They were walking along the corridor with vacant expressions in their eyes. This is how they moved from one part of the orphanage to the other - there isn t much free play, their whole life is organised, said Jean. In another place the little ones would run up to you and throw their arms up wanting to be cuddled. It was very emotional but I just tried to think don t get upset, think what you can do - being upset is not going to help anybody . There are about 20,000 orphans in Belarus and they find themselves in institutions for a variety of reasons.
Poverty plays a major part because parents can t afford to raise their families.
Children with disabilities also find themselves given away because they are not accepted - but Jean is helping to change this attitude. Her aim is to try to show them how to recruit foster carers as part of a training programme which aims to reduce the number of children in institutions. If we can get the children out of the institutions and with families it would be long-lasting and would have an effect on their lives, said Jean. She is also liaising with Belarus government officials to draft in as much support as possible. It is a poor country so people can t really afford to take on and feed another person.