Back to central St Petersburg for our Deaf Club
In the New Year our Deaf club for pre-school children and their families moved back to the Early Intervention Institute in central St Petersburg.
Since the 1990s the Institute has pioneered therapies and activities for young disabled children which encourage them to develop their skills and personalities, become as independent as possible, and to be included into society as a whole.
Three years ago it closed to renovate its building and make it accessible for the disabled. Our Deaf Club moved out to the suburbs. Now with the re-opening of the Institute the Club is back in the centre of the city, making it much easier for families to reach. Two new families have joined the Club in the last month.
Tbilisi street children move into their new home
It is a week since Mkurnali moved into their new house. Life is still somewhat chaotic, with building work continuing, but already much has been sorted out.
The printer cartridge re-filling workshop, which provides work for the ex-street children and vital income to the charity, is set up.
The beds are made up on the beautiful floors. The last building was so damp that their beds had rusted or were mouldy. New beds have been ordered, are being made and will be delivered soon.
Our business contact has already delivered not only crockery and glasses as promised, but also bed linen at great cost to the company.
An extra bathroom has been created at a cost of $2,000. It has a bath, shower and a “Turkish toilet” (where you squat), which was much cheaper and there are some street children who have never used an ordinary toilet.
The wall dividing the bedrooms is perfect and everything is coming along well. They think that in a week or so they will be more or less settled....
We asked Nino Chubabria, the charity’s director, if, with all their new expenses, they would like money which had been set aside for the lawyers' program by us to be used for these expenses and Nino said NO WAY! Despite the move and all they are doing in the house, they are very busy defending two young people.
One is a girl who is accused of stealing somebody's saucepans and is in jail awaiting trial, the other a young man who has tuberculosis and is also under arrest. He is getting good treatment in prison for his tuberculosis, but they do not think he should be there nevertheless. So they need the funding for the lawyers as per usual....
One new problem is that a competitor has started a cartridge filling business with better equipment that allows him to offer considerably lower prices so he is taking away Mkurnali’s clients. Mkurnali is looking at ways they might be able to purchase the same equipment. Meanwhile, the workshop is fully operational in the new house and the computers are also set up to train the children. The sewing workshop will be set up soon. And that is all in one week!
Finally, Mkurnali have been very lucky with their new neighbours, who are very kind. They have already given them access to their own internet server, which is how Nino was able to send us news.
Find out how St Gregory's Foundation helped them buy this wonderful new house.
Adults with learning difficulties and their families enjoy a holiday thanks to SGF
Seven adults with learning disabilities, their families and friends/volunteers enjoyed their summer camp this August. A wonderful way of reinforcing their friendships, they cooked together, sang and acted, and dodged the showers to take several walks. St Gregory's pays a modest grant to cover the food, while the group raise the rest of the cost by selling their artwork at an annual bazaar.
"All my life I dreamt about going hiking with other grown ups, somwhere where no-one knew me."
Find out how Nadia, an orphanage-leaver from St Petersburg's dream came true.
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