Moldova
The heart of the mission of Sweet Sleep rests in the hearts and lives of the orphaned and abandoned children of Moldova, a Third World country between Ukraine and Romania. According to a recent United Nations study, Moldova is the poorest country in Europe. The CIA World Fact Book estimates 80% of the population lives below the poverty line, earning less than $1 U.S. per day.
Moldova has struggled greatly since its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. The victims of this impoverished young country are its children. More than 13,000 children (birth to 16 years) are growing up in orphanage institutions. The government does not have the money to sustain the needs of these children.
Beds in these state-run institutions are nearly 50 years old. Constructed of metal, it is common for bed springs to have “sprung”—leaving gaping holes in which the thin cotton mattresses fall through to the floor. Children will usually use shoestring or rope to tie the holes together.
The mattresses are heavily soiled and stained as many children suffer from bedwetting as a result of the trauma and abandonment they have experienced. Since children are often only able to bathe once a week, orphanages commonly experience large breakouts of lice, scabies and other diseases that effect their bedding and health.
Replacing these mattresses and pillows with clean ones is essential to the health and well-being of these children.
These new Sweet Sleep beds have beautiful, wooden frames, six-inch-thick foam mattresses and fluffy new pillows, vinyl mattress and pillow covers, new sheets and a cozy new comforter.
