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UNICEF United Nations Children's Fund |
Life
was not a bed of roses for these children. They had to leave their homes to
live in tents and cow-sheds, to go hungry, to lay in fright on the ground when
a plane appeared in the sky. Many of them have never been to the theatre and
did not expect to get there on that day. Under the program of assistance to
the internally displaced persons in the Northern Caucasus, UNICEF organized
a visit to the theatre in Vladikavkaz for 2,545 children from IDP camps in Ingushetia.
Special attention was paid to orphans and handicapped children so that everybody
could enjoy this wonderful event. Much help in organizing this event was provided
by the NGO “Children in Need”.
Every day for a month four buses took the children from the
camps and families where they have 
accommodations,
and drove them to the theatre. The actors did their best for such an audience.
The regular performance was followed by a special one on mine awareness issue.
After this performance, prepared under the UNICEF program on mine awareness,
the children answered questions on safety rules in the areas where there can
be non-disactivated shells and mines. The authors of the best answers were given
sweet prizes from Grandfather Frost and other fairy-tale characters. And everyone
received special New Year’s gifts from the UN Children’s Fund.
The party was joined by students of Vladikavkaz Liceum of arts, who took part and won many dance and song contests. The young people prepared a special show “From Children of Ossetia – For Children of Ingushetia”. Their hour and a half performance was greeted by storm of applause of the little tenants of IDP camps, who could at least for some time forget about their everyday problems.
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“Protecting a Clild” was the title of a round table held in the Central House of Journalists, devoted to the launch of the UNICEF annual Report “The State of World Children, 2001”.
The participants discussed the most dramatic period in the infant’s life – early childhood, the first three years. During this period the child’s health state is formed as is a system of values for the future life of the new generation.
Every year almost 11 million children up to 5 years of age die in the world for mostly preventable reasons. The participants of the round table discussed how to guarantee the rights of the child even before birth. In this regard, special attention was paid to the transfer of the HIV infection from mother to child. The investments in health, education and nutrition are significant guarantees of a healthy society and the future of the country. Early childhood deserves the close attention of the government and civil society – it is absolutely unacceptable to ignore problems of this age.
The conclusion of the round table was: it is necessary to attract maximum attention to this issue. Rosemary McCreery, UNICEF Representative in the Russian Federation, Ukraine and Belorus; À. Êîrsunsky, Head of the Maternity and Child Health Department of the Ministry of Health of Russia; I. Savchenko, Chief Expert of the HIV-AIDS Prevention Department, Ministry of Health of Russia; Prof. L. Ilyenko, Dean of the Faculty of the Russian State Medical University; N. Vartapetova, President of “Cradle” interregional non-governmental organization took part in the round table discussion.
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Until he was nine years old Igor Frolov could not read or write and never attended school. It was a difficulty brought on by children’s cerebral paralysis, although this disease affected only his ability to move. But Igor’s mother did not care much to help her son to grow and develop. All day long Igor sat in a dark room like a closet, and left it only in the evening to watch TV.
Now Igor is ten, he studies in the second grade, gets excellent marks in Russian, draws well, and is very good at arithmetic. At last, he has a clean bed and is starting to forget what it is like to feel hungry. Last summer, he rode a horse and went fishing. He lives in a cozy tidy room with his room mate Ilya, a good friend.
Igor’s story is just one of many concrete results of the UNICEF foster family project in Saratov. In December 1999, at the request of «Revival» social shelter, the UNICEF partner under the program «Family + I», Igor was taken by foster parents, Larisa and Valery Ignatiev. Since it was considered impossible to stay with his own family any longer.
Larisa and Valery became one of the first fifteen foster families in Saratov, while this year that number will double. A list of parents wishing to take children is being checked by the employees of the «Revival» centre, while, unfortunately, there are already children waiting for new families… These children, abandoned by their parents in a difficult life situation and actual orphans need urgent and, sometimes, long-term assistance.
Children from socially insecure families feel better in foster families, where they are temporarily placed pending decisions on their futures. In Igor Frolov’s case, the employees of the centre hope that his own mother will feel ashamed and collect him, although chances are very limited.
Two boys, Tolya and Anton, two and three years old, have found a new home in another Saratov family of Svetlana and Sergey Kurlanov. The foster parents have two children of their own, a daughter and a son, studying at the fifth and ninth grade. Svetlana Kurlanova says:
“I always wanted to have a large family with many children, but our financial situation does not allow that at present. I heard about the foster program from our neighbours. At a family council we decided to become foster parents. My daughter and son did not object, although the daughter had to move from her room to ours in order to accomodate Tolya and Anton. Now she reads poetry with them”.
The “class master” of a foster family (usually the mother is appointed to this post) receives a monthly salary from the centre of 300 roubles, and 700 roubles with which to feed the child. The clothes are also given by the centre. This payment is far smaller than the large responsibility and the efforts involved in care.
Hardly having time to send the elder ones to school and to
see her husband to the door (he works as a driver), Svetlana then 
awakes
the young boys. They are very lively kids and do not give her a minute to rest,
while she has to keep the whole house. But she is very efficient, and soon the
three of them are outside fearlessly sliding down an ice hill, until a frost
forces them back into the house.
“Children call me mummy, and my husband – daddy”, – says Svetlana. “Maybe they shouldn’t, we are tutors, but how could I explain it to such little kids? I’d rather keep the boys to live with us, if the financial situation allows… I want all the children to be happy and know nothing bad any more”.
It is for the sake of all these family members to know nothing bad that the UNICEF foster program is working for.
