Third Place

"Moldova Child"

Moldova is Europe's poorest country. Since 2004, more than a million people have left the country in search of a more prosperous future. Left behind are thousands of children who are brought up by their elderly relatives or left at institutional boarding schools. Young boy Hugh jr plays in his police uniform that was given by an english missionary who visits Baroncea village several times a year.
Moldova is situated in between East and West, a borderland country that still has strong cultural and historical ties with Russia.
Young people have fled the country, leaving an dwindling, elderly population and young children. Schools are forced to close and whole villages are erased on the map. Some of them will never meet their parents again. For the children of Moldova, the future is uncertain.