Gina Hey recently returned home from two years of Peace Corps service in the small, barely-known country of Moldova
Gina Hey returns from Peace Corps in Moldova
By: Ronna Lawless, Staff Writer October 20, 2003
Gina Hey of Slater recently returned home from two years of Peace Corps service in the small, barely-known country of Moldova.
SLATER - Gina Hey of Slater recently returned home from two years of Peace Corps service in the small, barely-known country of Moldova. She has a new appreciation for things like running water, peanut butter and automobiles.
Hey grew up in Cambridge and Slater, graduating from Ballard High School in 1996. She attended the University of Iowa and graduated in 2001 with a bachelor's degree in elementary education.
The Peace Corps came recruiting to UI, and the idea appealed to Hey. So she agreed to serve in a Moldovan school for two years where she taught English as a foreign language.
The Peace Corps has been sending volunteers to Moldova since 1993. Moldova is a beautiful country with many lakes, green rolling hills and panoramic vistas.
It's a former Soviet republic, bordered by Romania and Ukraine. Known for its dark, fertile soil, Moldova occupies just more than 13,000 square miles of some of the richest farmland in the world. On the map, the country's border makes it look like a bunch of grapes, which seems appropriate given the citizens' love of wine.
"I think it's a lot like it was here in Iowa 100 years ago," Hey said from the comfort of her parents' kitchen in Slater.
Moldova is a small country, about the size of Maryland. It formed 11 years ago following the fall of the Berlin Wall. Formerly a part of Romania, Moldova was under Soviet power for nearly 50 years. The Russians brought their culture and language to the area and modernized it with universities, libraries and stadiums. In 1991, Moldova gained independence and many of the Russians, along with their money, vanished.
The people of Moldova are warm and generous. They enjoy social gatherings and festivities and have a great appreciation for folk songs, traditional dances, homemade wines and delicious foods.
"When I first got to Moldova there was just one ATM machine in the capital," Hey said. "By the time I left, they were popping up all over the place."
But despite the advances in the capital city, progress in Moldova's villages has been slow. Horse carts are much more common in the small towns than cars. Homes don't have furnaces but rely on centrally-located coal heated stoves called a soba.
The Peace Corps paid its volunteers in the country's currency, the lei. The organization also provided them with housing and food.
The village where Hey taught had about 1,500 people.
"Most families have at least one person who works outside the country and sends money back for the family," Hey explained. "There just aren't enough jobs there to support the people who live there."
With an average monthly wage of $30, the opportunities for educated people are practically nonexistent.
During the summer, Hey and the other Peace Corps volunteers put on camps for boys and girls.
It wasn't always Hey's goal to join the Peace Corps, but it was the dream of one of her best friends, Kate Ellis of Huxley. Ellis is currently serving in the corps in Benin, Africa. Hey was able to visit Ellis in Africa for 30 days before coming home after her two-year commitment in Moldova.
"It's funny because it was always Kate's dream to be in the Peace Corps and then I ended up being the first one to go," Hey said. "Kate left for Africa a year after I left for Moldova."
Although it's the second smallest of the former Soviet republics, Moldova is the most densely populated. A large percentage of the 4.4 million residents live in the small towns and rural villages scattered across the countryside.
"Everyone has a backyard vineyard," Hey said. "And each family makes their own wine."
Sugar in Moldova comes from sugar beets and cooking oil comes from sunflowers, which grow plentifully in the country. One of Hey's favorite Moldovan dishes was a ravioli-like food filled with cheese or potato. She missed peanut butter, spaghetti sauce and soft bread.
"When I got home I gained 10 pounds in eight days, but fortunately it kind of leveled off there," she said with a smile.
Moldovans enjoy wine, vodka and dancing on a pretty regular basis, she said.
"Young kids there liked learning English," she said. "They enjoyed playing outside a lot."
There was no plumbing in the school. School supplies and books were limited, but thanks to generous donations from Ballard schools and the Slater library, Hey's class had colorful posters on the walls and great books on the shelves.
"It was really helpful to receive donations from back home," Hey said. "It meant a lot and the kids loved it."
Gina is the daughter of John and Linda Hey of Slater. Linda is a physical education instructor for Ballard schools. John is a planner with the Iowa Department of Transportation. Hey also has two siblings, her brother Nathan, who lives in Chicago, and her sister, Carly, who attends the University of Iowa.
In a twist of fate, Hey's best friend in Moldova had the opportunity to visit America while Hey was still in Moldova. The man who was in charge of organizing several Moldovans' visit to Des Moines stopped by the Hey's house in Slater on an unrelated issue involving a computer donation. While he was there, the subject of being a host family came up.
So where did Gina's friend Aurilia end up staying? In Gina's bedroom in her parents' home.
"It was just so strange how it turned out," Hey said. "For Aurilia to even come to America was a big thing, to be in Iowa was more of a coincidence. For her to end up here with my parents was just wild."
When Aurilia returned to Moldova where she was the director at Hey's school, she said she'd had a great time.
"Aurilia told me, 'I knew you lived well in America, but I didn't know you lived that well,'" Hey said.
©Ames Tribune 2003
