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Vasyl and Veronika had been with Luba, their foster mother, for only a couple of weeks when her mother became ill. Her father had died not long before so Luba knew she had no choice: she had to move in with her mom. Only her mom's flat was not large enough for the children to have their own room as required under Ukrainian law. So the State removed them. Sadly, after an 18 month struggle to get them into a foster home, the children are now back in an orphanage. There they share a room not with one other person but with twenty.
I was parctically in tears when I heard the news and managed to accomplish next to nothing for the next three days. But my fighting spirit has returned and I'm as determined as ever to find a better solution for these two deserving children.
Ivano-Frankivsk businesses: Sportlandia, Tourist and Salon Krez joined Brattleboro, VT's Hotel Pharmacy and Dennis Dentist Dr. Ralph Tamasian in supporting our work. While contributing to charities is common in the US, pitching in financially is new to Ukrainian businesses.
The Mykolychin Internat's new swing is in constant use according to the facility's director Stepan Severylov. When my daughter-in-law handed it to me in Kyiv - adding one more thing to my already heavy luggage - I couldn't imagine its ever being used. "What good is a swing without a frame," I wondered. Even as they repaired it. internat employees were undoubtedly thinking, "What good is a frame without a swing?" The fit was perfect. Assembly took two minutes. And children began lining up to take turns.
Also in constant use is the Internat's new exercise room. Their trainer, a major donor and I watched as one child after another performed on the three climbing walls or tumbled on the mats your donations have made possible. Internat employees renovated the room themselves - something they did willingly because as Director Severylov told us, "they've learned they can trust you. Many people show up, take pictures, make promises - and that's the last we ever hear from them. But when you promise to do something, you do it."
Making a difference
- Re-roofed the dining center. Although we were unable to raise the money needed to re-roof the dining center before I returned to the States in November, we did secure a signed quote from an Ivano-Frankivsk roofing company. When the old roof blew off in a storm, the State had to replace it. So our work was not in vain.
- Provided a karaoke with two microphones. The internat holds weekly competitions. It turns out one young boy has an especially good singing voice. But talented or not, they all love to sing.
- For a student in need of corrective surgery, covered the cost of transportation to and from Odessa, bedding and food while there and for a woman to accompany and care for the child while hospitalized. The defective tear ducts with which the child was born have been corrected and the child is now fine.
Director Severylov's Wish List
Athletic equipment
- ping pong table, paddles and ping pong balls
Vocational education equipment
- 3 or 4 computers for students' use
- a loom suitable for weaving rag rugs
Music Program equipment
- accordion
- Yamaha electric piano
Health and Sanitation
- 2 shower units for new building
Other Pressing needs
For the children:
- Find a way to treat the 6 children with TB before the disease spreads even further.
- Provide additional training especially for those children 14 and 15 who will soon be released.
- Provide an advocate/adviser for those children who are in this facility not because they meet the definition of "children with special needs" but simply because they are from the area. All children completing their training in this facility receive special certificates entitling them to attend vocational schools for the mentally handicapped only - making it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for normal children to progress.
- Art lessons
For the facility:
- Install a drainage system
- Upgrade the septic system, which for the facility's 8 buildings is estimated to cost $50,000. At present, whenever it rains, the septic system overflows into a tributary of the river Prut. Even worse, when there is a hard rain, the septic system backs up into both the children's shower room and the cleaning up section of the dining center. According to one witness, " The stench defied description and as did the impact on the children's health." It's been estimated that just to prepare the documents needed to upgrade the septic system will take one entire year.
- Provide a backup generator. The orphanage's kitchen lost power for one solid week during the summer when fortunately, the children were away. But such an outage could occur at any time.
- Bulldoze the areas formerly used to bury garbage and replace the contaminated soil. The area is sprinkled with slivers of broken glass.
- Replace the US Army surplus cots. The springs are worn out to the point they give many children backaches.
- If possible, upgrade the quality of the facility to the point that it could be used as an income generating summer camp during periods the children are away.
Contributions needed!
If you would like to make a contribution, you should make a check payable to me: Anne Linden and mail it to P.O. Box 95, Bristol, VT 05443. Please mark it, "for the Mykolychin Internat." I am in the process of applying for tax exempt status under Internal Revenue Code Section 501 C 3. In any case you should know that 100% of all contributions is applied to projects; all administrative and fund raising expenses are born by me personally. Annual financial statements are available upon request.
Internat flooded following two days of heavy rain.
Mykulychun Internat, home to 106 children including six with active cases of tuberculosis, lies in a river valley near Yaremcha and Bukovel in the Carpathian Mountains. Although the authorities in Kyiv have agreed to install a new septic system, currently estimated to cost in excess of $50,000, they are not expected to begin the project for at least another year. Meanwhile, whenever there is a hard rain, the septic system overflows into the river (a tributary of the Prut) and backs up into both the dining center and the children's shower room. The result is something not to be believed according to former Peace Corps Volunteer Nanci Reynolds who visited the facility after only one day of heavy rain. Feces was floating in the children's shower room and the stench was indescribably offensive.
The exterior of the school's dining center surrounded on all sides by water.
Sections of the dining center's interior that rarely flood:
- Bailing out: The interior of the school's kitchen.
- Cooking in the drink
- Interior of the children's dining room
- The school's admin offices and girls' dorm.
