Last month, four members of the charity committee took a three day trip to Eastern Slovakia. They visited six new organizations that requested our help and conducted two follow up visits. During this trip we got to know more about our applicants, their needs and dreams. Hopefully, we will be able to help as many of them as possible by sensibly choosing from our big list of requests.

Did you know that sum of applications for funding we have received so far in 2013, doubles the amount of money that we have available to distribute this year!
Imagine how much more we could do if we had more money!

This is why I would like to make a call to all of you, dear members of the IWCB, to participate in any way possible in the organization of the Christmas Bazaar. You don’t have to commit to a half year volunteer job......It is enough if we all give a little here and there, that alone will make a lot of difference. Remember, this one-day event allows us to do so much good by helping Slovak citizens in need, that it would be a pity not to take the opportunity to make it more successful every year. Please consider offering a bit of your time and energy to help us, help others. Thank you!

As promised in our letter of last month, we gave some thought to the issue of the collection of used clothing and household items during our May meeting. We have come to the conclusion that we do not have the resources to store the goods. Therefore, we would like to suggest to those of you who want to donate items, to approach any of the charity committee members so we can put you in contact with some of our applicants, you can then arrange with them directly how to hand over the goods.

Next charity committee meeting: Monday June 3 at 9am. We will review all outstanding/new applications and define the steps to be taken after the summer holidays. The charity committee will resume its activities in September, our first meeting after the summer break will be held on: Monday, September 2 at 9am.

Have a fantastic summer!
María L. Maiale
Charity coordinator

1) ECHO (Association helping mentally disabled people)
Združenie na pomoc ľuďom s mentálnym postihnutím, Bratislava
www.echo-zdruzenie.sk
This organization assists mentally disabled people and their families in Bratislava. They aim to integrate them into society through cultural and outdoor activities. The funds granted will be used to cover the costs of therapeutic procedures for 56 people during one week at the health resort in Turcianske Teplice.

2) Plamienok, Bratislava
www.plamienok.sk
This organization offers total comprehensive pediatric palliative home care assistance to children and adolescents with life limiting and threatening diseases. They offer home care services, providing medical and psychosocial support. Their services are free of charge and they work 24 hours, 7 days a week. Their staff includes medical doctors, nurses, social workers, psychologists, psychotherapists and trained volunteers. Their catchment area extends to 250 km around Bratislava. The funds will be used to purchase health care materials, including pharmaceuticals.

We have received more than 30 applications so far this year, one third of them were sent from the eastern side of the country. The committee will be visiting these organizations during May, in an effort to better understand their needs while making sure that we wisely choose who to help.

Several members of the IWCB have approached us with the need to donate used clothing and shoes. We are currently looking into this to find the best solution for our members to recycle their belongings whilst helping the less fortunate in our host country. More information about this matter will be published in the June newsletter.

At our next charity committee meeting at the beginning of June we will review new applications and define the steps to be taken after the summer holidays.

Wishing you all a wonderful month,
María L. Maiale
Charity coordinator

The Charity committee is pleased to report that the IWCB board has approved the following requests for funding during March 2013:

1) Civil Association NitraOnko (Obcianske zdruzenie Nitraonko), Nitra.
The main goal of this association is to support the education and research in the area of cancer medicine, to spread information on prevention of cancer, and at the same time to act and create fertile organizational ground for training in order to diminish the side effects of the treatments in cancer patients. They work with the Oncology department at the Nitra Hospital,and their request is for an accessory (called Prone Breast Board) to the linear accelerator machine used in radiation treatment for breast cancer patients. The accessory assists in providing comfortable, reproducible patient positioning for prone breast cancer treatment, and it ensures safe delivery of pin pointed radiation to affected area, lessening risk of damage to surrounding healthy tissue and organs.

2) Home for Seniors Citizens Agape (Dom Seniorov Agape), Svaty Jur.
This new facility, which can host up to 40 people, has been built with the help of the Evangelical church of Slovakia and Austria. The foundational stone was set up in 2009, the building was finished at the end of 2012 and got approved in January 2013. The house will not only host 40 seniors but will also be providing a much needed service to the community: they will cook for the people living at this residence and also for 50 senior citizens from the town and 30 children from a kindergarten. The kitchen, which can prepare up to 120 meals per shift, needs specific equipment installed before it is certified and allowed to operate. The original request was for several appliances for the home, the committee decided to help them acquire a small refrigerator and a big one.

3) Hospice House of Peace and reconciliation St. Bernadette (Hospic Dom pokoja a zmieru u Bernadetky), Nitra.
Health care at a hospice consists of pain management and spiritual and psychological counselling for patients and their loved ones, allowing patients to live out their final days with dignity. At the Nitra hospice, care is provided by doctors, nurses, social workers and volunteers. Day mode is different from the conventional medical facilities, fully adapted to individual needs and condition of patients. The hospice provides a valuable service that is not covered by the normal state run healthcare system, it is sustainable and effective in what it does. Our donation will be used to buy a washing machine and disinfecting (cleansing) machine, equipment which is a legal requirement and not a luxury item.

The charity committee continues to receive requests for funding. We will be visiting some of the organizations and will be back next month with more information on their needs and how we help fulfil them.

Have a wonderful springtime!
María L. Maiale
Charity coordinator

One was for the Ruzinov House of Seniors, a residence located in Bratislava that hosts 280 people. The request was for the purchase of a portable ECG device that would benefit all residents of the home, making it easier for the patients to be checked without having to move to the location where the ECG machine is.

The second project approved last month was for Vagus, an organization based in Bratislava that we helped in the past, and with whom we decided to cooperate again this year since their very important work assisting the homeless needs to have continuity. Our donation will cover the cost of medical sup-plies and technical equipment for their work in the field. I invite you to have a look at www.vagus.sk to see what a fantastic job they do. Also, if you have men´s clothing and shoes to donate, this organization is a good recipient for that.

On another note, we are very pleased to report that our help contributed to the success of the Slovak Special Olympics team in the last Special Olympics World Winter Games celebrated in late January and early February in South Korea. With our help, two athletes and one coach were able to travel to the Olympics games and the Slovak team brought home 12 medals in total! The IWCB can feel proud of having been part of their success.

Last but not least, this is the month when we celebrate Women´s Day, and on March 9 we have the opportunity to celebrate womanhood by attending the Fashion Show that will be held at the Sheraton Hotel Bratislava. This fun activity is also a chance for helping others since the money collected through the voluntary entrance fee at this event will be donated to the IWCB Charity fund. So, dear ladies of the IWCB, if you enjoy fashion go see the show and give us a hand by increasing our resources to help more people in Slovakia during 2013.
Thank you, and Happy Women´s Month!

Until next month,
María L. Maiale
Charity Coordinator

Here is the list of organizations that we have supported during November.

1)    House of Social Services, Detva. Domov Socialnych Sluzieb, Detva - Central Slovakia

This institution provides social care for 48 handicapped children with mental disability, in ambulatory form and also by securing weekly stays. Their services include: room and board, education, consulting, cultural activities, work therapy, rehabilitation and recreational activities. We will help them set up a Snoezelen room (also known as controlled multisensory environment). Our financial support will allow them to buy a projector super solar, effect wheels, aroma diffuser and mirror (bubbles and sun), plus one interactive bubble panel and the driver needed to work on it.

2)    Secondary School for the Hearing Impaired, Stredná odborná škola pre žiakov so sluchovým postihnutím. Koceľova 26, Bratislava.

One of three high schools in Slovakia exclusively for pupils with hearing impairments and other associated disabilities. There are 98 pupils in this school (aged 15-21 years) from all over Slovakia, some of whom are residential, and around 10% of the students have additional special needs. Pupils require 5 years of study to graduate -one year longer than mainstream schools. There are 32 teachers and 29 instructors for practical work. Class sizes are generally around 10 for academic subjects and 5 in practical lessons.

The school has links with other hearing impaired schools for social activities, and also works with students from mainstream High Schools to provide extra-curricular study activities such as English and webdesign/computing lessons. Craftwork from students at the school is sold through some local markets and fundraising events.

The school endeavours to select computer programs and information technology of a mainly visual nature to assist in the learning process and considers this vital in the delivery of the curriculum. We will help them buy a data projector (to be used with an existing interactive board previously financed from fundraising activities) and classroom furniture, mainly tables and desks.

3)    Special Primary School, Špeciálna základná škola. Humenne.

This school is located in the eastern part of Slovakia, a very poor region with high unemployment rate. It hosts 90 children and all of them would benefit from our donation. 20 of the children suffer hard cases of disability. The original request was for massage chairs but after communicating with the school the Committee learned that they would benefit more from interactive screens.

The total amount of money donated in November by IWC is 7164 euros.

Have a great Holiday Season! Until next year,

Maria Maiale and Zuzana Havlikova

Charity committee members

IWCB donated 9.500 EUR to help purchase a car and medical supplies for treatment of minor wounds and illnesses. Vagus also helped distribute the IWCB Christmas gifts last year that went to the homeless people. See the video 'Small Christmas for the Homeless'

Some of the services provided by Vagus:

Basic guidance and assistance on how to handle ID-cards, birth certificates, finding a house, job etc;

Wound treatment - disinfection of small and open wounds, initial diagnosis and further referral of client;

Motivational conversation focused on changing client's current situation;

Providing informative leaflet about particular assistance available for clients;

Human contact that is missed by homeless people is provided by street workers;

Social assistance at public offices, doctors, court;

Crisis intervention in case of life threatening situation;

Contacting client's family;

Client's referral to another organization for assistance;

Transport to shelter or hospital in case of life threatening situation;

Provision of food -  warm drinks and bread in the terrain, soup at stationary places;

Provision of clothes, blankets and sleeping bags;

Cooperation with partner organizations while solving client's situation.

For more information, pls visit www.vagus.sk.

  Donations 2011 (pdf-document)

While waiting for applications for 2011, the Charity Committee went on two site visits in January to follow up on donations from 2010. The first visit went to Children's Diagnostic Center in Bratislava which is a temporary home for children aged 4-16 who have been removed or run away from home or who need special care and support for 3-6 months before it is decided where to place them on a permanent basis. The children go to school at the center and receive psychologic and social support together with their families. Around 200 children pass through the center yearly. We followed up on a donation in 2010 for refurbishing of 6 bedrooms. Last year the institution was infested with bed-bugs and after several fumigations to no avail, they decided to strip the rooms from their wall coverings and most of the furniture and carpets. We found that all rooms had been nicely furnished and the Director and Supervisors were very pleased with the donation and reported that the bug-infestation is now under control and that they have taken preventive measures to avoid similar problems in the future. See also their website at http://www.dcpredeti.sk/

Site Visit to Children's Diagnostic Center Bratislava
The second visit went to the Social Home for the Disabled on Sibirska street in Bratislava where we made a donation for a Snoezelen therapy room which is a multisensory stimulation/relaxation methodology that has shown to be effective in assisting individuals with a range of handicaps. We were very pleased with what we saw. A room had been completely transformed into a Snoezelen therapy room with10 different activities of light, sound, aromatherapy, soap bubbles, sensory board, water bed and leaf chair hanging from the ceiling. The therapists reported that the effect was very visible when the clients were in the room. The therapy calmed their condition and helped them get in touch with their body which is otherwise one of the difficulties among their clients. In addition to our donation of equipment, 6 therapists from the institution had been trained in the UK and were taking turns treating clients in the room throughout the day. The room is being used by all the clients who are severely disabled adults and children aged 8 to 60. There are 20 in full time care and 18 in day care. The Director and therapists are very grateful for our donation and they had already added to the room with self made sensory equipment.
See also their website at http://www.dsssibirska.sk/

The new Charity Committee had its first meeting in February where we reviewed 10 new applications. We are now in the process of visiting the applicants to get more information and insight into the institutions and the reason for the applications. We will be back next month with more information on the approvals.

Kirsten