Kristina was first brought to our attention in 2005 when authorities wanted us to take her to England whilst her mother underwent treatment for alcoholism.

Whilst in the UK Kristina was diagnosed with skin cancer and subsequently received treatment to remove this. She returned to the care of her grandmother, mother and older sister who all share an old small wooden house with no running water.

CCIN provided funding for hospital visits, regular food parcels to the family and a repeat visit to the UK. A UK family have continued sponsorship. Kristina’s mother started drinking again and became pregnant with a third daughter, unaware of who the father is. She receives no financial support, so needed to return to her job as a milkmaid at the collective farm.

Both Kristina and her sister help a lot with the baby. Kristina has made a full recovery from her cancer and her mother has stopped drinking. With continued support we are helping this family build a life for themselves.

Arteom first came to our attention when he was 2 years old. Adrian visited him at his first floor flat where he lives with his Mum, Dad and brother Maxim.

During discussions with Arteoms’ Mother she told Adrian that when he was born it was obvious there was a problem. However her only option was to either keep him or he could be taken away.

This was not something Mum would even consider and the family have looked after Arteom at home. She remains devoted to his care as do the rest of his family.

Arteom is a paraplegic and only has limited use of his hands. He has to be held up and is unable to hold his head up or sit up by himself. His lungs are also smaller than normal. CCIN has sent, via our aid lorries, various special chairs and pushchairs to help his Mum with getting him around the village.

On a visit when he was 6 years old he told Adrian that his dearest wish was to go to school like other children.  For this to happen he would need a special chair.  There is no one in Belarus making these chairs and after trawling the Internet the charity decided to buy one in the UK and send it to Belarus. This would be specifically made for Arteom by Mobility Works in Westbury and would last for some years due to its design.  As the cost of the chair was around £4,000 specific fundraising took place. Leanne Tilley ran in the London Marathon in April 07 and raised £1,600 and various events took place to reach the total.    

In July 2007 the wheelchair was sent on the aid lorry. Arteom can now get around by himself and attends the school with his mother on a regular basis, he is an intelligent child and with his mothers help manages his schoolwork well. During our visit in 2010 we were fortunate to be able to see him his classroom, very happy to be there and part of school life.

The spiritual life of the community is very important to these hardworking and friendly people, many of whom were relocated after the Chernobyl accident. In addition to the normal Sunday services, the priest would like to start a Sunday school for village children and his wife would like to form a church choir.

"Money for this project is raised completely separately to CCIN."
More money is need , so if you feel you would like to contribute, please contact us.