Help for Ukraine Orphans

Ukraine Orphans is a site that links interested individuals directly to authors who sell their books in order to raise donations to Ukraine's orphaned children.

I have written before about the traditionally poor conditions under which Eastern European orphans suffer. Orphans in Yekaterinburg, Russia, were gagged to stop them from crying. Roma women in the Czech Republic were sterilized, preventing them from having children; Roma children are often orphaned due to lack of means to care for them. All over Eastern Europe, countries are struggling to deal with their orphaned child populations.

Orphanages and hospitals have often been depositories for unwanted children or children who could not be cared for because of dire financial situations or other circumstances. These children, especially the older children or those with mental or physical disabilities, have little hope for adoption. Domestic adoptions are rare, and international adoptive parents face steep travel and adoption costs as well as harassement from authorities, making the adoption of these children difficult or impossible. Most potential adoptive parents desire infants . . . and if not infants, slightly older children who have presented no signs of disabilities. The un-adopted children are left in institutions that are understaffed, unsanitary, and unable to accomodate children with special needs.

Some organizations and individuals have been able to navigate bureaucracies and directly help orphans in Eastern Europe. UkraineOrphans.net is one site that helps to filter funds through volunteers to the orphaned children of Ukraine. Interested in helping out? Buy a book - the proceeds will go to helping these children.