The Zhytkovichi Community Center

November 2004: Zhytkovichi Project Update

The Zhytkovichi Community Center is located in the Gomel region of Belarus, one of the regions most affected by the Chernobyl disaster. Zhytkovichi (population 49,000) is a rural part of Belarus that continues to suffer high levels of poverty and deprivation. The purpose of the community center is to provide a range of social services to marginalized sections of the community -- approximately 17,000 people -- to help them help themselves. We focus on large families, one-parent families, the disabled, and at-risk children.  

Chernobyl Children's Project International has a 12 year track record of humanitarian work; however, we increasingly focuses on our efforts on community and social development within Belarus. We recognize that empowering local communities and identifying ways to improve their self-reliance and self-sufficiency is the key to to the long term recovery of the area. A renovation project, which will allow the center to deliver new and improved services to their community, was started in 2003, and will be completed in 2005. The project has received significant funding from the Irish government, and from Pfizer Company. We view this program as a model initiative, which we will expand to other areas as we evaluate which programs are successful, and identify funding.

Services currrently offered by the Center:
- Home help services for retired and disabled people and families at reisk
- Humanitarian aid (food, clothing, fuel, medicines) to individuals and families
- Legal advice services
- Child-minding, so that single parents can work
- Literacy classes
- Skills education
- Counseling services

As we improve the facility and train local staff, we hope to expand the services listed above, and envision the addition of:

- Short-term refuge for at-risk minors
- Skills workshops for disabled adults
- Improvement and extension of child-minding services to include music and physical education
- Drop-in center for community members to allow young and old to mingle in a hospitable environment
- Reliable information and   counseling for citizens on how to minimize the health risks associated with living in a radioactive environment
- Internet Clubs for teens