Heifer Project's donation of dairy cows aids children of Zaluchia Orphanage (06/19/05)

Heifer Project's donation of dairy cows aids children of Zaluchia Orphanage

by Alexander Kuzma

DOLISHNE ZALUCHIA, Ukraine - On June 2 in the remote village of Dolishne Zaluchia in the Sniatyn District of Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast representatives of Heifer Project International and the Children of Chornobyl Relief Fund delivered five dairy cows to the Zaluchia Orphanage.

The donation of livestock was the latest step in a long-term campaign to improve living conditions at the orphanage which the fund has undertaken with the aid of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the U.S.A. and other institutions.

The Zaluchia orphanage houses over 120 disabled children suffering from a wide range of birth defects and developmental disabilities. When it was first discovered in the year 2000, inspectors from the Children of Chornobyl were appalled by the deplorable state of the children's health, often compounded by malnutrition and the lack of basic hygiene or sanitary standards. Since then, the fund has made significant improvements in the facility, installing a new roof and floors, industrial-capacity laundry, new mattresses and bedding, new bathrooms and plumbing and, most recently, a physical rehabilitation center.

"We are very grateful for the dairy cows provided by the grant from Heifer International," said Olena Welhasch-Nyzhnykevych, the country director for the Children of Chornobyl Relief Fund Ukraine who helped secure the grant. "These animals will help to provide milk and cheese and other basic foodstuffs these children need. They will also help to make the orphanage more economically self-sustaining." Two of the cows are pregnant and are expected to calve within the next few weeks.

In 2001 the fund had also purchased 17 piglets which have now produced another generation of farm animals that provide meat and protein for the children. The orphanage has also created its own vegetable plot, which is tended by staff and children. Under pressure from the Children of Chornobyl Relief Fund, the orphanage administrators who once neglected and abused the children have since been removed. With funding provided by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the fund has hired its own independent monitors, a physical therapist and special education teacher to ensure that the children are never malnourished or abused again.

"This is an exciting new partnership with Heifer International," said Marianka Voronovych, the orphanage coordinator for Children of Chornobyl based in Kyiv. Heifer International is known around the world for its pioneering work in providing sustainable development for impoverished communities through simple, cost-effective methods of animal husbandry. Depending on the ecology and culture of developing countries, Heifer finances the purchase of cows, goats, pigs, water buffalo, beehives and other life-sustaining food producers. Heifer has established offices in Kyiv and Lviv to help strengthen farming programs in Ukraine.

The donation of cows to the Zaluchia Orphanage was made possible with the assistance of the Ukrainian Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare and with the support of the Ivano-Frankivsk regional and Sniatyn district governments.

The arrival of the dairy cows was greeted with considerable excitement by the staff and children of Zaluchia. The children's caretakers and nannies, dressed in traditional embroidered blouses met the president of Heifer, Viktor Teres, with a traditional greeting of bread and salt. A group of children in wheelchairs sang songs and recited poems they learned from their new teacher, Zoreslava Hoyan. [The previous administration had treated the children as mentally incompetent and provided no educational programs, but since the Children of Chornobyl Relief Fund began its campaign, a number of the children have begun to read and write, and some have shown considerable intellectual, musical and artistic ability.]

The donated cows were decorated with garlands of flowers and colored sashes, and priests from the local Orthodox and Catholic churches gave their blessings and prayed for the health and well-being of the children, as well as the animals that will now provide them with fresh milk and other foodstuffs.

A delegation of local dignitaries attended the ceremony, including the director of social welfare for Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, Ivan Kaziuka, and the assistant director of the district government, Anatoly Dorchuk.

In addition to Ms. Voronovych, volunteers from the Children of Chornobyl Relief Fund, Valerie Burachinsky, Adriana Burachinsky and Natalia Chraplyvy took part in the ceremony and supervised the livestock donation.

This summer, another delegation of youth missionaries from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the U.S.A. will be visiting the Zaluchia Orphanage to continue the restoration of the facility and to provide a more nurturing environment for its residents.

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Since 1989 the Children of Chornobyl Relief Fund has delivered over 1,300 tons of medical aid to Ukrainian hospitals and orphanages. The supplies and technology, medicine and training provided by the fund are valued at over $53 million. The fund is currently developing new programs to reduce infant mortality and combat children's cancer and birth defects in 14 regions.

To make a tax-deductible contribution, please write to Children of Chornobyl Relief Fund, 272 Old Short Hills Road, Short Hills, NJ 07078. To volunteer, call (973) 376-5140 or send e-mail to: info@childrenofchornobyl.org.

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