Child Sponsorship background from Mogilev, Belarus

SOS Children's Village Mogilev

Mogilev is a city in eastern Belarus close to the Russian border. Mogilev is the third largest city in the country and one of the main economical and industrial centres. Mogilev district is one of the regions most severely affected by the Chernobyl disaster of 1986, which seriously contaminated around one-fifth of the country. Even more than twenty years later, an estimated one million people is still living in contaminated areas. More than 4,500 children in Mogilev district are in need of out-of-home care.

Local authorities supported the erection of an SOS Children's Village and offered a plot of land well integrated into the neighbourhood, with schools, nurseries and stores close by.

SOS Children's Village Mogilev comprises thirteen family houses, houses for the village director and the SOS aunts (who support the SOS mothers and take care of the children when the mothers are on leave) and other administrative buildings. Up to 91 children find a loving new home in the thirteen SOS families.

Other SOS Projects in Mogilev

The SOS Social Centre operates a Family Strengthening Programme for up to 700 beneficiaries; it provides access to essential services for children’s development (eg. educational, nutritional and health support, social skills) and support for families to protect and care for their children. The programme also aims at linking families with income generating activities and offers help to improve the parents’ parenting skills.