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May 2010 - Successful opening of our newly built family home for orphans in Kiev

Mr Suleiman J. Al-Herbish, Director-General of OFID and Pascale Vayer, kleine herzen

On May 6th, 2010  - kleine herzen and Caritas-Spes Ukraine celebrated the completion of the newly built family home in Kiev with an official opening ceremony. This remarkable event was honoured notably by the presence of the Director-General of the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), Mr Suleiman J. Al-Herbish and the Chairman of the Board of Raiffeisen Bank Aval, Mr  Volodymyr Lavrenchuk.

This new family home will welcome 10 orphaned children who have the chance to grow up in a family-like environment with the necessary love and care they need to become an adult with chance for a descent life. 

The project was developed and built by Caritas-Spes and kleine herzen. OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), Raiffeisen Bank Aval and H.Stepic CEE charity are the main sponsors who made this project happen.

Mr Suleiman J. Al-Herbish and Mr Volodymyr Lavrenchuk, Chairman of the Board, Raiffeisen Bank Aval

Mr. Suleiman J. Al-Herbish, Director-General of the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), Mr Volodymyr Lavrenchuk, Chairman of the Board, Raiffeisen Bank Aval Ukraine,  Mrs Natalia Nikitina, Public relations Coca Cola Hellenic Ukraine and Mrs Pascale Vayer, chairwoman of kleine herzen held a speech after a warm welcome of the president of Caritas-Spes and auxiliary Bishop of Kiev His Excellency Stanislav Shyrokoradiuk.  The following guests were also present: His Excellency  Dr. Markus Wuketich, Ambassador of Austria in Kiev, Mrs Ikhlass Al-Sheikhly,  Head of Grants Unit OFID,  Mr Jean Bastianelli, Director of the Lycée Francais of Vienna, sponsor of our educational projects and  Mr Mykola Kuleba, Chairman of Kiev City State Administration, City Service for Children.

Mr Suleiman J. Al-Herbish:

“On behalf of the family of OFID – the OPEC Fund for International Development – we are proud to have supported the construction of this children’s home for Ukrainian orphans. (...)
The Former Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, once said, “All children, no matter where they live, have the right to education and a safe and secure environment to grow”(*).  This statement is at the core of our activities. (...)
“For over 34 years, OFID has been working to improve the lives of children and families to help them meet their basic needs; whether it is in the areas of health, education, agriculture, transportation or energy.“

Mr. Suleiman J. Al-Herbish finished his statement by recognising the efforts of all the people who worked on the project:

“Finally, I want to commend the resilience and hard work of all the people involved in this project. Despite the setback that was faced in January 2009, when a big gas explosion caused serious damage to this Orphanage Home, you have managed to overcome all obstacles and turn this home into a reality – one that will improve the lives of many children for years to come.”

On conclusion, Mr. Al-Herbish expressed his desire for OFID to become involved in similar projects with Ukraine in the future.

Read the complete statement of Mr. Suleiman J. Al –Herbish, Director-General of OFID>

Pascale Vayer, chairwoman of kleine herzen expressed to the sponsors on behalf of the association her feelings of pride and honour for being with them on this great occasion:

“The success of this project is a result of a very close partnership between Caritas Spes and Kleine herzen. On this occasion I would like to express my gratefulness to the sponsors and especially to the ones who are here today for all the support and trust we have received and the pride for what we have succeeded together despite the major setbacks.”

I thank OFID, the Opec Fund for International Development, for believing on the project, on Kleine herzen and on Caritas Spes. Their great support allowed us to build this house.
I thank the Raiffeisen Bank Aval and H.Stepic CEE Charity for supporting us to rebuild the house after the terrible accident in January 2009 and for their continuous support.
I also thank Coca Cola Hellenic and the Lycee Francais de Vienne for their trust and their continuous support.”

Dr. Mohammed Al-Saadi, advisor of OFID donated 10.000 $ to our children Projects in the Ukraine. kleine herzen and Caritas-Spes are very thankful for his generous donation.

 

 

This family homes project gives hope to children who do not have what every child deserves to have: love of a family, healthcare and education. Kleine herzen cares of the youngest in our society who are in need and cannot speak for themselves and want to make it possible for orphaned and abandoned children to live in their native country under socially wholesome conditions in loving and secure surroundings and to receive education. This should be given to all children regardless of political situation, country borders and religion.

Pascale Vayer: “Now we should join our efforts for tomorrow to succeed together to build up new projects giving a chance for more children, who deserve to have a decent life. The future, reflected in a child gives hope to all of us.”

kleine herzen is successfully partnering with Caritas-Spes Ukraine since the year 2006. Besides the building projects kleine herzen succeeded to run a sponsorship program for more than 70 children living in Caritas-Spes family homes. Each child is supported by a European family.

About Caritas-Spes Ukraine
Caritas-Spes Ukraine was founded by the Conference of the Roman Catholic Bishops of Ukraine in May 1995. Caritas-Spes supports social projects in all 7 roman-catholic dioceses of the Ukraine and runs 40 centers in which over 500 full-time and voluntary employees are currently working. Since 1999, Caritas-Spes Ukraine is a member of Caritas Internationalis as well as Caritas Europa. Within 15 years of its work Caritas-Spes realized successfully hundreds of projects in the social area.
Caritas-Spes organizes and operates since 2001 family homes for orphans. These homes provide long-term family-based care to children in need, which is delivered by trained educators. These family homes operate with the task to restore the balance in life for abandoned, destitute, and spiritually and physically traumatised children. Today Caritas-Spes Ukraine supports 8 family homes giving to about 70 orphaned children at the age from 2 to 18 years, a real chance of a happy life by the intensive loving support that they receive.


(*)  Quote taken from World AIDS Orphan Day, 2007 (Mai 7th) http://www.fxb.org/_library/docs/PressKit_ENG.pdf