“Vyspa Nadzei” ( Island of Hope) is a day care health centre for the disabled of the first group: Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, autism, epilepsy, schizophrenia. The Centre was founded in 1996 and has legal status of civil organization in the area of adaptation and recuperation. Mothers having disabled children have an opportunity to work at the centre. “Vyspa Nadzei” receives support from charity organizations and regular citizens however that is not enough.

When the centre was founded, all of its guests were children. Today the majority of guests are over 18 years old however de facto they still remain children. Some of them are not capable of moving without assistance, others can not do simple things by themselves, for instance, putting on clothes. They should not be left on their own accord. Most of these ‘children’ come from single-parent families and have mothers only. The Head of the Centre, Ludmila Gutsko says:

“39 out of 45 of our patients live in single-parent families, with their mothers. In 90 % of cases, a husband is leaving the family when a child is born with a psychiatric disorder. To take care of such children all day around means having no opportunity to work. Pensions for disabled are extremely insignificant and do not allow for survival. More over, the psychological and physical burden is unbearable when one has to be with such child in a house all day around. Therefore the assistance we offer is crucial for these families. They have an opportunity to bring their child to our Centre in the morning and to collect her or him in the evening. These children receive medical and psychological assistance at the Centre. Depending on their capabilities and skills, staff of the Centre play developing games with these children and teach them various skills”.

Before 2001 this social project was receiving grants and financial support from the state budget via the Republican Partnership for Disabled. Later on, the provision of assistance for civil organizations from the state budget was abolished by the presidential order, regardless of the nature of their activities. After a while, the existence of the Centre was risking extinction due to the lack of financial resources.

On one hand, the Centre owed 16 million to the State and on the other hand, there were difficulties with receiving financial support from their long term Swedish partner, a charity organization “A Star of Hope”. Internal procedural rules of “A Star of Hope” allowed providing assistance to the disabled children only. When this NGO became a partner of the Centre “Vyspa Nadzei”, all the patients were children. Now, de jure, they are adults, therefore the Swedish NGO has not grounds to provide financial support to the disabled adults bearing in mind its legal procedures.

As of today, the Centre is doing better. The Swedish partner made an exception from the rules and extended the financial assistance contract. The Republican Partnership for Disabled paid out its loan to the state. However financial issues still remain. The State provided benefits to the Centre regarding renting premises: it is free of charge; however “Vyspa Nadzei” is still entitled to another six various types of payments: for amortization, for land, property tax, exploitation cost, capital and regular reconstruction payments, utility payments, including heating and electricity. On average it all adds up to around Br 3 million per month.

Due to the lack of resources, “Vyspa Nadzei” had to refuse renting the basement space, where the Centre previously had ceramics and embroidery workshops, sports centre and storage. Today the Centre hopes to reoccupy these premises and to continue trainings for its patients.

The Centre is making virtually no money on payments from the parents. The amounts they pay to the Centre for taking care of their children are symbolic and in the meantime significant for the parents of the disabled children.

Dissemination of information about the Centre and its challenges helped the Centre to find another partner in Belarus: a foreign languages courses school “Streamline”. Common citizens also assist with whatever they can and transfer funds to the account of the Centre. However there is never too much of assistance. The Centre would be grateful for any assistance, including clothes and nappies for adults. With regard to clothing, there is a need for bigger sizes (Large and bigger), first of all, male clothes.

Address of the Centre “Vyspa Nadzei”:

Minsk, Serdicha Str., 9. Phone: +375 17255 27 87

Bank details for financial support:

Account number: 3015004058003

Minsk Filial “Tsentralnoye” OAO “Belvneshekonombank”, code 728

UNN 101127909, OKPO 37413079

Iryna Osipava