This 1999 Ford Tourneo diesel was located, purchased and after the completion of the necessary paperwork, Tatjana (Lootus’ Director), took possession of the van! The transaction took place in November 2004. Additionally, the Club purchased a tank full of petrol and four winter tires.
Every year the, International Women’s Club of Tallinn, organises a charity function to raise funds for an Estonian charity, usually one that involves children.
This year we will support the, Lootus Children’s Shelter in Sillamäe.
Lootus (Estonian for ‘hope’) takes in orphaned, abandoned or abused children referred to it by the local social services or the police. It helps 55 disadvantaged children. Lootus takes in 35 children on a temporary basis (up to three months), ten children for a longer term (up to one year), and it also provides a day care centre for ten handicapped children. Like all social welfare projects in Estonia, Lootus receives funding from local and central government but it is not adequate to bring the Shelter up to western standards without help.
The children who use Lootus are aged from 1½ to 18 years. They need many things, some of them basic items that most of us take for granted, such as shoes, clothes, beds, chairs, and writing desks at which they can work.
IWCT is proud of the success of our appeal last year. We could and did make a difference thanks to the generosity of our members and sponsors! Specific requests for cooking pots resulted in, “Arkogren,” donating four large cooking pots, and the Tallinn Congregation of the, “Church of Latter Day Saints,” donated three industrial washing machines to replace one ancient and extremely unreliable 35 year old model.
Our outstanding commitment is for renovation and redevelopment of the Lootus building. Currently, two children sleep in an area that is an emergency exit passageway, nine children share a bedroom, the flooring is worn, the bathroom needs to be modernized, and the sauna is an unusable hazard.
We have taken action to ensure that our money will go where we have pledged it. No cash exchanges hands with Lootus staff. We pay the recommended building company when work has been completed.
The amount of money needed is substantial but the, International Women’s Club of Tallinn, with your help, will work to improve the living environment for the 55 children for whom this Shelter is the only safe place they can go. It keeps them out of danger, off the streets, provides them with washing facilities, hot meal, access to education and opportunity and, most important to make a new beginning. We are helping to give them hope.
If you would like any further information about, Lootus, please do not hesitate to contact the, IWCT. If you would like to speak with the
Director of the Lootus Children’s Shelter, call, Tatyana Bayeva, and her number is 55 652 170. The address is Gagarina 7, Sillamäe, telephone number: 039 29029/024 and email: slootus@hot.ee.