The effects of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster on the Belarusian economy prevented rebuilding and repair efforts, leaving many orphanages and day-care centres poorly equipped, unsanitary and unable to deliver the services the community needed.
Working closely with local Ministries and organisations, the CCI Building and Construction Programme refurbishes and upgrades vital institutions, restoring them to full functionality and safety standards.
The programme mobilises hundreds of Irish builders, carpenters, electricians and other construction tradespeople who travel to Belarus to volunteer their time and talents. Working towards tight deadlines, and often living and work in very challenging conditions, these volunteers deliver work of the highest quality.
Projects include:
Vesnovo Children’s Mental Asylum
The Vesnovo Children’s Mental Asylum is an example of the extraordinary contribution the Building and Construction Programme has made towards alleviating human suffering.
Until recently, the children were living in substandard, unhygienic conditions where they were not receiving the proper level of care or stimulation. Upon discovering the conditions at Vesnovo, CCI volunteers renovated and refurbished each unit to a high standard. The resulting institution was voted the best orphanage for children with special needs by the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection and the Republic Committee of Trade Unions.
Soltanovka Adult Mental Asylum
CCI has coordinated an intensive refurbishment of Soltanovka Adult Mental Asylum, an institution for young adults, ex-convicts, mentally impaired adults and elderly and young adults with physical disabilities. The objective is to improve the quality of the lives of those who are ‘invisible’ to society by offering them a better place to live, including refurbished living units and new recreational amenities, such as a new woodwork workshop, sewing workshop and gym for the adults living in these units.
Independent Living Project for Physically Impaired Teenagers
CCI is currently pioneering an Independent Living Project which provides educational training and development programmes for teenagers under the ‘Home of Hope’ Programme, allowing them to live independently, undertake life-skills training, therapeutic sports activities and vocational workshops. Six new homes have been built for young male adults and in October 2011, CCI opened a new Girls Independent Living Unit on the grounds of Vesnova Children’s Mental Asylum in Belarus. This was made possible due to the kind and generous sponsorship of Dasha Zhukova. We can at last give these young girls a home of their own and live independently of institutional care. Please follow the link to photos of the New Girls Unit
“Homes of Hope” Programme
The ‘Homes of Hope’ Programme is dedicated to replacing institutional care for children with loving foster homes. More than 300 children have already been de-institutionalised and placed in loving, stable homes made up of a foster mother and father and up to nine other children. The Building and Construction Programme repairs and refurbishes “Homes of Hope” on an ongoing basis.
The Yamaguzhina family pictured above at the recent opening of their Home of Hope in Oktyabar Village in Gomel which was kindly sponsored by the Westport Outreach Group. Also in the photo are members of the Westport Outreach Group.
Community Day-Care Centre Development
Day-care centres provide vital social, economic, medical and educational facilities, and community-based self-help programmes to impoverished communities in Belarus. Each centre provides support and services to as many as 67,000 people per centre.
As well as ongoing refurbishment of existing structures, our volunteer builders are constructing new, modern, purpose-built day-care centres using state-of-the-art technologies. To date, we have completed a new day-care centre in Glutsk, with a second, located in Buda Kosheleva, scheduled for completion in 2011.
Glutsk Day Care Centre
Glutsk Day Care Centre Recreational Room
