The Start of New Beginnings

Our story began back in 1995 when one of our founders, late Pat Harrison, first made the journey to Kiev to visit orphanages, hospitals and young offender’s prisons to learn about the conditions for children living on the streets in the Ukraine capital.

Her trip was inspired by a time of helping her church with a number of 6 and 7 year old children who were brought to the UK following the Chernobyl disaster of 1986. The tragedy of Chernobyl has recently been the topic of a Sky TV drama, giving viewers a small insight to the trauma that followed, but the aftermath was one of long-term struggle.

When Pat visited Ukraine in ‘95 she was shocked to discover the hopelessness that surrounded the capital and the country due to the country gaining independence from USSR and all industry reverting to Russia causing the country to verge on bankruptcy. Buildings were in need of repair, there was no medication available and no money to pay medical staff. Places that should be taking care of children were of extremely poor condition. Sadly, it also became clear to Pat that the problem wouldn’t be solved by getting more children into the care system as abuse was rife within orphanages and care centres and so many children were choosing a life on the streets instead.

Pat tells the story that after a long day in the city she went to her hotel room in the centre of Kiev and pondered over her shocking findings. She was alone with no one to discuss the issues with so kneeled down in front of her bedroom window and prayed to God, asking for help and his advice as to what she should do to help these kids. His answer was to do what she thought best and gave her the confidence to believe that he would guide her.

Pat came back to the UK with this insight and shone a light on the crisis to her local Cumbrian community. She enlisted the help of Paul Smith, a local solicitor and ardent charity supporter and together in 2001 they founded New Beginnings.

Genesis House

The doors opened to Genesis House in 2004; a home converted from literally a shell to accommodate foster parents and children. Our first Foster parents, Sasha and Oleyna have retired after 10 years in service. The conversion of the building was made possible by fundraising, particularly in Kendal (Cumbria) and with thanks to the support of the Westmorland Gazette newspaper, local schools, local churches and the Cumbria community. Sasha and Oleyna played a big part in helping to get Genesis House up and running.

The house is today still a foster home and our foster parents, Oleg and Natasha are giving loving care to 5 resident children and teaching them homemaking skills so that they know how to eventually live independently when they are old enough. There is around half an acre of garden on the site too which is used to grow potatoes, fruit and vegetables and allows the children to learn gardening skills.

Malawi

In 2013 we were made aware of the inspiring mission of Medic Malawi, a British charity working in Malawi. New Beginnings are delighted to be able to offer our support building initially a hostel for girls.

A school in Malawi was seeing its students have to walk up to 20 miles just to travel from their home to the school. During this journey many girls were at risk of being attacked – in a 12 month period 5 girls were raped and 3 became pregnant. As a result, parents were taking their children out of education to keep them safe and in turn their futures were greatly impacted.

Headmaster Michael was driven to building a dormitory on-site at the school so that children could board and avoid the risk of being attacked, without sacrificing their education.

Initially, New Beginnings funded a dormitory block, kitchen and dining facility with beds, bedding and the required fixtures and fittings and since the option to board has become so popular New Beginnings has funded the building of 2 more classrooms.

The catchment area of the school has now increased drastically, and we continue to support the poorest children by funding a bursary scheme which is run by the headmaster.

Feeding children living on the streets

For a number of years Pat Harrison, in partnership with Ukrainian Volunteers, went out on the streets of Kiev in winter feeding the street children. It was during these visits that Pat realised how bad the situation was. The Street Children as they were called were sleeping in doorways, subways, derelict buildings and even underground where they found warmth from the City sewers and drainage system. They spent their time begging in the City and were easy targets for the Drug Barons. It was these appalling conditions that made Pat determined to do something. Read more about ‘The Start of New Beginnings’

Helping children who are fighting fatal illnesses

In Ukraine there are an unprecedented number of children suffering from Auto-Immune System Deficiency syndrome and many of them are unable to access treatment due to the costs involved. Over the years New Beginnings have paid for tests on suspected Aids babies and will help whenever possible.

Some of the money that has been generously donated to New Beginnings over the years was used to pay for an initial round of pioneering treatment for 13-year old Iliya. Whilst Iliya was not an orphan, abandoned or living on the streets, his life was in crisis and his mother didn’t have the means to afford a cure and so the funding from New Beginnings gave Iliya a second chance. In 2005 Pat heard about an 18 month old baby boy that was living in a cot at a local hospital. He had been abandoned by his Aids infected mother and the authorities would not re-home him in case he was also infected.They could not afford the tests so New Beginnings paid for them to be done. These tests done in Germany proved to be negative. See 2007 newsletter for the results of this action. A small price to pay to save a child's life and give him an opportunity in this world.

Establishing a Foster scheme

As well as offering a physical safe space for a Foster family, Genesis House has served to show the Ukraine government and social services the impact that a home environment has for children; giving them vital life skills to go on to provide stable homes for their own families one day.

We continue to work together with the local Social Services team in Kiev as partners and try to change their attitudes as to how to better look after their many children in crisis. They regularly visit Genesis House and see it as a place of excellence for the future.

The outcome of this work has exceeded our hopes and we really believe this is the way for them to make changes in the future.

Improving Care Centres

Borispol Hospital 

On one of Pat’s later visits to Ukraine in 2005 she was horrified to discover the conditions of the children’s wards in Borispol Hospital (on the outskirts of Kiev). There was no proper toilet, no showers or baths and no hot water. This would be awful conditions for any hospital but especially in a city where many children are battling acute respiratory infections.

New Beginnings formed a partnership with the local government to together refurbish the children’s unit and in return the authorities re-established the hot water supply. Funds from New Beginnings have also been used to buy new windows, a fridge, nebulisers and vital medical equipment, new floor covering, beds and lockers for the hospital.

Find out how you can help here.

Borispol Kindergarten

Money donated to New Beginnings has been used to buy toys, games and storage units for the local Kindergarten in Borispol, which previously didn’t have any for the children to play with at all. The kindergarten is just along the road from Genesis House so our foster children get the advantage of this update.

The principle at the Kindergarten was overjoyed when receiving the gifts as she cares so much for the deprived children who attend the school, many of whom belong to the local orphanage.

Borispol Rehabilitation Centre

Vital funds that have been donated to New Beginnings have also been donated to Borispol Rehabilitation Centre for Disabled Children and Youths,  a charity which was established over 10 years ago and works hard to care for disabled children and improve their chances of becoming a valued member of the community as they enter adulthood.

The rehabilitation building was practically derelict when New Beginnings first met its founder Valentina Bondarenko. It required new plumbing, electrics, windows and floors, as well as learning aids and even basic items such as a phone line and computer.

Following funding from New Beginnings and support from the local government, 17 disabled children are now able to access the facilities and support on hand and we hope that our continued support will enable the centre to open its doors to many more children in the future. New Beginnings funded most of the renovation including a ramp to make the old military building wheelchair accessible.