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BRITISH HUMANITARIAN AID

“Together we can help”

Mission Statement

It is the mission of British Humanitarian Aid (BHA) to actively seek and prompt monetary and material donations in order to ease the suffering of people in Chernihiv Region, Ukraine, where the collapse of The Soviet Union, and the disaster at Chernobyl, have led to the impoverishment of families, and to cancer and sickness in both children and adults. No donated goods are re-sold.

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AID

REPORT 2006/7

Chernihiv city and the villages in its district are both served by this centre. The districts of Gorodnya, Shchors and Mena (our centre at Makosheno) have their own Aratta branches that run activities and also distribute aid throughout the villages in their districts. In many other districts we work closely with the social services and in one we distribute aid via the education authority. We have bought two of these centres and rent the third and all are in the process of being repaired and refurbished by enthusiastic volunteers.

One of the main aims of an “Aratta” is to persuade people who receive help to make a contribution to others in return. Many who started off by seeking help, through their work at the Aratta’s, have discovered a dignity and purpose to their life that they had given up hope of finding.

In addition to this work, we are in touch with all the Internats (state boarding schools that cope with orphans, children in care and economic orphans) providing clothing, shoes, bedding, sports equipment, educational materials, furniture and paint and wallpaper as available. In some, we have been able to cope with specific requests for cookers, fridges and washing machines and we have been able to help with renovations to washing and toilet facilities. Music schools and sports organisations that work for the benefit of children regularly receive whatever items we can obtain for them

Two children’s hospitals at Zamgli and Nizhin, two foster homes in Chernihiv and Nizhin and two homes for very young children at Priluki are also supported, along with two homes for the elderly, several hospitals, a couple of prisons and two rehabilitation centres. Where we can, we also support some state schools, especially those in the villages. Those institutions that have modernised themselves have only done so by seeking sponsors as their only income is the salaries for their workers.