Support for Children from Beslan

Print This Post EMail This Post March 7th, 2007

Valery Mitrofanov, Stavropol (Russia)

An example for international solidarity in helping traumatized children: a small NGO in Stavropol, which works in arena rehabilitation with Beslan children from Osetia and its partners from the RNC (Regional Network NGO) Lithuanian College of Democracy and Social Communication Institute co-operate and prepare social educators support for children from Beslan and their families to support victims of Beslan. They called for help and collected over 8000 litas (2, 500$), which will be spent in a summer camp 2007 for the rehabilitation of the witnesses of the tragic events in Beslan School.
“We prepare children welfare specialists and we ourselves actively participate in various public and social projects. The story of the Beslan school overwhelmed the whole world, therefore this community especially needs comprehensive support”, - comments the director of the institute Giedrė Kvieskienė.
According to the director, it is expected that this support will not only help the local activists provide social and psychological assistance to Beslan schoolchildren and the parents of casualties, but it will also encourage other organizations to pay more attention to similar problems. The Lithuanian Colleagues and the Stavropol NGO “StRD RChF NAN”, has been actively implementing re-socialization, rehabilitation, psychological and social assistance programs to Beslan schoolchildren and the relatives of other casualties since 2001.
The Beslan tragedy took place September 1st, 2004 when terrorists occupied Beslan 1st secondary school and demanded that Russia pulled out its armed forces from Chechnia. Then more than 1.2 thousand people became their hostages. The terror act required 330 lives and was over on 3rd September. The majority of casualties – 186 – were children.

The author is chariman of the Stavropol regional branch of the Russian Charity Foundation “No to alcoholism and Drug Addiction” (NAN).Contact: mit@stv.runnet.ru

Topics: child and youth welfare, NGO, Russia