Áåëîðóññêèé äåòñêèé õîñïèñ

On August 25 in the newspaper «Va-Bank» there was an article under the title «They simply want to live» about Belarusian children's hospice. Here is its content:

Hospice is not a place where people die, but a place where you see the life differently.

Imagine, how would you like to live your life if you found out that you, young and full of life, are going to die in several weeks (days, months) and you can't do anything about it? Probably after first natural reaction — shock and panic, you would want to just LIVE and enjoy the sun, the air, people you love, the job you like…

But these simple pleasure are available not for all death-sick, whose lives on the final path are full of pain, loneliness, sense of guilt for troubles they inflict on their loved ones. It's a big question who feels more pain — those, whose life is dying out, or their loved ones who will have to live after…

And in this hopeless and gloomy situation there is a small but very bright spark — hospice. In spite of stereotypes, it's not a place where people just die, but a worldview the meaning of which is to ease people's sufferings, make their life before the end as good as possible.

As much as I can I want to tell you about this with the reference to Belarusian children's hospice example.

Everything is different in our family now…

The family where the child has received a lethal diagnosis meets lots of troubles. One of the parents needs to leave the job to take care of a sick child (it's good if there are both parents in the family) if he/she is in the hospital (as a rule cancer patients don't stay in the hospitals) or at home. If this is not the only child in the family, someone has to take care of other children who are also experiencing a shock. Someone has to prevent madness of the parents when the inevitable result comes…

All these (and even more) questions solves NGO «Belarusian children's hospice» when they take tutorship over a sick child and his/her family (last year there were 128 of such families). And it is not a one-time activity, but help until the very end.

There is a team of professionals (a doctor, a nurse, an attendant, a psychologist) which works with the family and with the help of which the family will not stay one on one with the grief after the child will not be able to stay in the hospital.

The parents do not only receive knowledge about nursing, but are taught to adapt to new reality. If there are more children in the family, they are attended by the psychologist and if needed even a doctor, cause in some families the second child might also be sick…

The house where life goes on

In order to help sick children to live the rests of their life brightly and deeply many resources have been involved — medical, pedagogical, creative. If there is a necessity the child can stay in a well-equipped day-and-night clinic of the hospice for a long time. There is also an extraordinary day-hospital for children with chronic devastating disease (myopathy, ICP, devastating heart diseases, etc.), where they communicate, celebrate holidays, do some art work (molding, drawing, needlework, etc.).

Lessons in the Parents' club are a great psychological relief for the parents. Mutual support and help of the psychologists of the hospice support them even when the pain from their loss is the worst. By the way, some parents after the loss of their child come back to hospice — this time as volunteers to support those who are going to go through the same pain.

Here your help is always needed

Most of the volunteers are young people; many of them have medical education. But they don't usually stay here long — burn out.

The hospice is always in need of volunteers. And the help is needed not only in taking care of the children, but in anything you can be useful in: translations, organizing holidays, etc.

But volunteers are not the only and most need of the children's hospice, which is in spite of being a state organization, helps people for free for already 15 years. Such organizations have always survived on donations, which were coming from both foreign charity organizations and fellow nationals. Therefore there were enough medicines, equipment, sources for doctors' salaries. Nowadays it's quite a difficult situation with the social projects grants. And the resources of the hospice are not enough for all in need. Therefore there is even a risk that some projects might be closed. It will be extremely painful for the families who can't even afford diapers for sick children, not even mentioning the services of the nurses and lung motor. These families are majority…

That's why the hospice asks everyone who can help people in such huge trouble. You can learn more about how you can help here: www.hospice.by and by the local phones:

505–2747, 505-2745

Raisa Yudina