NEWS
Opening of Stork House at the Belarussian Children's Hospice in Minsk 10 May 2007
Stork House is a purpose built building that can house up to three families at a time, with their terminally or chronically ill child(ren) and medical staff. It has been built on land next to the original summer project (now consisting of six buildings) which is used to give groups of children with life limiting and life threatening conditions, and their siblings, summer holidays and respite care. Stork House was so named for the storks that nest on the site. In Belarus, the stork is said to bring luck.
10th May, 2007
The British Ambassador Brian Bennett and two representatives from the US Embassy in Minsk helped us to open Stork House, just outside Minsk, on a cold day in May. The directors of the local authority, the local collective farm and local school were there, as well as hospice families and staff, villagers and children from the local school. We unveiled a plaque by the door naming all the UK charities that had donated to Stork House. Local schoolchildren put on a concert of Belarussian folk singing and dancing with some poetry recitation. During the ceremony the Ambassador and every guest present planted a tree in memory of loved ones. The opening was followed by a meal on the covered veranda of Stork House, which proved its water-proofness as the heavens opened.
Stork House is looking fantastic, although kitchen and bathroom are still to be completed. It can however already be used by families as the bedrooms and sitting room are finished and beautifully decorated. Families could make use of the general kitchen and washing facilities and toilets on the main site. We took with us a restricted grant for £2,500 that had been specifically donated for equipping the kitchen.
11th May, 2007
We visited the main hospice and were able to spend an hour or so at the Day Centre with the older group (15-20 years old), mostly in wheelchairs or using walking frames, with a variety of life limiting illnesses. They put on a small show for us and then we played several games with them, including charades. They are helped by four student volunteers who come every week and the sessions are led by a social pedagogue and a psychologist. We were taken on a tour of the building (Vera's House) and in addition to the Day Centre we saw three respite care rooms occupied, one by a fifteen year old girl with Ewing sarcoma, who is very ill indeed, her chemotherapy causes major organ dysfunction and she cannot continue her treatment. In the next door room was a young boy, Alexei, about 16 years old, who has just been successfully treated for cancer and will be able to return home to Gomel, soon. The third patient, Kirill, came in later from a visit to the hospital. He is only four years old and has been at the BCH for five months as his chemo has left him too unwell to go back home to the countryside. He has not seen his mother in all that time and his young uncle, a boy of about 20 years old has been staying with him. We also saw a group of cancer specialists from all over Belarus in the seminar room upstairs, on a three-day palliative care training course, the only one of its kind in Belarus. As they said, three days is not long enough, but it at least gives them an idea of what palliative care is and how to go about it. For many of them a 'hospice' or 'palliative care centre' is a new concept. The session was being led by one of BCH's psychologists. Frequently Anna herself teaches on these courses at BCH. We saw the chapel with the memory boards of those that have died and talked about parents' groups and bereavement counselling. The garden outside has been made into a beautiful children's playground with swings, seesaw and benches for sitting on. The first wheelchair ramp in Minsk is causing a few problems: it is slightly too steep and whereas this is not a problem in the summer (we saw it in use as the disabled teenagers arrived and left), it is treacherous in the winter and after heavy rain. It needs non-slip surfacing and also a rail of some sort to stop wheelchairs or walking frames going over the edge. I should mention that this a long ramp with a curve in it, as the main entrance to Vera's House is half a floor above ground level. The alternative entrance is half a level below ground level and leads to the offices, so this is not convenient.
I spent all day at Vera's House, firstly sitting in on the staff's 8.30 am daily meeting at which they discuss the day's schedule, patients and so on. The nurses and doctor present had 8 home visits between them that day. Later that day I attended the Hospice Advisory Board which has two UK and five Belarussian business members. The meeting decided that its main task was to look for more members who can bring in skills and contacts and to create a body of Belarussian sponsors so that BCH will not be reliant on finance from abroad.
Daryl Hardman
Chairwoman
Friends of the Belarussian Children's Hospice (UK)
15 May 2007