Belarussian Orphanage Project

Love . Dignity . Integrity . Respect

Ivanyets Project

Over the past number of years we have seen the most gifted and talented children in Novinki undergo reassessment and if good results are achieved they are transferred to a special school aimed at promoting their skills at Ivanyets.

This school is 50kms from Minsk in a rural part of Belarus. It has over 100 Children and the standard of education is very high. The Belarussian Orphanage Project became a partner of the school in 2007 when a group of volunteers went there to visit some of the children who were transferred there from Novinki. After this, BOP Volunteer Andrew Burgoyne, proposed and took on the responsibility for setting up our work and he now coordinates the fundraising for projects which he negotiates with the director on BOPs behalf.

The school is bright and cheerful with a very stimulating atmosphere. The children at between 6 and 18 years old and though most are physically disabled, they is a strong emphasis on independent living. Since our first visit we have set up a developmental programme in coordination with the director and BOP facilitates the many classrooms and therapy rooms with a large selection of educational toys, games and equipment.

Volunteers visit the school and there are plans for a more comprehensive programme which along with Novinki, Draznia and Viacha, would become a regular part of volunteers work in Belarus.

The project has achieved many steps of its long term plan in 2008, we assisted the school in completing a first class computer laboratory, in 2009 over 150 volunteers visited the school and hosted a number of themed parties and provided much appreciated aid.

As the children have a yearning to learn language and to spend time conversing with English speaking foreigners we are commencing English classes with the children and volunteers will teach conversational English when they visit.