Help us to put the children of “Miloserdie” (Mercy) group – bed-bound orphans – on their feet! In our country those children are still considered to be “with no prospects” and are literally called “plants”. Then how could we get them to learn how to stand and walk? Children break all stereotypes – please support them!
We’ve been doing this since 2006.
Social problem
There are orphaned children, and there are children with severe mental disorders, who are abandoned by their parents and need something more than simply care of a nurse.
Headmasters of orphanages for children with disabilities take almost no effort to put every single “bed-bound” child on his/her feet. This is understandable, given that an orphanage has from 50 to 200 children, and only a part of them are confined to bed or to a wheel-chair. More attention of the staff goes to those children who are able to move, play, learn during special classes in groups.
The problem is, that administration of such institutions consist of people who are not yet aware, or they do not want to know that such children can also be put on their feet and developed.
What we do
Many years of experience in Elatomsky Orphanage showed that even children with very complex disabilities have the potential for development, and the quality of their lives can be improved significantly!
We organize diagnostics of children’s conditions and consultation with orthopedic doctors,
- we pay for and organize the work of orthopeds, massage therapists, physiotherapists, other specialists,
- we organize support to an orphanage in the course of manufacturing of and payment for ortheses.
Even doctors are surprised by results of verticalization
- all children learned how to stand without help, they walk with absolutely no assistance or supported by the arm, or with walking aids, all children have the muscles of their necks, backs and legs strengthened children started to grow in height and gain weight,them,
- verticalization was a great prompt to their mental development,
- one girl had her deafness diagnosis revoked – after beginning of verticalization she started to hear,
- all of them became more self-reliant and agile, which makes care for children easier and expands opportunities for their development,
- improvements in the process of food ingestion and other life functions,
- due to the above-mentioned changes children get integrated in social environment (for example, children started to take walks outside).
Some of the children show especially remarkable results – you can learn more about it in the project presentation (link to the presentation) and from reports (link to the news archive re.: verticalization).
Project background
Back in 2008, it was the first time that we came to Elatomsky Orphanage for mentally challenged children, accompanied by orthopedic doctors from the Federal Bureau of Medical and Social Expertise.
At that time the “Miloserdie” (Mercy) department had 46 children with severe and multiple disorders of psychophysical development (Down syndrome, ICP, autism, musculoskeletal disorders and other). Almost all children there were bed-bound or sedentary – they were considered to be “with no prospects” and received minimal care and no development. They were doomed to lie in their beds all day long without seeing anything or anyone but bleak walls and ceilings of their rooms.
Professor examined children with acropathology and gave a conclusion: some of the children could be put on their feet, and no surgical intervention is needed. Then work on verticalization started with 8 children, and by 2016 the number of children in the project grew to 14.
Right now you can support a unique project! Nobody believes that such things are possible, but this is reality – children of “Miloserdie”(Mercy) group started to walk!