23 May 2008: Fundraising campaign for the first hospice for children in Russia
UNICEF has launched a fundraising campaign in St. Petersburg to help the first Russian Children’s Hospice. This institution was founded in 2003 and it gives a chance to children with terminal diseases to live out the rest of their lives with dignity and realize some of their dreams. The Hospice helps children with cerebral paralysis, cancer, kidney failure, severe spine injuries. All these illnesses are incurable. To know that your child is never going to recover is the worst ordeal that parents can possibly endure.
Costly remedies, medical treatment and consultations with famous doctors – most parents simply can not afford it. The Hospice helps them financially and its doctors and psychologists make regular visits to more than two hundred families. They provide all kinds of assistance, from giving their young patients special massages to consulting their parents on various day-to-day problems. This help cannot be overestimated and sometimes is much more appreciated than money.
The Hospice psychologists have worked out their own system of psychological support for sick children and their parents. The programme “Dreams come true” tries to fulfill the dreams of these children and bring a little bit of happiness. What do these children want? One longs for a princess dress; one desperately wants a trip to the zoo; some dream of a computer or just of a bunch of daisies in winter. It’s not so difficult to make it all happen …
That is the reason we asked the residents of St. Petersburg to help us raise money for the Hospice. We need it to purchase medical equipment, to pay salaries to the Hospice’s specialists and of course to support the “Dreams come true” programme which will bring a little magic into the life of these tragically afflicted children.
You can also join the Hospice campaign by making a donation right now on our website or using any other form of payment. Thank you in advance for your support!
