INTER CAMPUS WITH SOCIAL ORPHANS

VORONEZH – The project began around three years ago and since then the local coaches receive training once every six months.

In turn, they apply the same methodology during the school year out on the pitches with the girls and boys. It’s to our immense pleasure that with every visit, the physical benefits and improvements in behaviour are more and more evident among the 100 or so residents of the facilities that collaborate with Inter Campus.

Every year, around 50,000 children in Russia are taken away from parents who have had their parental rights removed. The technical term for this is a “social orphan” and refers to minors whose parents are alive but are not able to look after their children. As a result, the children are offered alternative forms of care that tend to be represented by the kind of institution with which Inter Campus works. The two orphan boarding schools in Voronezh and Babrov ensure a stable living environment for the youngsters from the moment they are born to when they become adults.

Each child has a different back story: some were born with disabilities, some have suffered abuse and violence and some are refugees from other countries. The main aim is reconciling the children with their biological families, even if this is not always a possibility.

As a country, Russia is beginning to examine different kinds of care to these outdated structures, including foster homes, adoption or family homes. Our continued presence is an important guarantee of fun, sport and personal growth for the kids who through football are able to be happy and calm once again. It creates a positive outlook on the future that spreads hope and the desire to press on together.