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News Update:
Lottery Success! |
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August 2003 |
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Preventing Babies being Abandoned in
Belarus |
| We are delighted
to report that the International Grants
Committee of the Lottery has just
announced details of new projects it has
agreed to fund over the next 3 – 4 years
and our prevention project is one of the
successful applications. |
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| Full funding has
been approved for a 3-year project to
prevent babies being abandoned in
maternity hospitals. Last year 552
babies, many of them with mild to
moderate disabilities, were abandoned.
You will know from previous updates that
most of them will spend the rest of
their lives in orphanages. They are
unlikely ever to experience a normal
family life even for short periods. The
grant will mean that work can start to
stop this happening in future |
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Four
babies abandoned last year. Each of
their mothers needed help. None was
available.
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| This is
absolutely wonderful news! We know that
given reassurance and lots of
encouragement while still in hospital
most of the Mums could care for their
babies themselves and overcome the
stigma that still attaches to
disability. We in Britain are familiar
with medical social workers in maternity
hospitals but in Belarus it is unheard
of. It reminds me of the horror with
which my suggestion about fostering was
greeted 4 years ago! The comments were
very similar. “ Margaret, it won’t
work!” “Only doctors and nurses are
allowed in hospitals” “You cannot be
serious about trying to change things!”
But gradually the powers that be have
been persuaded that, given practical
help and friendship when a baby is born
and, later, access to specialist help
and periods of respite care in foster
homes, many Mums could be helped. |
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| The grant will
fund the appointment and training of two
Belarusian social workers, who will be
based in two large maternity hospitals
in Minsk, and the training of groups of
professionals in Belarus. It will also
provide for the development of parent
support groups and respite care.
Specialist training will be provided, in
West Sussex and in Belarus, by specially
selected and experienced British child
care professionals – health visitors,
social workers, occupational therapists,
paediatric psychologists, family workers
and other specialists. If any
professional in any of these fields who
reads this is interested in helping
please make contact. |
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| It seems along
time since, five years ago, I began to
write about what I had seen when I
visited Belarus for the first time. At
that time the numbers of children being
brought up in large, impersonal
orphanages desperately upset me. I asked
you and so many others for help.
Friends, colleagues, organisations to
whom talks were given, and parishes
throughout West Sussex gave generous
donations. And then we persuaded the
County Council’s Social Services
Department to sponsor an application to
the Government’s Department for
International Development to fund a
project to introduce and develop
fostering. At the time the concept of
foster care was not understood in
Belarus. There was no word for it and I
was told that I had absolutely no chance
of succeeding …. The last update gives
the succinct response to that! |
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| And now we are
moving to the next stage. We are hoping
to prevent babies being admitted to
orphanages in the first place! |
| The
project will start officially on
1st April next year as the
fostering project finishes. We
will still need money for the
things that the grant will not
fund – the school books, special
clothes, Leckey chairs and other
equipment for children with
special needs, food for special
diets, and drugs. We do so hope
that we can count on your
continuing support. In the
meantime, all of us in the team
wanted to say a very big thank
you to everyone who has helped
so far. You have all been
wonderful! |
Youlia and Valentina have lived
in Orphanage Number 3 all their
lives because there was no help
for their mothers when they were
born. They are entitled to
families |
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| Margaret
Bamford |
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