“Island of Hope” for disabled children
19.07.2008 | Publications
“Vyspa
Nadzei” (
When
the centre was founded, all of its guests were children. Today the majority of
guests are over 18 years old however de facto they still remain children. Some of
them are not capable of moving without assistance, others can not do simple
things by themselves, for instance, putting on clothes. They should not be left
on their own accord. Most of these ‘children’ come from single-parent families
and have mothers only. The Head of the Centre, Ludmila Gutsko says:
“39
out of 45 of our patients live in single-parent families, with their mothers.
In 90 % of cases, a husband is leaving the family when a child is born with a psychiatric
disorder. To take care of such children all day around means having no
opportunity to work. Pensions for disabled are extremely insignificant and do
not allow for survival. More over, the psychological and physical burden is
unbearable when one has to be with such child in a house all day around. Therefore
the assistance we offer is crucial for these families. They have an opportunity
to bring their child to our Centre in the morning and to collect her or him in
the evening. These children receive medical and psychological assistance at the
Centre. Depending on their capabilities and skills, staff of the Centre play
developing games with these children and teach them various skills”.
Before
2001 this social project was receiving grants and financial support from the
state budget via the Republican Partnership for Disabled. Later on, the provision
of assistance for civil organizations from the state budget was abolished by
the presidential order, regardless of the nature of their activities. After a
while, the existence of the Centre was risking extinction due to the lack of
financial resources.
On one hand, the Centre
owed 16 million to the State and on the other hand, there were difficulties
with receiving financial support from their long term Swedish partner, a charity
organization “A Star of Hope”. Internal procedural rules of “A Star of Hope”
allowed providing assistance to the disabled children only. When this NGO
became a partner of the Centre “Vyspa Nadzei”, all the patients were children.
Now, de jure, they are adults, therefore the Swedish NGO has not grounds to
provide financial support to the disabled adults bearing in mind its legal procedures.
As of today, the Centre is
doing better. The Swedish partner made an exception from the rules and extended
the financial assistance contract. The Republican Partnership for Disabled paid
out its loan to the state. However financial issues still remain. The State provided
benefits to the Centre regarding renting premises: it is free of charge;
however “Vyspa Nadzei” is still entitled to another six various types of
payments: for amortization, for land, property tax, exploitation cost, capital
and regular reconstruction payments, utility payments, including heating and
electricity. On average it all adds up to around Br 3 million per month.
Due to the lack of
resources, “Vyspa Nadzei” had to refuse renting the basement space, where the
Centre previously had ceramics and embroidery workshops, sports centre and storage.
Today the Centre hopes to reoccupy these premises and to continue trainings for
its patients.
The Centre is making
virtually no money on payments from the parents. The amounts they pay to the
Centre for taking care of their children are symbolic and in the meantime
significant for the parents of the disabled children.
Dissemination of
information about the Centre and its challenges helped the Centre to find
another partner in
Address of the Centre “Vyspa
Nadzei”:
Bank details for financial support:
Account number: 3015004058003
Minsk Filial “Tsentralnoye” OAO “Belvneshekonombank”,
code 728
UNN 101127909, OKPO 37413079
Iryna Osipava
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03.01
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07.10
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22.09
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17.08
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12.08
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30.09
