Outreach Moldova
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Mission Statement
Outreach Moldova (ORM) is an Irish Charity set up in 2000 in response to an international plea for humanitarian aid for children with special needs living in state institutions. The charity is a company limited by guarantee without a share capital. ORM provides essential medical, surgical, educational & social programmes to both Hincesti Orphanage for children and young adults with special needs and the municipal baby orphanage in Chisinau.
About This Cause
The goal of ORM is to provide immediate and ongoing assistance where necessary, provide the necessary training and supervision required, assist in and develop long-term, self-sustaining programs that will have a positive and lasting impact in the lives of these needy children and their care givers. We also strive to provide for the communities working with these children. How do we achieve this goal? We work the belief that each life matters. In partnership with the Moldovan people we hope to change the way people think about and define both “disability” and illness; We hope to break down and end the internalized shame among people with disabilities; and promote the belief in society that disability is a natural and beautiful part of human diversity in which people living with disabilities can take pride. ORM’s vision is that each person who is physically, mentally or socially disadvantaged deserves to be given special treatment, education and appropriate care required by their particular condition regardless of circumstance. HISTORY AND EARLY CONDITIONS: In the summer of 2000 following the worldwide publication of a documentary displaying the horrific conditions in institutions in Moldova, shown on BBC, BBCi and RTE; "Convoy to Moldova", a large contingent of Irish Volunteers travelled to work with these children, including medical students, nurses, farmers, tradesmen, mum and dads. The conditions they experienced there were appalling: Horrific living and medical conditions180 little children at that time aged 4+ abandoned and orphaned due to their condition Temperatures of +40°C in summer and as low as -20°C in winter Little clothing - insufficient for the temperatures 3 to a bed - 2 to cot with insufficient sheets and blankets No medical, washing, recreational or educational facilities No functional bathrooms, no hot or cold running water No heating in the living accommodation for the children, broken windows, no doors. Severe life threatening malnutrition and starvation Untreated medical conditions, neglected chronic infectious diseases and complete lack of medical intervention Emotional, psychological & physical neglect Drugs and aid delivered to the orphanage were mismanaged No stimulation, no love and no emotional support High death rates Malnutrition and starvation of abandoned children It was clear that humanitarian aid, while needed, wouldn't suffice, it would only be a band aid on a much larger problem. ORM began to work with the state run institution, Hincesti (the original focus of the documentary), and work still continues to this day. ORM runs a wide range of ongoing programmes in Moldova to provide for children and young adults in State care. We look at each person as an individual and adapt our programmes to suit their needs. These are varied ranging from medical & surgical intervention to social and life skills programmes. It takes a team of over 250 full time Moldovan staff with the support of Irish volunteers to complete these necessary life changing and in some cases life saving programmes. The ORM idea was always simple; Enable where environment or conditions have managed to disable Listen and hear their voice, if they don't have one to provide one for them Examine and accord appropriate medical attention See their potential and help them realise it Provide a safe, warm and comfortable place to live Encourage them to participate in their life decisions Find alternative solutions to their long term placement in Institutions All ORM programmes go hand in hand, where one compliments another. For our medical programme to work we needed to address access to water, light and heat, nutrition, mediations and specialist trained staff. We also made the decision very early on that for our work to have a purpose and meaning, we would need to relocate Irish staff to oversee the work first hand and respond to all the needs as they arose. Managing from a distance of 3000Km would be impossible. As the children's health improved, we were able to expand our work and provide a more integrated, service orientated approach to overall care. ORM PROGAMMES: 1) MEDICAL PROGRAMME ORM's main focus has always been on the medical well being and health of these special children. Their health was in such poor condition that many of the staff and children had come to expect ill health as the norm. The financial crisis at that time we arrived in 2000 meant that children received little or no medical attention, had no access to appropriate medications and for some it would mean death. As Moldova's health system passed through this very difficult transition period hospitals, clinics and general health care facilities deteriorated and patient care suffered. This had the ripple effect of the deterioration of facilities and access to facilities for those who were living in institutionalised care. When we arrived in 2000 PSF (Pharmaciens Sans Frontières) had established a micro programme to supply the much needed basic medications for state run institutions and a much larger programme for nationwide medical facilities. Hincesti orphanage was part of this initiative and received their assistance until 2001. It was through this wonderful organisation that we would make contact with the Doctors and Hospitals and establish lasting partnerships to provide appropriate medical care for these children. ORM medical programmes include: *Medical programme *Surgical programme *Rehabilitation programme *Dental programme *Medication programme *Nutrition programme 2) EDUCATION PROGRAMME The early years of ORM concentrated primarily on providing urgent medical care for the children and bringing their deplorable living environment up to an acceptable standard for human habitation. As the children became healthy the focus of our efforts needed to change. The children needed a focus in their lives too, 24 hours is a lot of time to fill during a day, they needed to break from the repetitive cycle of wake, eat, wait for sleep and sleep. They desperately needed a change and this is where our education programmes came into their own. We wanted to set realistic goals for these children. Some children would be ideal candidates for formal education, albeit in some cases 20 years late. But we always maintain that it is better late than never. Others would be better suited to our auxiliary programmes and therapies. Each child is assessed and every child takes part in a programme. These are separate to our speech & language, physiotherapy and medical programmes. Some children take part in all the programmes, meaning their day is literally jam packed. We provide the option of programmes, we do not force the children to participate. Change is difficult to manage for everyone. The children showed resistance in the beginning to many of the programmes, especially to school and the dreaded homework, but they soon learned that new doors were opening, that their days would have purpose and meaning and all children attend their programmes 5 days a week with pleasure now. The cultural mind set of Moldovans towards children with disability is beginning to change, where we were informed in the beginning that such programmes were a waste of time, effort and money, people now attend concerts given by the children and attend art fairs where the children sell their work. Parents who visit their children see not only the physical changes in the children, but the all important psychological changes as the childrens self esteem and self worth grows. ORM educational programmes include: *School *Arts and Crafts *Sports Classes *Dance Classes *Life Skills Classes 3) SOCIAL INTEGRATION PROGRAMME ORM believes that every child has the right to a family and a home but unfortunately for the children we work with this hasn't always been the case. For a child to reach their full potential they need much more than medical treatment and education. They need a safe, secure, nurturing home environment that large residential institutions can not provide. It is one of our greatest desires to ensure alternative living arrangements can be found for each child. For this purpose we work closely with the regional social work departments and families to develop, implement and expand on social reintegration into the community. It is our greatest wish to see these children live outside these orphanages. 4) STAFF TRAINING PROGRAMME Another goal of ORM is to enable all our MOldovan partners to provide appropriate, significant and menaingful services for all the children in our care. ORM provides specialised training and support services to all our staff. This includes both our professional and non-professional staff areas such as: - First Aid - Feeding - Manual Handling - Hygiene and dental care in special needs setting - Child psychology and child protection We also run specialised training sessions for our medical staff in advanced life-support technics, ongoing medical and nursing specialisation keeoing in line with the Ministry of Health's requirement for ongoing medical training. 5) CONSTRUCTION AND BUILDING PROGRAMME When ORM first arrived in 2000, the conditions we found the children living in were appalling. There was no heating system or running water. Sanitation and personal hygiene facilities were absent. Electricity was used only during specific hours, the children were living in dark, cold buildings with little furniture. ORM succeeded in turning things around and today the children have: - Fully refurbished residential buildings - Central heating and hot water systems - Rehabilitation centre with gym, physiotheraoy, occupational therapy, speech therapy and psychotherapy rooms - septic and aseptic procedure rooms, pharmacy and dental surgery - generator to provide uninterrupted electricity - classrooms - playground, paved surfaces and universal access ramps ORM provides these life changing services 24/7 and the need for financial support is real and urgent challenge.