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 | | Ganjlik Orphanage |
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| By Julia Prestridge |
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It was two years ago when I started visiting the Ganjlik Orphanage, home to 69 children under the age of 9, with a group of ladies in the IWC (International Women's Club). In 1996, soon after the orphanage moved to the present building, the IWC funded the construction of the laundry room complete with washing machines and dryer. Over the years the IWC have donated many things such as new bathrooms and water system, furniture, freezer and refrigerator. We visit the orphanage every Wednesday when possible and take bananas and biscuits for the children. Sometimes we take clothes, shoes and nappies for them and at least once a year we take a large bundle of clothes and shoes donated to us for the staff. At Christmas time, with the help of donations from our friends of jewelry stores, perfumeries, etc, we were able to give small gifts to all the staff members. In December last year we took along some pupils from the International School of Azerbaijan (TISA) to sing at the orphanage. It was great to see the reaction from the children and even some of the little ones were clapping in time to the music.
At the beginning of Summer 2000, in an effort to make a more cheerful environment for the children, we painted and decorated a small room that had been allocated to the IWC to use as a playroom. Since that time the orphanage has changed a lot. Our little room was later replastered and painted over by professional decorators as part of a project initiated by the Hyatt. The Hyatt's fund raising campaign began in December 2000 when we saw photographs of the children at Ganjlik orphanage hanging on the "Angel Tree" in the hotel's reception area. The campaign proved to be very successful. The money raised was much more than had been hoped for and was used to modernize the toddlers' playroom, bedroom and bathroom downstairs. Since then, further work carried out by the Hyatt, with contributions from Caspian Drilling Company (CDC), has transformed the orphanage. It now has a new kitchen and modernized playrooms, bedrooms and bathrooms and new windows. CDC is now providing new tiles for the ceilings. A new fridge for the kitchen and television were purchased from donations made by BP and a VCR and video tapes were donated by BA at the Hyatt sponsored New Year Party.
A group of expat ladies who visit the babies each week have been able to buy new baby chairs, sheets for the cots and nappies. On a trip to Azerbaijan, the sister of one of the ladies visited the orphanage and on her return to the UK organized fund raising events at her daughter's school in Devon in order to buy fleecy blankets for the cots.
Eric, the son of a friend of mine involved in the IWC, has been raising money with his class at school in Minnesota USA. Some of the money was used to buy small bicycles and Eric recently came along with us to present them to the children.
The organization United Aid for Azerbaijan has funded the conversion of the cellar at the orphanage into a physiotherapy room. UAA is also heavily involved in staff training. Some local volunteers also help out and visit the orphanage on a regular basis. These are some of the ways in which people have been helping out at the orphanage. Vast improvements have been made thanks to the generosity of many people, but it is still a struggle to eke out resources for the day to day running of the place. Usually when I call in to see the person who runs the orphanage, Irada, she tells me of some new financial crisis. The latest crisis is that although the State pays for the electricity, the orphanage now risks having the electricity cut off because the amount used this year is much greater than last year. Irada explained that this is because the old gas central heating system is broken and they have to use electric heaters. Also she told me that the van, for which the petrol allowance from the Government was never enough, needed some parts replacing and she was trying to find sponsors to finance its repair.
New Home for Aidan and Nargiz In the summer of 2000 I took a small girl out in the yard at the orphanage. She was just starting to take her first steps. I borrowed the smallest pair of shoes belonging to the daughter of a friend of mine and took them along each week for the little girl to wear for our walks. I later learnt that her name was Aidan and she was about 1 1/2 years old. She is now an independent three year old and has progressed to the older children's group. In September last year when I met Matthew's mother in the yard (as mentioned in the last issue, Matthew was the first child to be adopted from this orphanage) she told me she had heard that Aidan was going to be adopted soon through the same agency in Philadelphia. But months passed and Aidan was still living at the orphanage. When I enquired as to when Aidan might be going, nobody appeared to know and it seemed as if she had been forgotten. I remained in contact with Matthew's mother, Kim, who passed my address on to another couple, Mike and Chanell in New Jersey. This couple sent an E mail telling me they would be adopting two little girls: Nargiz and Aidan. I could hardly believe what I was reading. Aidan was finally to have a family of her own with her little friend Nargiz. Mike and Chanell went on to explain that originally they were going to adopt only Nargiz. In December last year when they were finalizing the paper work for her adoption, they heard about another little girl, Aidan, whose adoption had just fallen through because of her future parent's marital problems. Mike and Chanell decided they could adopt Aidan and bring two little girls into their family. They have two older children and a baby. Irada told me that Aidan was born in Sumgayit and abandoned in the hospital there. Nargiz was found when only 8 months old by the police next to a rubbish bin opposite the Boulevard where she was being licked by dogs. She has scars on her body from liquid burns.
Recently I met the little girls' new parents. As I entered Irada's office I guessed who they were when I saw Aidan and Nargiz sitting happily on their laps eating Jelly Bears. The couple told me they were going to call the girls Aidan Roxanne and Nargiz Leyla. They had planned that the new names would gradually be used as first names as the children grew older. It must have been an emotional moment when they finally met the girls. They were staying in this country for only two days and they appeared a little nervous as they were just about to go to their court appearance. I wished them goodluck and said I would see them in 30 days when, all being well, they should be able to take the girls to their new home.
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