Children’s Computer Center Project

The future never looks bright to a Ukrainian orphan. To an orphan growing up in an orphanage for children with learning disabilities the future looks twice as dismal. Children at Orphanage No.12 in Kiev know this only too well. The orphanage is a home to 80 orphans aged 10 to 16, many of whom have been victims of severe neglect while others have minor learning disabilities such as dyslexia. The children considered unfit for regular schooling and are offered a simplified curriculum that excludes many subjects vital for further education and successful employment such as English and computer literacy. With such a sub-standard level of education graduates of specialized orphanages cannot apply even to vocational schools, let alone colleges or universities. Needless to say, employers are also rarely interested in a 16-year-old candidate with a fifth-grader’s certificate.

The Children’s Computer Center, launched at Orphanage No.12 by Life2Orphans, will be used to teach older children as well as orphanage graduates English and computer skills that will make them more marketable and employable on the local jobs market. The Center has been equipped with modern computer equipment, unlimited access to the Internet, furniture, visual aids, books and other necessary materials and equipment. The English course will be taught by a licensed ESL teacher. The computer lessons will be taught by the orphanage staff that has been trained under the US-funded Internet Access Training Program.

English and computer lessons for the orphanage children will start In September. Lessons for the orphanage graduates started in June.

This is the first experiment of the kind, and if it proves successful it will not only help graduates of Orphanage 12 find gainful employment but it will also help convince Ukrainian officials that orphans with special needs have just as much potential as 'regular' children do.

Please consider contributing to cover the teacher's salary.

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