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AUGUST 2003
The Sonechko orphanage is located about 150 km from Kiev in the
Priluky, Chernigiv region. Here, all of the children have psychological and
speech development delays. It is home to around 150 pupils aged 4-7 years old at
any one time and has 140 employees.
The orphanage director, Kotlyarova Lidia Vasilyevna, was happy
to hear about the donation and said that they need clothes for the children and
linens like blankets, sheets, pillowcases and bedspreads. Since they have a
sewing machine, they just need fabric. She told us that they also need
slippers, cups, toys, medicines and computers.
Liberty International helped us once again and, with $3000 of
funds donated by the Bohonowicz family and others, we purchased 150 cups, 90
pairs of slippers, toys and over 1500 meters of fabric.
Yuri and Nikolay arrived at the orphanage on August 17th and
unloaded the van. The orphanage doctor, who was on duty that day, welcomed them.
She was extremely glad to see us and to receive the donation.
The doctor showed us the orphanage and told us that most of the
children were adopted by American and Italian families. During the last 3 years,
there were 35 adoptions by foreign families and 2 adoptions by Ukrainian. There
were fewer adoptions this year than last year.
The orphanage staff teaches the children about the history and
culture of Ukraine. They have music classes with musical instruments to play and
they focus on different topics with events like Health Week and Theater Week.
The orphanage workers and children invite their sponsors to visit for some of
their events, performances, and celebrations. Very often the children go to
summer camps abroad. The orphanage staff is very proud that the children treat
the orphanage as their own home.
However, the orphanage has its own problems and needs. The
daily ration of a child is about 4.5UAH (0.84 USD). The children there have
enough food, but the situation must be improved. They don't have enough clothes
and the clothes they have are secondhand. That is why they are very grateful for
the donation we brought, because now they will be able to sew not only linens
but clothes too.
They also don't have enough medicine or enough building
materials. They don’t get much funding from the Local Administration, so they
have to look for sponsors. The orphanage needs repairs and they want to renovate
the children’s playground.
The orphanage staff said hello and sends best wishes to the
Bohonowicz family and the other families that were responsible for this
trip.
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Over
6 years experience & 300 completed intl. adoptions
