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Kateryna Yushchenko Visits Otchiy Dim Social Care Center

April 8, 2009, Head of the Supervisory Board of the Ukraine 3000 International Charitable Foundation Kateryna Yushchenko visited the Otchiy Dim [Father’s House] social care center. Also present were Minister of Ukraine for Health Care Vasyl Kniazevych, representative of Verlagsgruppe Passau Publishers, fundraising coordinator of the informational action to support Ukraine’s children Eva Fischl, First Deputy Secretary of the NSDC of Ukraine Volodymyr Ohryzko, Head of the State Department on Adoption and Children’s Rights Liudmyla Volynets, Deputy Head of the Kyiv Oblast State Administration Valery Kondruk, minister counselor of the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany to Ukraine Susanne Shutz, President of the Otchiy Dim International Charitable Foundation Roman Korniyko, renowned philanthropist and co-founder of the Otchiy Dim International Charitable Foundation Sister Inge Kimmerle, representatives of the local authorities, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany to Ukraine, Verlagsgruppe Passau publishing house, and Ukraine 3000 Foundation.

The visit to the Otchiy Dim social care center was tied to coincide with Verlagsgruppe Passau delegation’s stay in Ukraine. Recall that in 2005 an informational action to support Ukraine’s children was initiated in Germany by the publishing house’s charitable organization, the Dr. Hans Kapfinger Foundation. The action had raised € 633,000, which had been channeled to the Burn Center of the Kyiv City Clinical Hospital No.2, Children’s Oncology Unit of the National Cancer Institute, and Otchiy Dim social care center, with the support of Ukraine 3000 Foundation. The National Cancer Institute received a computer tomographer, the burn center – a set of equipment, and Otchiy Dim - UAH 923,440 for repairs and equipping its premises and grounds.

Today Verlagsgruppe Passau representatives visited all facilities benefiting from the said action. Earlier they have visited the Burn Center of the Kyiv City Clinical Hospital No.2 and National Cancer Institute.

The honorable guests familiarized themselves with the Center’s work and toured its premises. Otchiy Dim staff members briefed those present on the remodeling and construction progress. Mrs. Kateryna and Verlagsgruppe Passau representatives visited the sick room, creativity rooms, classrooms, the gyms, and boys’ and girls’ dormitories, talking to the Otchiy Dim little wards. In addition, the guests visited the Family Upbringing Center and familiarized themselves with the life of the families residing there. After that, Mr. Korniyko presented Otchiy Dim’s report for 2008 and outlined the new projects.

Addressing the audience, Mrs. Yushchenko spoke highly of the Otchiy Dim’s selfless work and its great attainments. “Every time I come to Otchiy Dim, I see the light of kindness in your eyes, and it inspires me for further work,” she said. Mrs. Kateryna added that, due to Otchiy Dim’s indefatigable work, it was able to solve most of the small problems arising when one works with homeless children. “Now we have bigger problems to solve,” she said. “We have to start thinking about amending the legislation to consolidate our success and, on the other hand, to secure these children’s fate.”

Mrs. Yushchenko thanked the Verlagsgruppe Passau for their care about Ukraine’s future. She described the charitable action, due to which Otchiy Dim, Burn Center, and National Cancer Institute received aid, and expressed her hope that the cooperation will continue.

Eva Fischl said that she was happy to see that the funds raised in Germany for the intended purpose, to the benefit of Ukraine: “I’m glad that every euro reached its goal.” Ms. Fischl emphasized that not a single child had died at the Burn Center since the new equipment had been set. “The readers of Passauer Neue Presse, every donator, will know that their money have helped Ukraine’s children,” Ms. Fischl said.

Sister Inge Kimmerle spoke about her S’Einlädele Christian humanitarian organization’s missionary work in Ukraine. “For 16 years we have been not just raising funds and bring them to Ukraine,” she said. “We strive to involve other people to do the same, so that to raise philanthropists in your own country. Our motto is, Help to Organize Self-Help, which means that the aid recipients eventually will be able to support themselves without donations.” Sister Inge described successful projects supported by her organization and expressed their preparedness to share the experience in developing lucrative business to support charitable projects.

Among other speakers were Ms. Volynets, who spoke about the state’s activity in the adoption field, Minister Kniazevych, Mr. Ohryzko, and Ms. Schutz. Mr. Kondruk decorated Vice President of the Otchiy Dim International Charitable Foundation with state award, the Labor and Victory medal.

After that, Otchiy Dim wards presented a Spring is Coming show.

On behalf of the Ukraine 3000 International Charitable Foundation, Mrs. Yushchenko presented to the Otchiy Dim wards children’s creativity kits, a stellar map, and a books set for each child. In their turn, the children gave to the guests their creative works.

Verlagsgruppe Passau (VGP) publishers house was founded in 1946 by Hans Kapfinger, a German journalist famed for his anti-Nazi statements. The first publication, laying the basis for the future group, was Passauer Neue Presse daily newspaper, which by 1954 had been published in 15 Germany’s cities with the total pressrun of 120,000. In 1988 the council of directors decided to extend their activities to Eastern Europe. In 1990, after the collapse of the Iron Curtain, VGP bought a number of daily and weekly newspapers in Czech Republic. Since 1991, VGP has been investing into the publishing sector of Austria, Poland, Italy, and Slovakia. Today Verlagsgruppe Passau is one of the most influential publishing groups in Germany and the leader of the newspaper business in Poland, Czech Republic, and Slovakia. The total pressrun of its publications exceeds 10.8 million. The number of its readers is over 17.6 million. Its staff numbers over 4,500.

Hans Kapfinger founded the Dr. Hans Kapfinger Foundation in 1967. Its major priorities are giving financial support to people in tough situation, promoting science and art, and training journalists. The last two are implemented on the basis of Passau University. The foundation focuses on professional training for journalists, supporting the Journalism and Communication Institute of Passau University. For many years the Dr. Hans Kapfinger Foundation restricted its activities to the regions of the Passauer Neue Presse distribution, but in the 1990s it started a number of international projects. Since 1992, with the support of influential international organizations (UNICEF, UNESCO),  Passauer Neue Presse carries out annual fundraisers for concrete projects. Through charitable informational actions, funds had been raised for Bosnia, Ethiopia, Zaire, Brazil, Senegal, Poland, Afghanistan, Iraq, Thailand, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Ukraine, and other countries. The total sum of the funds raised by Dr. Hans Kapfinger Foundation through its informational actions, is around € 14.5 million.

Otchiy Dim International Charity Foundation was created by Dr. Roman Korniyko in January 1999. The foundation aims at solving the problem of homeless children through joint efforts of the church, charitable and civil organizations, and the state. The Otchiy Dim deals with comprehensive individual support to children (social, pedagogic, medical, etc.) and creating a rehabilitation space for homeless children. To this end, the organization supports consultation and rehabilitation centers for families, popularizes adoption, and supports family forms of upbringing: guardianship, family adoption, foster families, family upbringing programs; it also renders aid to boarding schools’ and other children’s facilities’ alumni. At present, the foundation consists of the Otchiy Dim Children’s  Social Care Center, the Ostriv skarbiv [Treasure Island] adaptation camp for homeless children, family upbringing program, a department for work with the alumni, Dity dlia ditey [Children to Children] Service and Creativity Dept., legal, financial, administrative departments, etc.