Our family-type house seen in April 2011

Here is what that house looked like in fall 2010!

Construction—a labor-intensive and time-consuming deal! But just as a camel caravan slowly crosses the desert, so we move forward at a slow, deliberate pace toward our planned goal. Our project home reconstruction for children with special needs warehoused at the Каlinovka internat received unexpected and thus all the more welcome support from Moscow. (On the Kalinovka internat see the pages Chernigov Facility at Kalinovka in English, also with photos.)

This is how the home will look already this fall!

Rear wall of the building up to the point of reconstruction, November 2010

This is how the wall looks in June 2011. Soon they’ll plaster it and decorate it with children’s designs

The disintegrating corner of the building before reconstruction (Note the tree stems with roots growing into the foundation.)

Tree roots were extracted from under the problem corner, rebar reinforcement installed, and the forms filled with concrete

From publications on our website, a Moscow consulting firm learned that we wished to give special needs children the opportunity to have a living situation similar to that of a typical family. Evaluating the scope of the work, these sponsors decided to transfer 85,000 hryvnia ($11,500) to the orphanage to continue the construction. The Zaprozhye council already allocated 200,000 hryvnia ($25,000) from the provincial (oblast) budget toward this goal.

Over the last few months they rebuilt the basement and put in cement screeds on the floors (around 200 sq. meters). Already completed are the sewer plumbing, reinforcement of the foundation under one of the old walls, and nearly all of the metal-plastic windows and door frames.

At present the work is going full speed ahead—the workers are finishing up laying “warm floors,” reconstructing the porch, installing the flooring in the upstairs quarters, and roughing in the wiring and outlets for the electrical system.

There is still a lot of work to be done, but given the availability of stable funding, the children will be able to greet the New Year in their own home.

Meanwhile, the Happy Child Charity (Happy Child Q&A) plans to concentrate on setting up the children’s play area and summer pavilion near the home, including the purchase of necessary furnishings for the house (beds, kitchen equipment). Each person is welcome to help us in this!

Ways to make donations for the reconstruction of our family-type home