«Say No to Orphanhood!»: nine years of operation of the National Adoption Portal
The Rinat Akhmetov Foundation held an open talk in Kyiv, called "Everything you wanted to know about adoption, but were afraid to ask" - dedicated to the ninth anniversary of the Ukrainian National Adoption Portal "Say No to Orphanhood!"
"Nine years ago as part of the program "Say No to Orphanhood!" of the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation, the project's portal was launched. Today, the program and the portal "Say No to Orphanhood!" are the leaders of national adoption. Their essence remains unchanged for all years of work which is to help children find happiness in family - and also to show that adoptive parenting is a responsible, but feasible step. Thanks to the portal, more than 9200 children have found parents. The Rinat Akhmetov Foundation systematically helps both adoptive parents and those who have just decided to give warmth to a child. Webinars with psychologists, trainings for adoptive parents are held, assistance to family-type orphanages is provided. There are no analogues of this program or portal in Ukraine. They have become the invisible bridge that helps children find parents, " said Tatiana Kukhotskaya, Project Development Director of the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation.Since the beginning of 2018 alone, thanks to this program, 352 children have found new families. Currently, over 5,5 thousand child profiles, who dream of the warmth and care of a loving family, are placed on the portal http://sirotstvy.net/ua /.
The lecture was attended by 30 people: those who are going to take the child into their family, parent-educators at family-type orphanages, as well as the children themselves.
Adults were able to communicate with an experienced psychologist from the Kiev Civic Center for Social Services for Families, Children and Youth Lyubov Loriashvili. She dispelled common myths about adoption, described the details of this process step by step and named psychological characteristics of the period of adaptation of a child in a new family. In addition, the representatives of family-type orphanages shared their experiences with potential adopters.
"All of us are different. It is impossible to make an exact copy of a child, to transfer the image of another person or to sculpt another person from them. Accept the child as they are. Tell them: "You are the best!» After all, if we do not understand and support each other, we will never become a family," – said mom andteacher of the FTO, Elena Rudenko, to the listeners.
While the adults weretaking on board thenew information at the lecture, the kids were not sitting idle. Workshops were organized specifically for them where the youngsters created a cartoon made of sand, dedicated to the "Say No to Orphanhood!" portal birthday, and painted bird feeders.
