Children’s Hospice of St. Petersburg

Newsletter September 2007

Dear friends:

Autumn has come, and it’s the beginning of a new school year. Many of our patients are going to school for the first time; some have passed from house training to attending a school; some will continue an interrupted study; and still others are resting and restoring their strength and health.

How will the children begin the new school year? The answer to this question depends on Children's Hospice, and we tried to put the children in festive spirits.

Museum Trip

In the Museum of Water—the oldest water tower in St. Petersburg—a celebration took place, and most our children participated in the event. The atmosphere was joyful and friendly. Our special thanks to the museum employees who guided children’s groups through the museum. The children saw and learned a lot of interesting, surprising, and even funny things.

Petting Zoo

We organized a stroll on Crestovsky Island in St. Petersburg. The children were not only happy to be outside in nature but were able to feed the animals by hand. Donkeys, rabbits, lambs and even ostriches received a double portion of food and love from the kids on that day.

At the lake there were more animals to feed: this time there were beautiful birds—swans. The day was wonderful, the weather was fine, and the stroll lasted until the children felt tired but happy.

Soccer Fans

Our soccer fans also had a chance to cheer for their team. The club "Zenith" presented us with tickets for a UEFA cup match, and on the 20^th of September we added our voices to those of the fans: “Forward, Zenith! Forward for St. Pete!”

Children’s Theatre

The new theatrical season has started, and our children opened it by visiting a performance of "Konyok-gorbunok" (Little Humpback-Horse) in the Theatre for Young Spectators. The theatre management allowed our children to visit its performances during the entire 2007-2008 season for free. Our special thanks to the theatre’s administration for its sensitive attitude to our children and its ready sympathy.

Museum of Dolls

Our old friend, the Museum of Dolls, opened their doors to us once again with an exhibition of souvenir dolls. The cozy, almost domestic, atmosphere of the museum and the warm environment helped everyone to find something hearty and soul nourishing. Trips like this benefit not only the children but also their mothers, on whose shoulders rest the worries and of responsibility of their care. For a while they could enter into a magic world where all stories have a happy ending.

Everyone wants to believe in miracles. There is a magic mirror in the Museum of Dolls, and they say if you look into it and make a wish, it will come true. Most of our children and their relatives came to the mirror and thought of their most cherished wishes.

In addition to the interesting excursion through the museum, we visited the workshop where skilled masters create new dolls. The children were especially enraptured by an appearance of the royal poodle Artemon from the fairy tale Pinocchio.

Railroad Museum

Some of our patients have long dreamed of visiting the Railway Museum but it was not possible until now. This month their dream finally came true. The visit to the Central Museum of the Octyabr’skaya Railway was a real treat for Pavel D. and Valera Y. The steam engines were exhibited outside making the visit much easier for children in wheelchairs. Even the cloudy autumn weather didn’t dampen their excitement. After the tour, our children were able to walk around the museum by themselves. Time elapsed imperceptibly for all of us.

Zoo at Home

Our children await visits of our “zoo at home” with much anticipation. We visited many children that have a limited ability to move. Predators they had only seen in pictures especially attracted the children. In our home zoo, they could pet wild animals, feed them, and be photographed with them. Most of the animals are tame so even our smallest patients were not afraid. Stepan E. calmly stroked a fluffy rabbit and a hedgehog, and wasn’t even afraid of a fox.

Children’s Hospice Visits Leningrad Region

Since June 2007, the medical teams of Children's Hospice have been regularly visiting seriously ill children in the Leningrad region.

Disabled children in this region receive very little care. Most of these children don’t receive medicine or medical examinations because often there are no physicians available in the area. About 75 percent of children live in incomplete families. For many families, their sole income is a pension received from the state for the child’s physical disability. When we meet new families, the parents are pleasantly surprised that someone is interested in their children and have offered help to them.

Children’s Hospice provides these families with free medications that are typically very expensive, helping them to save money. Often the parents of these children cannot hold a full-time job in order to care for their children. We also provide moral and psychological support to parents and try to improve life conditions for our new patients.

Thanks to the efforts of our social workers, patient Andrey B. received an allowance from social services of the Leningrad region. Our pediatrician developed a special diet for him and we provided him with much-needed nutrition.

In the future, we plan to provide our patients with consultations by a neurologist and other necessary experts including regular sessions of massage. Many children in the region have not been medically examined for more than two years.

We hope to be able to provide services to all districts (currently, we work in seven districts) of the Leningrad region by the end of the year.

Art Therapy

The psychologists of Children's Hospice together with the Association of Parents of Children with Chronic Nephritic Deficiency, developed an art therapy program for children taking hemodialysis treatment at the Oncological Institute. In this program, the children were visited by professional actors and learned acting techniques and vocal exercises. At the end they composed a fairy tale performance by themselves and played it for patients of the children's department.

About the Hospice – Vadim Antonov

The hospice workers are a big united team. Vadim Antonov has been working for Children's Hospice since September 2003. His job is to maintain contact with our foreign benefactors, search for new donors, and do translations into English and German. Every month he translates and sends our newsletter to people all over the world. One can always rely upon him. He has never denied assistance to someone at work or out-of-office, and he never promises something impossible.

We invite everyone who’d like to stand with us to cooperate. We will be glad for any of your help and support.

We have not shared any big news with you but we have shared the things in our lives, the joys and sorrows of the children being cared for by the hospice. If what you have read has touched your heart and soul, please share it with your friends and resend our newsletter to them.

Thank you for your attention and support.

Best regards,

Children’s Hospice, September 2007