Pre School Units (Dietski dom) -
for children with learning difficulties.
Roslan is six years old and has never lived with his parents.  He is very excitable and lively and inclined to be a little rough when he is excited. We are told he has brain damage from birth and his mother abandoned him.  He started life in a baby home and came to the Dietski dom when he was three. When he is seven he will go  to live at   the closed home or if he is thought to be educable the Internat/orphanage close by.
Masha has Downs Syndrome. She is bright and smiley but constantly craves affection which is in short supply as her carers are over worked and not able to give individual attention. She lives in a room with twelve other children of a similar age who all have learning difficulties. In this room she sleeps, plays and eats. Her group go outside once a day to get air in the garden but have to stay within their own group so she can only see children of other ages from a distance. She will go to the closed home when she reaches the age of seven.
Facts: Love Russia has been reliably informed by doctors that more than fifty percent of all children born in Russia have a birth defect.  Any child who is not ‘perfect’ can be left for the state to care for.  The carers try their best with these children but methods are often many years behind the times and expectations are low.  When they are in the baby homes a ‘committee’ meet the children and decide if they are capable of going to an ordinary Dietskidom or Internat orphanage or whether they should be statemented and sent to a unit for children with learning difficulties. After a child has been statemented it appears unlikely that the child will ever make it back into the mainstream education system. Love Russia provides capital projects, toys, clothes and expertise. Love Russia Summer camps bring a new outlook for staff and children, and leave play equipment and new ideas for them to try out each year as well as skill sharing.

Radnik
Radnik is a day centre for children with learning difficulties who live with their family. One little girl, Luba lives with her widowed mother on the top floor of a three story flat;  Her mother had to carry her everywhere as she had no means of transporting her. Love Russia was able to help provide equipment such as a wheel chair and walker to help her become mobile.  Disabled children and their families are able to meet one another for the first time and have formed a self help group.  This support is priceless for these families who feel abandoned by their friends and often the state too.
Facts: Families of disabled children are not welcomed into ordinary society so the support of a centre such as this is invaluable.  Love Russia helped provide furniture, games and specialist equipment including a computer which the children can use. Although the centre is primarily for children under school age some older children continue to attend as they have no other place or school to go to.