MINSK, 29 December (BelTA) – As part of the Our Children nationwide New Year charity campaign, Chair of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly Natalya Kochanova has visited the Social and Pedagogical Center and an orphanage of Leninsky District of Minsk, BelTA has learned.
“Our Children is a great project. It gives us an opportunity to get together in the run-up to this wonderful holiday. We come to wish children a Happy New Year, listen to their wishes and receive congratulations. I enjoy visiting children's facilities, because I love children very much, they are our future. It is a pleasure to see how beautiful and talented they are. I wish children to fulfill their dreams, after all these dreams are very simple: to have a family, to be healthy. Let all the children in our country have families who would love them as much as our country does,” Natalya Kochanova said.
The speaker emphasized: “We are doing everything to ensure that children feel comfortable in our country and love their homeland. However, this is also a responsibility of adults who are around them. Therefore, we truly appreciate educators who work in nurseries, kindergartens, and other childcare facilities. These creative, loving, kind people really share their heart and soul with children. This is very important. When you watch performances, which are, as a rule, put together by teachers, you always feel such appreciation for these wonderful people. They work with children, and show them that the world around them is beautiful and kind. Thank God that in our country there are no such children who would not get support and help when in a difficult situation. You should remember that there are people who need our kindness and care. This is what the Our Children campaign is aimed at," she said.
The speaker of the Council of the Republic wished the students and the staff of the center good health and fulfillment of cherished wishes, happiness, love, peace and goodness and gave the institution a certificate for a washing machine. The children received long-awaited New Year's gifts and in return presented memorable souvenirs to the guests.
According to the director of the center Oksana Goven, the children were waiting for the guests and were preparing for this meeting. They recited poems, sang songs, and invited guests to a cheerful round dance. Each of them believes in a New Year's miracle.
“We have 18 students aged 3-18 in our center. We do our best to find an individual approach to each of them and identify their talents. Our main task is to create comfortable conditions and to work with parents in such a way that every child has an opportunity to return to his or her family, to his or her home. In the run-up to New Year, our student Oleg reunited with his family. On 23 December the commission for juvenile affairs made the relevant decision and his mother took him home,” the head of the center said.
The Social and Pedagogical Center of Leninsky District of Minsk comprises a children's shelter, a family dysfunction prevention and social orphanhood department, a prevention and comprehensive rehabilitation department, a department of information and analytical, methodological work and support of families that foster orphans and children deprived of parental care.
The Our Children charity project will be running in Belarus from 14 December 2021 till 14 January 2022. Every year, heads of ministries and other government agencies, local authorities, representatives of public associations visit children's care homes and family-type homes, foster families, families raising disabled children, rehabilitation facilities, hospitals. During the campaign, they wish children a Happy New Year and Merry Christmas, give gifts, help address their issues.
