UAC'S Ukrainian Program began in June of 1995. It was founded after
my first trip to Ukraine in April 1995, when I witnessed horrifying
conditions in the orphanages of Odessa while shooting a documentary
video there.
UAC now has an agreement of cooperation with the Odessa
Health Department, which gives UAC access to all local orphanages
and hospitals in the region. It is the first agreement of it's kind
in Post-Soviet Ukraine.
Sustained development and direct aid are the
focal points of the program. UAC Ukraine" strives to improve
the quality of life of it's many abandoned and displaced children,
as well as train and assist the local professionals in gathering
the necessary resources to face an uncertain future.
Dozens of specialized
western volunteers have traveled to Odessa to work side by side with
their Ukrainian counterparts, offering their aid and expertise in
these difficult times.
UAC'S Ukrainian Program currently serves thousands
of orphaned children in the Odessa region. We provide aid to children
in more than twenty separate institutions. An excellent local staff
of trained professionals keeps up ongoing support.
We offer a wide
range of direct services, including nutrition, primary healthcare,
psychological counseling, and educational programs for both staff
and children. Local institutions perform surgeries on the many medically
needy orphans in exchange for UAC'S donation of much needed medical
supplies. Universal Aid for Children has also engineered major renovation's
of many extremely rundown buildings that the children call home.
UAC'S
Orphaned Teen Scholarship Program is designed to prepare the teenage
orphans for higher education and life management in the outside world.
The
success of UAC'S Ukrainian Program has been the result of many talented
volunteers and sponsors, willing to donate their time, compassion,
and resources to these grateful people. Please join us in our continuing
effort to relieve the pain and suffering of these needy and children
half a world away. You can make a difference!