“Every stone, every door, every window in this house has been paid with money from abroad,” says Gheorghe Sarivan. He looks around the house and is quiet. “And still it is not comparable with houses in Europe. We don’t even have a bathroom inside.”

Sarivan lives in Siscani a small village towards the border with Romania. The roads are in terrible condition. Some parts are so bad, people rather drive through the grass. Not that many people have a car. People walk, ride a bike or use their horse and cart.

Moldova is the poorest country in Europe, with an average income of about 100 euro a month. This is the main reason why a quarter of the Moldovan workforce is working abroad. For Siscani this is not different. In the village almost every family has at least one relative outside the country who sends back money to repair the house and pay for the kids school or university.

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“Imagine you are an orphan in Moldova,” says Melody Cameron. “You grown up within four walls, you have never passed the gate you’re entire life and when you turn sixteen, you are sent away with twenty dollars in your hand. You have no idea where to go, how to earn money to eat, or where to sleep that night. So you’re sitting at a bus stop and someone in an expensive car and nice clothes comes by. He tells you that he has a job for you. Imagine the relief. Work means money, food and everything is going to be all right.”

But the truth is far from that. In fact the orphan will be trafficked, ending up in forced labour. “These guys take advantage of the fact that these kids don’t have many social skills,” says Cameron. For the past six years she’s been trying to prevent young girls ending up in the sex industry. How? To provide orphans with a place to stay, after they are forced to leave their shelter at the age of sixteen.

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