Our news and views
Christmas Letter to our Supporters
21 December 2011
Dear all,
2011 has been a busy and fruitful year here at Lumos. We have developed our programme work in four countries and continued providing vital support to the process of closing institutions and replacing them with community based services. Here are just a few of the highlights:
We embarked on very successful advocacy work in Bulgaria, where we raised awareness of the rights and needs of children with hydrocephalus and spina bifida. You can read more about the results of a joint conference on the issue, in our Christmas eNewsletter, here.
Lumos works to get children out of residential institutions and into family- and community-based care settings and services. One of the benefits of a community based care system is that the services can be tailored for the needs of each individual child. It is vital that the needs of every child are analysed when planning new services. For example, in the Czech Republic we have been carrying out assessments of children with disabilities in two institutions in preparation of them moving out. These completed assessments will be essential for the designing and building of small residential houses and community services where the children will live after next year.
In Moldova our team focused on creating alternative care services, such as foster care in two pilot regions in the country, where this service is most needed. The first 10 foster carers were approved by the local authorities and Lumos is now working closely with them through the deinstututionalisation process. Seven children were given foster homes and their lives have changed immeasurably for the better. They now receive support from Lumos' national and local coordinators and we work to make sure they feel happy in their foster family and receive the best care according to their medical, educational or psychological needs.
One of these children is 12-year-old Oxana. She has her own room, toys and pets that she loves to feed and play with. She goes to a school in the community where she has friends with whom she shares the joy of having a childhood. This sounds like the life of most children but her life was not always like that...
Oxana had to live in a residential institution (‘boarding school') for more than four years after her mother went missing, her father was sent to prison and her grandmother, in whose custody she was left, passed away. In the institution Oxana was deprived of all the love and attention she desperately needed. All days seemed the same and the only enjoyment for her was the limited schooling she received, which was inadequate to meet her needs.
Lumos, together with the local authorities in Moldova, supported the process of finding a foster family for Oxana and moving her from the residential institution to a new home. Lumos' team of specialists continues to provide assistance to the girl by visiting her regularly and making sure she is happy and comfortable in her new home.
When Oxana first moved to her new family, she felt that 'mother‘ was a difficult word to use because of all the years she had spent in the institution. So she calls her foster mother 'Granny‘. She has now regained the joy of having a family. Oxana says: "23rd June was the most important day of my life, because it was the day I came to Granny!"
This year Oxana's life changed completely. She left behind the institution and found a real home. Thanks to your support, Lumos can now share more stories like Oxana's and there are more places which children can call home.
To continue supporting our work or make a donation, please visit http://www.lumos.org.uk/.
Have a wonderful Christmas, and a Happy New Year!
