The new law "On Amendment of certain laws of Ukraine regarding state support to the families that adopted an orphan or a child deprived of parental care" adopted by Verkovna Rada on 23 September was rather unnoticed amid political turmoil heating up this autumn. The document, however, pulled the politicians together for a while: 392 out of 439 registered MPs voted for the law, not a single MP voted against or abstained, while 47 MP did not participate in the ballot. The law was not a matter of political disputes and was intended for good of Ukrainian people, rather than pursued the interests of some fraction (i.e. lobbying group).

Most experts regard the law as a long-expected, breakthrough and life-changing step in this field. Note that the President’s Decree dated 11 December, 2007 announced 2008 the Year of support of national adrogation and other forms of family upbringing of orphans and children deprived of parental care.

The bill was initiated by the President and developed in tandem with the Ministry of Ukraine for Family, Youth and Sports as well as NGO representatives competent in orphan affairs.

The law has quite a long name, however, it is shorter in general use – the law on state support of national adrogation. The law provides for considerable benefits. Thus, the government’s one-time maternity grant will cover adoption as well. Other benefits include a three-month leave for one of the parents early on adrogation, monthly cash aid, etc.

Commenting on the law, the Minister for Family, Youth and Sports Yuriy Pavlenko pointed out that the document was to become “another incentive for Ukrainian families to adopt Ukrainian children deprived of parental care”.  The governmental payments will help pay more attention to the child – his health, education, etc.

Figures Speak for Themselves

The statistics about orphans is quite telling. In 2004, Ukraine numbered 96,112 orphans and children deprived of parental care. In 2005, the figure was 97,590; in 2006 – 97,829; and in 2007, the number hit 102,912. (The growth was not down to the rise of the absolute number of orphans, as a range of check-ups by the Prosecutor’s Office and other governmental steps aimed to sort out the mess in guardianship assigned the status of orphans to more Ukrainian children).

In 2005, 1,419 Ukrainian children were adopted; in 2006 – 1,473. Up to 3,000 orphans are expected to be adopted in 2008.  Mr Pavlenko informs that 25% more children have been adopted over nine months of 2008, year on year.

Four years ago, around 70 children became orphans daily, while only 30 of them could find a family. Today, according to the minister, just over 50 children become orphans every day with 46 of them being able to find a new family. Seven of them are adopted, another seven are transferred to foster homes and family-type orphanages. Twenty seven are cared for and guarded (by their relatives, as a rule), while only five are adopted by foreign citizens. Several years ago every third child was under international adrogation, i.e. became a foreign citizen.  

Around 35,000 children have been adopted in the years of Ukraine’s independence.

Although not widely-advertised, a momentous event took place several weeks before the law on state support of national adrogation was adopted. Magnoliya, Ukrainian NGO, and Rinat Akhmetov’s Foundation for Development of Ukraine (FDU) have joined their efforts to address the problem of orphanhood in Ukraine under This Child Needs a Family project.

We asked the President of Magnoliya NGO Yevgeniya Tkachenko and project manager of  Foundation for Development of Ukraine Dariya Kasiyanova to share details .

Yevgeniya Tkachenko: “We developed alongside the country” 

 

 

— “Magnoliya TV has been in television for 13 years”, says Yevgeniya Tkachenko. “We specialized initially in live criminal reports. The theme is hardly profitable in terms of business. However, such social journalistic reports are needed and important. “Do-no-harm” principle is paramount for us”.

 

“As we reported on criminal cases, we were approached with requests to help find missing people starting from the very launch of our project. We tried to be efficient and helpful here. What did we do? We started broadcasting information about those missing and TV immediately proved to be immensely efficient in this respect. The calls came from around the country, sharing details and helping. And we indeed found the missing people.

However, being unable to find everybody missing, we chose the most vulnerable group. Thus, the journalists, who showed care and interest, initiated the Missing Children Search Service. Apart from TV, we are supported by many other media. Specifically, I would like to thank 2000 newspaper, which is our long-term voluntary partner in the Missing Children Search Service project. 

Yet, witnessing uneasy children lives, we soon understood that orphans constitute the category of the most miserable ones. I mean those who live in asylums, children’s homes and orphanages. At first sight they seem to be doing fine under the protection of the state. But I am pretty sure, no orphanage can solve all problems of a child, because sooner or later he will have to leave the home.

We see more and more charity these days. To mark holidays, well-to-do people, as a rule, hand out presents to children’s homes: fruit, sweets, clothes, etc. And we are really grateful for that, yet this approach is not a fundamental solution of the problem. A child might eat sweets or wear nice clothes or have a better equipped orphanage. But once full-aged, the kid will see how chaotic the life is. That is why I believe, only the family can solve all problems of a child.

 

A year and a half ago we initiated This Child Needs a Family project. Our camera crews go to children’s homes and orphanages to make videos about children. When broadcasted, the clips end up with an appeal “This Child Needs a Family” and hot-line phone number follows up. Any TV viewer can get detailed information about a child as well as terms of his adoption. Moreover, the hot-line provides legal consultations, for instance, on adrogation practice in Ukraine: how to select children, what children can be passed to families, what government bodies should be involved, what documents should be submitted, what difficulties might arise, etc.

We are supported by the leading Ukrainian TV channels. Inter, STB and Ukraina channels highly assessed the significance, social value and relevance of the idea and offered free broadcasting of the videos. Since then, we have aired them regularly for free for about two years. Besides, local and regional TV channels also broadcast our videos.

However, Magnoliya TV is not that strong and very soon we experienced a lack of funds for the project,  which was under the threat of termination. I have no idea what would have happened if the FDU hadn’t offered support.

 

We are now partners under This Child Needs a Family project, with the Foundation providing both financial and organizational assistance. It’s hard to decide, which aspect is of prior importance: material or organizational. It is primarily due to the authority of Rinat Akhmetov, FDU’s President, that we have wider opportunities in the regions where the local government and administrations of children’s establishments had previously opposed the program”.

— But who opposes the idea? Aren’t your good intentions obvious for the authorities?

— “It’s hard to believe, but they aren’t obvious! Heads of children’s homes resist, first of all. They don’t let us in, hide the children and prevent from making videos about them. Why? There are two main reasons. The first one is materialistic: directors fear that if all children are adopted, the personnel will be made redundant or the children’s home will be shut down i.e. people are afraid of losing their jobs. The second reason is sincere devotion to children on the part of the staff, who are hardly to blame for this. Surprisingly, but some can’t understand that finding parents for a child is the best prove of your love to him.

People seek for various pretexts! For instance, a director told us that he had asked the children whether they wanted to be adopted and they unanimously said no, so they don’t need our help. Some are more inventive: they say a child experiences hard psychological period and filming might be harmful, it’s better to do it later…

We have to seek assistance of the city mayors and governors. But what if they are reluctant to help too?”

 

— The Missing Children Search Service has been running for over 10 years, while you have been searching foster families for orphans for the last two years only…

— “It is quite obvious today and I strongly believe that adoption is the best possible care for an orphan-child. However, we did not realize that at once. Neither did our country. It is not accidental, that this year has been announced the year of support of national adrogation. The society is mature enough to see that the orphanhood is a huge social problem, which is a heavy burden for the whole country and all citizens. To some extent, it is everybody’s problem, rather than the one of social departments.

Orphanhood peaked following the collapse of the USSR, when the stability in life was shattered. All this produced a range of negative effects: unemployment, despair, alcohol abuse, deprivation of parental rights and homeless children. It took years for the society to turn its face to the needs of neglected children. The changes did not come overnight. They were preceded by expert discussions, round-tables, numerous publications, thematic talk-shows on TV, etc. Adrogation by foreigners was much debated on to decide whether it was good or bad. By that time, the civil services emerged too.

Our company is not an exception in the process. Our launching This Child Needs a Family project two years ago instead of ten proves that we developed alongside the society. I don’t think we could have enjoyed such extensive support by the Ministry for Family, Youth and Sports ten years ago”.

 

— Let us look back at your cooperation with the Foundation for Development of Ukraine…

— “The Foundation helps the children so much that our joint project is only a tiny part of their work. Their scope is impressive. FDU builds family-type orphanages and do much to back large families. The Foundation’s activities are an example of systematic approach to tackling the problem. They accurately define the goals, seek clear understanding of the project’s mission and stages, study the target groups and involve a wide number of experts. The essential point is that all projects are put into practice rather than remain ink on paper.

Initially, the Foundation invited me as an expert. But when they presented the schedule for 2008, I was happy to see that my thoughts and ideas had been taken into account. FDU members showed thorough understanding of the accumulated experience and systematized it. The management at Rinat Akhmetov’s Foundation is highly professional, which guarantees good final results”.

—What does “a good result” mean to you?

“The project has worked with 256 orphans (i.e. we have prepared videos and launched them on TV) so far, 143 of them have already been adopted. This is the result of our work over a year and a half. Is it much? Not, compared with thousands of orphans that still remain in children’s homes. But the figure is quite significant compared with our small company. The efficiency was 60%, i.e. more than every second child found a family. And how many families went to the nearest children’s home, although probably didn’t call the hot-line after our videos”.

— How many people does your project involve?

— “Fifteen. Though it’s hard to fix the ratio. I can’t imagine how many people Inter or STB channels involve to give us the air-time. How many people arrange this air? What are their expenses?”

 

“They are ordinary people, only very good ones” Dariya Kasiyanova

 

 

 

— “It all started seven years ago”, says Dariya. “On the Day of St. Nicholas, Rinat Akhmetov and the Russian composer Ihor Krutoy (they’ve been friends for long) visited the school, which Mr Akhmetov used to attend. They greeted the children and gave them presents. Mr Akhmetov and Mr Krutoy (by the way, he is our countryman as was born in Kirovohrad oblast) agreed to hold annual charitable campaigns on the Day of St. Nicholas.

Initially charitable campaigns were organized by FC Shakhtar. Later, the Foundation for Development of Ukraine was established. The campaigns were not held on the spot. FDU thoroughly planned the campaigns and selected the aid recipients.

Last winter Mr Akhmetov visited Donetsk family-type orphanage for the first time ever. He enjoyed the visit and was deeply impressed. He had only been to orphanages before, and now he could feel the difference. He saw that the establishment was a family rather than an ordinary orphanage. 

We collected information for him and the idea emerged to support and develop such homes. At that time, Donetsk oblast numbered 11 family-type orphanages. This year the Foundation bought a house, which is currently being reequipped to host a family-type orphanage. The Foundation has also initiated construction of a complex comprising three buildings (i.e. three family-type orphanages) with a common yard. The complex will neighbor on two- or three-storey building – a so-called social hostel for grown-up children - the “graduates” of the orphanages, if you may say. We have also selected the families. They used to be foster families, i.e. they could legally adopt up to five children. From now on, the families will belong to the category of family-type orphanages. All parents have been interviewed and have attended psychological trainings”.

— Are these hostels your know-how or is it a common practice?

— “I’ve never heard about similar orphanages operating around the globe. But it would be indecent to say they are our know-how. We have a systematic approach, when tackling a problem: start with collecting information and analyzing the available practices. In case with family-type orphanages we spoke much to experts. We often received complaints from orphanages of Zakarpatye saying that as the children grow up and become adult they should leave the orphanage. Some children are legal owners of certain area in the flats belonging to their natural parents. However, the fact is that they have no place to live anyway. So, we thought that it would be good for “graduates” to live next to their orphanages.

 

The complex under construction in Donetsk is, actually, a pilot project. Apart from living rooms, the hostel will offer rest-rooms, studies (library), etc. The residents are supposed to be either students or young workers.

At the same time, we are preparing the documents needed for further transfer of such orphanages to communal ownership. The Foundation for Development of Ukraine constructs these establishments for the city, not for itself. We’ve been building in Donetsk so far, but intend to go beyond”.

— You activities primarily cover several regions – Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts as well as the Crimea and Zakarpatye. Why did you choose this geography?

 

— “When the President of Ukraine initiated Warming A Child With Love project targeted to support large families of Ukraine, each participant received some regions to care for. FDU got those four regions you have mentioned. Why is it Zakarpatye? Historically, this region has a lot of large families with ten children and over. I should say it’s a challenging region. Today we take advantage of the communications previously set up under This Child Needs a Family project. The goal we set forth is to complete the project in these regions in 2008 and 2009.

We have made up a kind of profile: the regions total around 800 children aged under 11 to be adopted. The project intends to cover them all, i.e. show them on TV. Therefore, we intend to use other communication opportunities as well. Thus, we are developing a web-site to place videos featuring orphans. To my mind, frequently repeated broadcasts of children-related information are the most efficient method.

Looking back at the area covered by the project, I should say we don’t stick to these four regions only. We are often approached by the residents of Vinnitsa, Nikolayev, Zhitomir and other oblasts and we never refuse to help. Moreover, we have improved our hot-line developed for This Child Needs a Family project. Previously, only Kiev phone number of Magnoliya TV had been available. However, according to the opinion poll we have held, this made the work less efficient. People are rather embarrassed to have to make a trunk call. for advice. Now we have a free number for all regions of Ukraine - 8 800 501 4140”.

— Do you intend to use any other communication channels, e,g, newspapers and radio, apart from TV and the Internet?

— “We are thinking about radio broadcasts and almost exclude newspapers. Ukrainian legislation bans print media to publish photos of the children to be adopted (adrogation non-disclosure). But audio and video media are not covered by the ban”.

 

— What results do you expect?

— “Success indicators are obviously vital. Our goal is to cut the number of orphans by 20-30% by the end of the first project stage in 2010. That is, for instance, if today Ukraine numbers 102,000 orphans, we intend to cut the figure to 75,000-80,000”.

 

— Can you tell us about people you have selected as tutors for family-type orphanages?

— “We have selected a family for the first home. It’s a married couple with grown-up children and grandchildren. They have a housing of their own. The husband is a former miner, now retired. His wife is an ordinary non-graduate woman. The man used to work part-time as a driver and would transport representatives of social services to orphanages. He saw the children and felt compassion to them. His wife and he decided they could nurture another child and make him happy. They adopted a girl, then another girl, than a boy. Their native children do not mind, they regularly visit the parents, help them and bring the grandchildren along.

Former parents of one girl adopted by the family didn’t let her to school for long. She went to the primary school aged 11 when she was in the orphanage. Living in the foster family she obtained junior secondary education by the age of 16. Her new parents taught the girl at home, helped her to pass external exams. They are ordinary people, only very good ones. Like many other foster parents they often repeat a saying: first we had children of our own, then came the children given by God. This might sound rather pompous but it’s true. This family is to become the first family-type orphanage initiated by FDU. We plan to open it on the Day of St. Nicholas on 19 December.

 

Leave the Praise Unspoken

I would be pleased to end up my story here, for I rather dislike traditional sum-ups. Impressive endings prevent the reader from using their imagination and completing the picture themselves. However, summing it up I’d like to say: applause and praises towards Rinat Akhmetov’s Foundation and Magnoliya would be rather redundant here. Though, it is easy to succumb. Let us just say that they are simply doing their work well. And let’s say thank you to them.
 

http://www.2000.net.ua/b/59856?p=0

By Vadim Petrasyuk

 

 2000, 10 October 2008