Since the year 2000 we have been supporting families in Gomel who have children who need Palliative Care. Some may be in the terminal stages of cancer, others have genetic disorders or life limiting illnesses.
For twenty years we funded a doctor and several part time nurses who visited families at home, and looked after around 30 children in Gomel.
Much of this care is now provided by the Health Department, and if children need a ventilator to be at home, they will supply this too.
But there are other items which are not supplied and many families cannot afford to buy them. The mother is unable to work as she is looking after the child all the time and in some cases there is no father in the home.
We are now working with the Children’s Hospice, based in Minsk, and through them we will be able to fund the supply of some of this equipment to families in Gomel Region.
£100 would buy a new gastrostomy set for a child who is struggling to be fed by mouth.
£40 would buy a pulse oximeter.
£500 would buy an Oxygenator. There are a small number of children who cannot leave hospital without this.
Or you could make a donation towards Respite Care for struggling family.