Our efforts are targeted at the 13,000 orphans who live in 57 orphanages across the country, often without access to even basic facilities such as toilets or showers.

We began working with Grosovo orphanage in the south of the country in 1996. Our principle projects there ranged from replacing all the beds and putting in new furniture and playrooms, to renovating the orphanage’s 60-acre farm.

Since then we have taken on major projects with 5 other orphanages. We have renovated from start to finish Dyatlovo orphanage in Western Belarus, a process which involved putting on a new roof, new showers and toilets, replacing all of the kitchen equipment and machinery, putting in a sixty-acre farm, with land, machinery and sheds, and installing a new playground. We have also taken on dozens of smaller projects at Orphanage Number 5 in Minsk, at Lida orphanage in the south of the country and at Rudensk, an orphanage for sexually-abused children outside Minsk.

More recently we have taken on the redevelopment of Besangovichi Orphanage in the north of the country. This orphanage, which is in the worst condition of any in the country, is home to 164 children with special needs. Having already replaced the beds and furniture, restocked their medical clinic, and library, renovated their laundry and put in a new playground, we are now working on putting a new roof on the orphanage, a project which will cost up to €100,000.

We do not visit the fall-out zone around Chernobyl itself. Nor have we provided any assistance to orphanages there. Although it could be argued that these are the institutions in greatest need of aid we are not entirely convinced that it is in orphans long-term interest to be accommodated in this region.