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Stichting “Helping Hands” Foundation

The new Newsletter Helping Hands December 2016 Click here.

The Meaning of the flag:
The blue of the sky and
the yellow of the wheat fields


 

Ukraine


The Ukraine is a country with 50.000.000 inhabitants and by size compared to France.
The Ukraine was known as the Cereal Barn of Europe, but the communist regime led the country in great poverty.
After the Ukraine became independent in 1991 the country tries to restore itself, but that happens very slow.
70% of the population lives beneath the poverty line, and especially the children are suffering.
The nuclear disaster in Chernobyl in 1986 still leaves traces behind. There are still children being born handicapped, there are relatively many children whom are born physically and mentally handicapped. Usually there is not the adequate care for these children.
Because of poverty, parents often cannot care for their children, these children are being left behind and land in children homes, but there is not enough medical care available.
These children are put in old buildings which date from the beginning of the last century.
These buildings are old and badly maintained, and therefore very unhealthy for the children.
There is no money from the government to fix, renovate or maintain these buildings.
Also the interior and the furniture, like beds and boxes are old and not good for the children.
The children are wearing thick clothes because the rooms are hard to heat up. Windows are not closing well and bad radiators in front of the windows. And everything is done in mass, like 10 babies using the same bottle laying all together in one box. There is no time and personnel to feed the babies separately and with love. This has of course influence in the lives of the children. On the picture you can see that a load of shoes has arrived, so ...  almost all are wearing the same sandals.


 

Lonely and Abandoned children

The abandoned and orphaned children are gathered in different age groups, and usually the children live with 100 - 120 together in one building.
The first group is for children from 0 - 4 years old. Each day they have a walk, or are being strolled in the garden. Of course with the caretakers, so for a little walk they go in small groups because there are not enough care takers and there are not enough strollers to go out with 120 children. That means that the children can be outside for about 15 minutes. The children are living in groups of 10 - 12 children in different apartments, there they live, and they do not have contact with the other apartments. So the children don't see much of the outside world.
Because of the maintenance work, the whole day has been programmed and everything happens on time. When the children are 4 years old they go to a different home, here they get their first school lessons, but this happens where they live.
 

 

At lunchtime the children always eat red beet soup with dry bread. During our visits we have never seen differently. They do pay attention to the necessary nutrition chart, but they use the minimum requirements. Fruit is luxurious, so an apple is eaten with dark spots and all.

When the children reach age 7 or 8, they go to the Boarding school, there usually is not much supervision. Then they go to regular schools.
That means that then the children get to know the big mean world without good supervision.
Resulting that many children end up on the street and in prostitution and in addiction.
At the moment there are thousands of problem children in the Ukraine.
In the Capital Kiev alone there are 25.000 children who live on the street for various reasons.

The children are out in the sun for a short while. All are children who need to be more in the sun. On the picture you can see the playing children in their department. On the picture above you can see the children in front of their classroom where they have classes and where they eat  as well.

What can we do about it, how can we help?

 

What does Stichting “Helping Hands” Foundation do?

Stichting “Helping Hands” Foundation helps the children homes in the city called L’viv. The city L’viv is located in the District L’viv in the west of the Ukraine and it has a population of 850.000. The children home has about 100 children ranging from 0 to 4 years old, so this is a home for the first stage shelter for the children. On the picture you can see the main building of the children home on the 117 Antonovych street in L’viv. Behind the main building there are 2 more buildings where the children are located. On the pictures below, you can see that the renovation of the children home is very necessary.

Step by step, as there is money available,  work is being done to renovate the departments. Until now 2 departments are finished. It is fantastic to see where the children can live now. New beds, new furniture, new curtains, new heating units, everything painted in fresh colors.  Light and cozy.

Also new sanitary for each department, with each child its own potty.

Youth is helping the children

For several years already Stichting “Helping Hands” Foundation is organizing youth group trips to the Ukraine. The youth help with painting, wall paintings and pay attention to the children. Because of the big amount of children and the busy routine of the personnel, the children get little personal attention. When the weather is good, baby’s are not more than 15 minutes outside. That is per department 180 minutes, that is 1 hour work for 3 personnel. So it is very nice for the children to get some extra attention from the youth group from Holland. And the youth really enjoys to play with the children and to cuddle them. They had brought along clown suits for that reason. But also the leaders of the youth group give the children lots of love.

The pavilion is being taken care of

The pavilion where the children can play when it rains was in really bad shape. This was a perfect job for the youth group. All metal parts had to be sanded down with steel brushes and sandpaper and paint it all. With new roof tiles from Holland the pavilion experienced a metamorphoses as you can see on the pictures. Very nice and cozy light and no peeling paint which were very unhealthy for the children, Because a child sticks everything in his mouth. Also the pavilion got a new concrete floor with on top of it a dry wooden floor made of hard wood.

All clothing is being sorted and packed in boxes. The clothes my not be more worn out than 25% to meet the import standard of the Ukraine. Below a picture of all the people who live in the boarding school. There are 120 people living, which is too much, so they don't have much privacy. Also a picture of a blind lady who cries out for alms.

In L’viv there is a so called Soup Kitchen, here every day 300 people come to get a coup of soup, which for some elderly is the only thing they get to eat per day. As soon as they get their soup some already immediately eat it on the sidewalk outside. Especially in the winter this is a sad situation. The foundation also provides the Soup kitchen with ingredients for a good and wholesome soup meal.

Plans for 2007

Δ The foundation is now looking into the possibility to start a home for children who can stay there until they can live independent. The children now arrive as babies in the children home, there they grow up until they are 4 years old, this is their home, their care takers are like their mothers. Then they have to leave this so trusted home and arrive in a new home with new caretakers, then after another 4 years they go to boarding school, and there things usually go wrong, not enough supervision and not enough love. We hear these stories from the director from the second stage children home, who sees her children again after a while, and than feels very sad about it. The intention is to have the children grow up in a family atmosphere, so it actually will become a children village. The foundation is looking for sponsors to realize this plan.

In march they will start again with the renovation of the 3rd department, the foundation also wants to find the necessary means and people who would like to help to give these children a good and healthy living condition.

Δ  Also this year we want to organize a trip with the youth group. It is great to see the youth, all still attending school, wanting to volunteer to help these children. The director and staff in the Ukraine are very happy with this help, they are looking forward to the coming of the next group. The cost for the trip is 500 Euro p.p. , this includes travel expenses, 2x1 night in a Motel in Poland, insurance and housing and food in the Ukraine, this is about 36 Euro per day per person. If we dont have to rent vans, the cost can go down. Who wants to sponsor a person for a day or more? You will get a nice report with pictures when the group is back, so you can see all that has been done.

Δ For the storage of the goods in Holland for the Ukraine, the foundation is looking for suitable storage, the goods need to be stored until there is enough to fill a truck. We are very thankful for a storage we could use in Werkendam, but that space is now being used by others as of January 2007.

Do you like to give a "Helping Hand" to the Ukraine?

Thank you very much in name of the children and poor in the Ukraine.

Piet Huisman—chairman.

You can also help by giving a "Helping Hand" to the children.

Stichting Helping Hands
Buitenhof 33 8255 AW  Swifterbant Holland
ING Bank nr.
IBAN; NL14 INGB 000 6895789
BIC / Swift; INGBNL2A
ING Bank address:
PO Box 1800
1000 BV Amsterdam
Holland

Thank you very much from the children who know little love and attention.

We want to do something about it. 

The crumb of the rich is a meal for the poor !

 

 

 

Curaçao: Stichting “Helping Hands” Kaya Militar 46 MCB nr. 18291409

Stichting “Helping Hands” Buitenhof 33 8255 AW Swifterbant – Holland
Kvk 41246913 tel. 0321-323315 e-mail DanielHuisman@Yahoo.com  
StichtingHelpingHands.com 


See previous Newsletters;

Newsletter Helping Hands December 2015
Newsletter Helping Hands December 2014
Newsletter Helping Hands December 2013


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