Letter from Carel de Rooy, UNICEF Representative in Russian Federation and Belarus
Homeless children in dirty clothing beg for money from passers-by in the street – more than once have we seen this scene! One can say that such is everyday life in our big city. So, should we give them money or not?Each time we have to make this decision. Some of the street children look particularly pitiful. Nevertheless, we hesitate to give them money as we do not know for sure what it will be spent on. Dear Friend, Dima’s story is absolutely true, although I have changed his name to protect his privacy. For several years, he lived in basements. You may have met him in the street, but it is difficult to remember faces of street children – upon seeing them, we, as a rule, keep our eyes away from them and quicken up our pace. Dima doesn’t remember his father. He says that every year his mother brought home a new father. Dima hated them all. They usually made him pick up empty bottles or beg for some money to buy another bottle of vodka or a pack of cigarettes. Since early childhood, Dima had to think every day where he could get money to buy food. Scars from regular beating that Dima’s heavily intoxicated “father” subjected him to are still visible on Dima’s body. It used to happen each time when Dima brought home too little money. It went on like that for several years running until still another father got into the habit of putting out cigarettes on his adopted son’s body. Dima realized that the he should do something as a sign of protest – and he ran away from home. However, life in the street was not an easy one either. “You can not survive in the street unless you are a member of some group of loitering youngsters”, he says. “And you need to make your own contribution to the group’s income by means of begging or stealing. Otherwise, you’ll stay hungry or can even be beaten”. Dima had to do all these terrible things in order to survive. He was only eight years old at that time! There were also some “kind uncles”, who opened for Dima still another world of sexual violence, humiliation and pain just for a small reward in the form of toys or sweets. No one knows how many more misfortunes would’ve befallen Dima but for his sickness when he found himself in hospital. When in hospital, Dima was treated for various injuries and then, he was really lucky to be sent to a socio-rehabilitation center whose activities are supported by UNICEF. At the centre, various specialists helped Dima to overcome the aftereffects of his psychological trauma and bring back Dima’s confidence in his own abilities and the world around him. “It’s impossible for a child to fully get over the feeling of hostility and uselessness”, a psychologist from the center, who assisted Dima, said. “But we should by all means assist a child in his regaining self-confidence”. Dima’s psychological condition was improving gradually. He resumed his schooling and moved to a children’s home to live. It was difficult for him to change his life-style, but he no longer feared for his life. This is a story of a homeless child that has a happy end: today Dima is safe and secure. However, thousands of other innocent and helpless children still live on Moscow streets. They are not as lucky as Dima was. They are in need of professional assistance. Help us, and we’ll do our best to irrevocably change these children’s lives for the better! Even one donation from you means a lot! We understand how important it is to help a child before he runs away from home. UNICEF assists other organizations dealing with children such as Dima. Their specialists address the whole range of problems: early crisis intervention with families, drafting and lobbying of new laws to protect homeless children’s rights, training of children’s psychologists and counseling experts, increasing the capacity of professionals working with these children at shelters and providing outreach assistance in the street, etc. Each of these programmes is a success because there are people who care and support us. Therefore, I am asking you to donate 500, 1000, 5000 rubles or as much money as you can afford. We’ll be grateful to you for any amount. You just think about it! It’s a small amount of money comparable in size to one trip to the shop. It can be of a lesser or greater importance to you, but in any case it can not have any significant influence on your life, while the same amount of money can radically change for the better the child’s life by making him feel your care and support. So, do you really need several hundred rubles more than a homeless child? Sincerely yours, To make your donation please call our hot line: Please give as much as you can today. I promise that your donation will help homeless children start a new life.
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