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Helping the poor in Odessa
From 2odessa.com The most comprehensive guide to Odessa, Ukraine
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If you want to help
We cannot fully recommend a charity.
These are charities which we cannot guarantee the honesty simply for lack of knowing the organization well enough:
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- Center for the Rehabilitation of Invalid Children
Odessa provincial children's charitable foundation "Angel House"
Russian: Одесский Центр реабилитации детей-инвалидов
Одесского областного детского благотворительного фонда (Дом с ангелом)
Pushkinskaya 51 (Пушкинская 51),(Corner of Bazarnaya [Базарная])
Web site: http://www.rc.odessa.ua/(In Russian--Use this Google translate, or alternatively, babelfish)
Located at the Golden Angel monument on Pushkinskaya Street (Пушкинская).
We have no personal experience with this organization, but it has a good reputation.
Tips for giving
- Never give cash. Purchase items to give the needy at a local bazaar.
- Do a "needs assessment", make sure what you want to give is what the charity really needs.
- Never promise unless you are ABSOLUTELY certain you WILL deliver. Ukrainians views on verbal agreements, no mater how causal, are much more binding than most western cultures.
Living conditions in Odessa
Odessa is a city of contrasts. Many young people in Odessa have mobile phones and chic European clothing. Odessa also has many ongoing construction projects. Many of the people in the restaurants look affluent. BMWs and Mercedes are common sites. You may be mistaken that Odessa is a thriving European city.
But if a person looks a little deeper, this image is slightly tarnished, you cannot help but notice the incredible number of homeless people. Elderly and the disabled beg for food, drug addicts and alcoholics are passed out on the street, large numbers of people hunt through trash cans, and dirty street children sleep in the parks.
The reality is that official unemployment hovers just over 1%, but the International Labor Organization has placed this figure as high as 34% when including workers on unpaid/involuntary leave and unreported separations. A significant part of the Ukrainian labor force has migrated to the shadow economy, taking up service jobs such as taxi drivers, waiters, and traders - anything to ensure economic survival. Wages remain very low by Western standards. In Odessa the average salary is only USD 29-37 per month, or less that $500 a year. Pensions for the elderly are around $15 a month. (2002 figures)
There is estimated to be over 5,000 homeless children in Odessa alone. These children are often fleeing physical and sexual abuse at home. Many become drug addicts and prostitutes.
Corruption in Odessa
Plagued with corruption
There is no easy way to help the needy of Odessa. For the past two years I have worked in the non-profit community, in several nonprofit organizations in Odessa. The level of corruption and theft is phenomenal.
For example, last year I met a gentleman who had come to Odessa on business. He saw the poverty and wanted to help.
- First, he gave a retirement home some money and it was embezzled.
- Next, he then physically gave these elderly pensioners money. Later he found out the staff forcefully stole it from each and every pensioner.
- Finally, he purchased heaters for the pensioners. They were all stolen and sold.
This story is not uncommon, a religious group had humanitarian aid containers held up in customs and then pillaged. This group never received the containers. Another volunteer gave the money from a grant, over $2,000 to an orphanage director and the director later denied that she ever received it.
But this corruption in no way lessons the need of the people that require this aid the most. It is simply wise to be aware of the epidemic problems that exist in Odessa.
Adoption
- Adoption requirements are available on the United States American Embassy web page.
- Listings of Ukrainian orphanage addresses.
Photos
Entrance to The Light House. |
Orphans on tram being chased by dogs |
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One orphan sniffing glue |
Homeless kids hitching ride on tram near train station |
From Maurice Weiss |
Homeless kid inhaling glue, which he is addicted to. |
See also
External links
- invictory.org 2007 article about the efforts to close Svetly Dom because it is not a state run institution. (In Russian--Use this Google translate, or alternatively, babelfish)
- odessaglobe.com December 22, 2007 article about the efforts to close Svetly Dom. (In Russian--Use this Google translate, or alternatively, babelfish)
- Pravda June 15, 2007 About the attempted eviction of Svetly Dom.
- katolik.ru Detailed interview with Father Alexander
- More Russian articles from Google on Svetly Dom and Father Alexander
