Pictured is Cindy Getchman (in back) with several of the children at her program in Medgidia, Romania.

When she was 40 years old, Cindy Getchman made a life-changing decision: she went on a mission trip to the Republic of Moldova. 

While there, Getchman, a St. Louis native whose parents have lived in Waterloo for more than 30 years, saw the terrible conditions children were living in.

“My whole life I had a heart for kids and helping them,” Getchman recalled. “I saw the conditions in Moldova and the orphanages, and I really knew that’s what I was supposed to do. It’s just like destiny and purpose collided. I just wanted to feed kids.”

Cindy, the daughter of Sister Cities of Portaloo members Bill and Jean Getchman, continued in her job as a hospital administrator and social worker for another year. 

Then she moved overseas, settling in Medgidia, Romania. 

With a population of around 40,000, Medgidia is the poorest region in a country that lost 5 million people last year to out-migration.

Medgidia residents subsist on about $1.50 a day…>>> 

Read more in the February 20, 2019, issue.

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