Cristina MALAHOVA, member of the Executive Committee, Project Coordinator

The year 2015 changed life into "before" and "after".

In February 2015, I received news that still lingers in my mind: "Unfortunately, your child has leukemia." At that moment the Earth was gone from under my feet. How? Why? For what? - those were the first questions. At that time I had 2 more children at home, the little one only a year old. Many thoughts and fears, but with the help of God and the people who were with us, but also thanks in total to the doctors of the Oncology Institute of Chisinau, we won!

We started to rehabilitate ourselves, but my thoughts and souls were there, at the hospital, with the children, who did not have as much support as we had from friends and close people. And so, out of the immense love for the suffering children, came the idea of reviving this Associate to offer help and support to these brave children. After finishing the treatment, since 2016 I am always with these children to help them go through the treatment more easily.

And even if everything was good and nothing predicted misfortune, in March 2018, when our family grew up with another child, I being the mother of 4 wonderful children, we remembered again in the ward, but not as a volunteer of the Association, but as the mother of an oncological patient with relapse. The fight was fierce, sometimes extreme, but this time too, with the help of God, we won!

For me, the opportunity to help these little fighters has become the meaning of life! Sometimes it's very hard for me and I wonder: Can I still do it? How long will I last? Every case goes through me, as if it were my child. And at that moment only one thing comes to mind: if not me and our team, then who? Who, if not us, those who have gone through the ordeal of treatment, will give support and hope to parents? From my own experience I know how important it is to be able to share the crazy fear for your child's life with someone who has already gone through this hell.

I feel blessed that I have come to be able to help the families that are in the situation that we have been in.

Cristina Malahova

🍀 You can find more information on how you can help us support the little patients in the pediatric wards of the Oncological Institute.