Visit to Belarus, September 22nd to October 2nd 2002
by Linda Walker, National Co-ordinator, CCP (UK)

Sergei and Sandy

Liena and twins

The Senechkina family

The main purpose of this visit was to see how things were progressing with the house at Rogachev which we had purchased with KeyMed support to provide a home for five young children from Zhuravichi, and to meet some of the potential staff. I travelled to Minsk, and on to Rogachev with Sandy Mackintosh, an electrician from North Yorkshire and Chris Haswell, Co-ordinator of the Wensleydale Group. Sandy had a greed to come out to do some work on the house and Chris had come as moral support and to visit Uvaravichi School.
We visited ‘our house’ on Monday morning. I hardly recognised it from the beautifully decorated building I had seen in July. Floorboards were up everywhere and there was a general state of chaos. But the roof had been replaced and the septic tank put in, and Sergei who is organising the work for us in Rogachev, was confident that laying the floors would be a quick job. I stressed the importance of moving on with the work as quickly as possible and employing more people whenever necessary. Whilst Sandy got stuck into the electrical work –after a drill had eventually been located for him - Chris and I went to visit some of the families who are sponsored by families in Britain.
Anton and Andrei are twins who both have cerebral palsy, Andrei very severely and Anton quite mildly. They are now eight years old and Anton is at school and doing well. He recited a poem for us and seems a very confident, happy little boy. Andrei attends the integrated kindergarten on some days, which I was delighted and surprised to hear, as he is so disabled. Both grandparents live in the home with the twins’ mum Liena, who is a teacher.
Natasha Senechkina is 14 and has problems with her sight and has no parents. Her grandparents look after her and her older sister. They had provided a huge meal for us, which we did our best to eat after lunch at the Rogachev Families Centre.

‘Little Liena’ (above) is nine years old, but very tiny and twisted by her cerebral palsy. She lives with her mum and grandma, whose lives have been made a little easier by the financial support they get, plus deliveries of a cot, a pushchair and other support for Liena. She has received almost no medical attention from local doctors who are not interested in her, so I have asked Igor, our Hospice Doctor, if he could go to see her, and take a neurologist with him.