumitraș.
And if Erica comes here to get prepared for school, other children study English language, participate in different activities, get their homework done or just are being supervised while their parents are at work.
“The business grows with my children”
Two years ago, Adriana Buciușcanu was only dreaming of having the possibility to get her own business. After graduating from the Pedagogical Faculty in Suceava, the woman worked as a teacher in a state institution and afterwards in a private center. The idea to start up her own business appeared while she was on maternity leave with her second child. “Being a mother of two children, I really got to understand the need of such services in Orhei. Now the business grows with my children,” says the young woman. The chance to see her dream come true appeared unexpectedly. She saw the announcement about the contest in social media, filled in the application, passed all the contest stages, and got the grant. She was still on maternity leave when she launched the center.
Adriana states that she would not have dared to try her luck without the EU financial support.
“I did not have the capacity and the courage to launch such a center without these financial resources. Me and my husband, both of us are working for the state and we would never have succeeded to collect the necessary amount to start up a business of ours,” says the woman.
She went through a number of selection stages to obtain the grant, and after winning the contest, she attended dozens of joint trainings for young people from both sides of the River Nistru and learned what it means to manage one’s own business. At all stages, she was helped and coached by a mentor employed in the project.
According to the young business lady, the biggest challenge was to maintain the center during the first year of its activity. “Sometimes it is more difficult to stay on the peak of the mountain, than to get there. I have succeeded to win the grant, but it was much more difficult for me to keep this business alive for one year,” states the woman. She recognizes that her financial forecasts were not fully justified, but she is totally confident of her business future. While many parents cannot yet afford themselves such services for their children, although the prices are rather symbolic, the number of beneficiaries goes up slowly but surely.
Her plan is to transform the educational center into a private kindergarten, where children would stay over the entire day, and not only for several hours.
“The support from the European Union was a real start for my business. Now I am looking for possibilities to access other grants to grow and develop my business. Our clients’ loyalty proves that the services we offer are of quality, efficient and necessary,” says the young woman.
Social project – one plus one
Another plan for the future is to transform her business into a social project. Adriana is dreaming of offering a chance for a successful education start to children from poor families. Hence, in future, the parents who will enroll their children in the center, will have the possibility to recommend the enrolment of one more child from a family with modest incomes, who would attend the center free of charge.
Adriana Buciușcanu is one of those over 70 young people from both sides of the River Nistru, who got European grants for a value up to 13.500 Euro to start up or develop a business. Moreover, the young people benefited also from services provided by personal consultants, who over a period of 14 months have helped them to manage their businesses as efficiently as possible.
The Support to Confidence Building Measures Programme, financed by the European Union and implemented by UNDP, contributes to enhancing confidence among the population from both sides of the River Nistru by involving representatives of business environment, local communities and civil society in joint projects for business and social infrastructure development.