vorsel orphanage Donation TRIP 

April 2002

The Morrisons and  Pfizer Foundation raised 500.00 for the orphanage in Vorsel,  (Kyiv region).  International Management Services donated transportation services including the driver's fee & van. SRC donated funds to cover salaries and taxes associated with this project  and  waved   8%  management fee.   The total funds used for the Vorsel orphanage donation totaled $500.00.   

Vorsel orphanage is located only 30 minutes northwest of Kyiv, and has no specific name.

The orphanage is a specialized baby house for children with central nervous system problems. Founded in 1933, the facility is located in a recreation area where many camps are situated.  Some authorities are trying to relocate the children to a kindergarten building and use the current facility for a health resort.  

The orphanage was designed to hold 150 children ages 0-4 and at the moment it houses 120 children.

  We contacted the orphanage to find out their current needs, and after several conversations with the director, came up with the following items which we purchased in Kyiv.

. 

Description  

Quantity  

Price 

     $199     

$143

$123

1 case

  $35    

TOTAL:

   $500

Our group for the Vorsel donation delivery trip left Kiev on April 23rd.   Our team consisted of Yuri (SRC office manager), Nikolai, the van driver, and Dimitriy the translator. We arrived at the baby house mid-morning, and began to unload the donated items.

The director of the orphanage, Volodymyr Sygarovych Mirtychiv, has been working there for 3.5 years and has about 225 people on staff, and greeted us warmly to receive all the cotton & flannel fabric for clothing & swaddling.  

We presented the items to them formally, which we had purchased after getting the list of needs of the orphanage several weeks before. 

We helped to unload and store the fabric and saw many other items which had been donated by other sponsors in the storeroom.

 After receiving the gifts, the director and his staff spent some time describing the children’s living situation and activities in the orphanage to us.  

Next, the director took us on a tour, and gave us some information about the children and their environment as we went.  

The children follow a daily routine as the teachers work with them to help with speech development and other skills. 

They also have regular special entertainment programs for the children such as theatre or musical performances.

The children are fairly well fed. The daily budget per child is 4.62 hryvna, which is slightly less than one dollar. 

In addition, the orphanage is well supplied with medicine, food and clothes thanks to various sponsors' help.

However, there are certain needs that can never be fully met. The older children constantly need shoes and tights, and the younger ones need baby formula. 

The nurses lack some medical equipment too; particularly a system for inhalation.

The director showed us the gas heating system which one American company had purchased for the orphanage to help keep the children warm during the long winters (they were using a coal system before). He expressed his gratitude for this and other much needed donations which improve the care and health of the children.    

The director also introduced us to one particular boy in the orphanage who is about to have surgery on his hips and he told us that sponsors paid for this surgery as well.

A view of the sleeping hall

We enjoyed our visit, and were impressed with how the staff try to take care of the children with the resources that they have. 

The director mentioned that they have both Ukrainian & foreign adoptive parents, and that during the last year the number of foreign adoptions were greater than Ukrainian ones. 

We also had several questions for the director. We were interested to know if the adopted children (and their adoptive parents, of course) keep in touch with the orphanage after they leave, or if any have returned as adults to find out about their origin, to explore their roots. The children do keep in touch with the orphanage, he said, and there is even a special board with pictures  from many children who have been adopted from the orphanage.  

We finished our tour of the orphanage, and after many thanks, the director and staff waved good-bye to us, sending greetings to their friends in the US. who have partnered with them to care for the children in the orphanage.    

COMMENTS

If you want to be a part of our charity programs and share your heart with Ukrainian orphans, please check with us at our_kids@earthlink.net to find out about upcoming humanitarian trips and how you can make a difference in the world.

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