16 Nov. 2003

The International Military Staff (IMS) Wives' Club Christmas Bazaar Charities Nominated for 2003   “Huis in de Stad” at Tienen This institution tries to improve the quality of life of mentally handicapped people. They offer possibilities for day and night care, or purely day care. They work together with families of handicapped people and support them as strongly as possible. They offer the opportunity for parents to leave their children fully supported in this home whilst they have the opportunity to have some respite from the difficult task. Project : Computer communication for person with a mental handicap M.P.I. “Ten Dries” This institution cares for 100 severely handicapped girls and boys between the ages of one and twenty-one. The patients live and receive their treatment at the centre. Most of the children are completely dependant on the help of their carers and can only move by wheelchair. The Institute has made the request for help in purchasing safe equipment for their play garden - especially equipment suitable for wheelchair use. The objective of this project is also to encourage contact between handicapped and able bodied children. Therefore, it is important that the play garden will is accessible for children of the local schools also. Centre Therapeutique et Aide Educative at Luik This institution has a day-care facility for 33 mentally disabled children and adolescents between the ages of 2 and 16 years. The children attend the centre on a daily basis between the hours of 0800 – 1600. They spend the night at home. The Institution has requested financial support for the furnishing of classrooms, procurement of teaching material, small furniture. Champs Libre A.S.B.L. “La Clarine” at Fayt-lez-Manage This is a day-care centre, to give “farmers”, mentally handicapped people (22), a real opportunity to live life to the fullest opportunity, enabling them to become fully integrated into Society and become more autonomous. This centre offers a unique opportunity to develop a wide range of diversified activities – from breeding different kinds of animals to gardening, working in a greenhouse or cooking home-made products, all which are suitable for individuals experiencing extremely diverse mental handicaps. A plan was designed with an architect to create a new building next to the main historical one. We are still looking at ways to get additional financial support to start the construction. Besides this project there are some other projects for which we need financial support. Equipment for a music room e.g. small music and percussion instruments; Teaching reading and writing. HOSPITALS Some of the proceeds from the NATO Wives Bazaar will be presented to local French and Flemish speaking hospitals to assist them with on-going projects. ADEMAR A French Association which takes care of children suffering from kidney disease and therefore undergo dialysis. Donations would be used to buy new computers for children to use during their dialysis, therefore enabling them to connect to other children undergoing similar treatment in other hospitals. In Toulouse (France) one hospital already has the Internet connections for the children to make the most of this opportunity. LEUVEN HOSPITAL For several years now, the Child Cancer Foundation of the University Hospital of Leuven has raised money for several projects to improve the quality of life of children suffering from cancer, and also to help improve the lives of their families. In Belgium, we have a good social security system to cover a large amount of the medical and nursing care. The Cancer treatments only take place in University Hospitals, which provide an extremely high quality of care and operate at an International Level. Nevertheless, very sick children need more than doctors, nurses, medicines and treatments. It is important that their normal life can go on as much as possible during the treatments both in the hospital as at home. Therefore, we have developed several projects over the years, none of which are funded by Government or the Hospital. The following projects are continually in operation: Music therapy; Library for children and adults (informative books, book about grief, bereavement and death); Videotheque, games; Materials for handiwork, handicrafts; Computers and Internet connections INTERNATIONAL CHARITIES La Chaîne de l’Espoir (Chain of Hope) Over the past five years, La Chaîne de l’Espoir has helped bring more than 50 children from under-developed countries to Belgium for life-saving operations. It also sends Belgian doctors on foreign missions to assist in surgery and to introduce Western medical techniques. It has donated equipment, and is currently raising money for a new hospital in Kinshasa. Entirely dependent on donations, the organisation – which has an annual budget of about € 4 million – is often the last hope for many sick children. Most come here for heart operations, but some have had plastic and orthopaedic surgery. The association only accepts applications from children with diseases that are treatable and don’t require post-operative care. “There are thousands of cases and we have to choose,” says Dr Jean Rubay, a cardiovascular surgeon at the Saint-Luc clinic, and president and founding member of the association. He has operated on many of the children himself, which he does for free. A Project with Save The Children Fund Millions of children die every year from diseases that can be prevented or easily treated. Many others struggle through childhood plagued by constant sickness. Poverty is the main cause of illness and it also stops children getting good treatment. In the developing world HIV/AIDS is the disease that poses one of the greatest threats to children’s lives and futures. Just to give some scale to this threat : an estimated 2.7 million children under 15 who have lost one or both parents to AIDS and about half of all new HIV infections are in the 15-24 age group. The links between poverty and HIV/AIDS are complex. Cuts to health and welfare services in developing countries, caused by international economic policies can make it very difficult to prevent the spread of the virus. Where there is little, if any, primary health care, people are less able to protect themselves or prevent transmission to their unborn children, even if these were more widely available. When there is high unemployment or disruption by conflict, people travel in search of work or resort to sexual work to feed their families. The resulting rise in casual sex increases the incidence of HIV infection. ORBIS ORBIS International and the unique Flying Eye Hospital was launched in 1982. Since it’s foundation ORBIS has been instrumental in restoring vision to in excess of 15 million people. Over 50,000 doctors and nurses have been trained to carry on saving sight in the developing world. To date more than 220 plane missions visiting over 80 countries have been executed. ORBIS treats simple conditions such as trachoma, which without correct medical attention, can result in blindness. The operation in Ethiopia costs €3 to cure but the vast majority of sufferers, mostly children, live up to 5 days walk away from the nearest facility for treatment. The Flying eye Hospital in instrumental in teaching nurses and doctors from all Continents the techniques vital in saving sight, instructing trainees whilst the operations are carried out on board the specially designed DC10 aircraft.