Summer camp

Do you know what a summer camp is? More specifically, do you know what a summer camp is for orphans? For orphans, summer camp is the possibility to look at the world from another point of view. They forget for a time about the loneliness, typical days, disappointment, cruelty, and the bad condition in which they must live. At camp children find new friends, new impressions, confidence, and hope for a better life. Members of our fund take part in carrying out such camps for orphans every year. We as leaders want to show children that not all are bad and that in our world love and joy can be found! We want to help them and to teach them to associate laughter, friendship and love with other people. Of course we can't replace a parent's love and attention, but we do have a BIG wish to take part in their lives as friends. At camp we have different games, competitions, excursions, trips, lessons of Christian's ethics, evenings near fire, and personal conversations with children. Children open to us with their stories and secrets, tell about themselves, and ask advice on how to behave in this or that situation. It is really great, when you are given this opportunity to help. Here are a few words we heard from children during camp:
 "I'll never forget this camp."
 "Let's play these games once more."
 "Tell me an interesting story."
 "When you will come to us again?"
"Stay with us."
 "I want to tell you about myself..."
"Come to us often."
"When you went it became sad without you.  You became real friends to me. I will wait impatiently for next camp, to meet once more."  (Kostya Galamaga
14 years)
For the organization of summer camp for orphans we need help from everyone. If you have the desire and the possibility to help Children, you can contact with us.

Happy Birthday party

Only imagine how you would feel if nobody wished you happy birthday! Or even worse you didn't get any phone calls and presents from your friends! You might feel lonely. We cannot come and be a part of every kid's celebration at his Birthday at an orphanage. That is why we visit them once per three months to congratulate those children who have their birthdays in winter, spring, autumn and summer. Of course, it's not a holiday we can have with you but anyway   every single child can be sure that he won't lack attention, we will definitely come, wish them to have a happy birthday and give a present. We don't have such an opportunity to make expensive presents all those stuff children dream of a bike, a computer, rollerblades. However we can create friendly and festive atmosphere and make a symbolical present but it will still be a present. Usually it's a pair of socks, a small toy, a toothpaste, a soap, a pen, sweets and a card.
In addition to presents, we introduce a very interesting programme: playing amusing games, making up quizes, singing songs, performing plays.
Also every time we visit the orphanage we discuss with children and teenagers those subjects that are the most interesting in their age, themes that are topical for them. For example, 'Friendship', 'Rules of life', 'Dreams'. And if our trip coincides with the holidays such as Christmas, Easter we tell children about their meaning, origin, etc.
When the main programme comes to conclusion children are welcome to have sweets, so called 'sweet table'.

Unforgotten holidays

For adults ‘weekends’ is a good time to relax after a hard working week and do the things they like. For children it is time for outdoors, computer games, bikes, roller-skates, zoo, circus or soccer games.

For teenagers it is an opportunity to have a longer sleep, visit internet cafes or just hang out with friends.

But how about orphans?

For them it is a scheduled wake-up and breakfast, cleaning rooms, doing home tasks, in other words – just the same routine as usually.

During the weekends they don’t go with their parents to the zoo, circus, theatre or museum. They have no opportunities to ride bikes, roller-skate or, at least, go where they would like to.

Thus, Unforgettable Weekends Project is aimed at providing orphans with a possibility to:

- go to the zoo and see funny monkeys and striped tigers;
- visit an interesting museum, for example, Museum of Water (Kiev);
- go to the circus to see cheerful clowns and performing tigers;
- go to a soccer game and cheer up for a favourite team.

The letter to a friend

This project of our fund has cropped up by request of children. We realize that one trip per month it's not enough for making and maintaining strong relations. That's why we switched our addresses with children with a great pleasure.It's very important to them to have an older friend who can give a piece of advice, support, and help to solve a problem. Orphanage life differs from family life. From early childhood an orphan has to count only on himself: to clean the room, to help at the kitchen, to do the laundry and to look after younger children. Almost all children's toys and stuff like that are common, there is nothing that belongs just to one kid. That's why children in their letters tell us about their difficulties they run into, their points of view and thoughts. One girl wrote that she was sick and tired to live in the orphanage that she had no friends, even nobody to talk to.
A letter is always addressed directly to a child and it's of great value: it's something orphan's private and precious. There is a person in his life who cares about him, is interested in listening to child's problems, cheer up. Children write about their problems that they can't discuss neither with their teachers nor schoolmates. Of course, we are responsible for this new project as we get to know the inner world of a child from those letters and very often that piece of advice, those words written to respond play a decisive role in making this or that decision. The project might seem unimportant but while starting it we can see that children are very happy to have pen pals and always take the lead in it.

The assistance for the school-leavers