In each country we use trusted local or international personnel to monitor delivery and distribution of supplies. This prevents diversion of supplies from their intended recipients. We have developed a wide network of donors who provide antibiotics, medical equipment and supplies, medical texts, and children’s shoes, clothing and toys. Thousands of children's' lives have been touched by these shipments.
Romania
Since 1991, Nobody's Children has shipped hundreds of thousands of pounds of medical supplies, medicines, clothing, and orphanage equipment to Romania.
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In 1998 we bought five members of the Romanian child care hierarchy to New Hampshire to demonstrate local child care practices and inspire them to cooperate with our efforts. They have become our enthusiastic supporters, and with their help, our volunteer teams over the last several years have refurbished the children's' quarters in orphanages in Brasov and Bucharest, replacing the iron barred cribs with modern youth beds.
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In the summer of 2000, our volunteer teams used our shipments to establish the first kindergarten in the orphanage in Brasov, as well as a special Infant Stimulation room.
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We have purchased a home in Craiova, Romania, and converted it into a group home for 10 to 20 orphans awaiting new homes abroad. This home, called Casa Katarina, has a resident staff and social worker. Some of these children return to their biological families when home conditions improve, and some have come to new homes in New Hampshire.
Bosnia
Since 1993, over 10,00 pounds of aid has been shipped to the war zone in Bosnia, and distributed in Sarajevo, East Mostar, and Capljina. This includes an ambulance and complete hospital shipped in a US C5A transport to Tuzla.
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Through 1999, our volunteers there solicited and distributed caravans of supplies from the British Isles and Italy for our camps there.
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For six years we ran support and youth programs in the Tasovcici and Wagon refugee camps. Now the camps are either closed or self-sufficient settlements.
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During the Kosovo war, we supported a soup kitchen for the Kosovo refugees who had fled to the Mostar area.
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In 1996 we purchased a mobile dental clinic, which is situated outside Mostar. We continue to fund the operation of this clinic, which provides free dental care to hundreds of children each month.
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Every summer since 1993 we have supported a summer camp for refugee children, to allow them escape from the confines of their daily life.
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Every Christmas we assist in the distribution of Christmas packages to the refugee families of the Capljina area. These gifts have been the annual project of the Arlinghaus family of Kentucky.
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Since 2000 we have been operating a youth program in the orphanage in Mostar, including classes in English and computer use.
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In November 2000 we opened the Hasim Resic Fitness Center in Mostar. This is a workout facility located in the orphanage but open to the public for a small fee. This center will provide an outlet for the unemployed youth of the area, as well as a source of income to help provide food for the orphanage.
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In November 2003, we finished construction of a permanent dental clinic in affiliation with the Mostar Health Department. Named the Nobody's Children Arlinghaus Dental Clinic, in honor of the extended family in Kentucky who were instrumental in facilitating this clinic, we now can offer modern services free to those who cannot pay, and at a reduced rate for those who can pay.
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Plans are now underway for a center for orphans in Bucharest; fundraising is underway, details to follow.
United States
In 2005 in the wake of Hurricaine Katrina, we collected and shipped thousands of pounds of school supplies organized into individual backpacks to schoolchildren in Louisiana.
Children from Eastern Europe frequently do not have access to the life-saving techniques available in the US. We collaborate with our physician contacts to identify cases in special need of care.
Beginning with a child with a complicated congenital heart anomaly from Romania in 1993,we have brought 30 children from Romania, Bosnia, and Venezuela to America for heart surgery, prostheses, facial repairs, or medical treatment, before returning them to their homelands. All medical care has been donated by area hospitals and doctors, including the Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston's Children’s Hospital, and the Shriners’ Hospitals in Boston and Worcester.
As mentioned elsewhere, we always bring a physician with the child. The exposure to the American way of practicing medicine has stimulated a number of physicians to return to their homelands and modernize their practices, with benefits multiplied to reach all the children they treat.
n 1994 we began a full-service volunteer program at the Tasovcici Refugee Campin Capljina, Bosnia; a temporary shelter for about 100 children. Later we moved the program to the Wagon Camp, where 150 children and their families were sheltered in abandoned railway carriages. We financed and performed major repairs at the Wagon Camp, and purchased two mobile dental clinics for use at the camps. Nobody’s Children Bosnia is recognized by the UNHCR and is registered as an international aid agency with the municipalities of Capljina, Mostar, and Sarajevo. With the improvement of conditions after cessation of hostilities, we have closed these operations but continue our dental program in Bosnia.
Program components included:
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Medical dispensary
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Dental clinic
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Comprehensive youth program, including a complete sports program, music instruction, and language instruction
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Solicitation and distribution of caravans of food and supplies from international donors
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Purchase and distribution of fruit and vegetables monthly to supplement the UNHCR rations
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Nobody’s Children Olympic Games, held between camps every spring
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Annual Summer Camp, which allowed 250 children summertime respite from the confines of the refugee camp at an oceanside retreat