From amead at maine.rr.com Tue Apr 2 18:02:46 2002 From: amead at maine.rr.com (Alice Mead) Date: Tue, 2 Apr 2002 18:02:46 -0500 Subject: [A-PAL] A-PAL Urgent! -Pristina Hospital claims no more care for orphans Message-ID: ALBANIAN PRISONER ADVOCACY APRIL 2, 2002 A-PAL STATEMENT With nearly all prisoners back in Kosova, we turn our attention now to other human rights and civil rights issues--at the moment, the most urgent is the humanitarian crisis regarding the 30 abandoned children in Prishtina Hospital. As anyone who has been in this sorry excuse of a hospital knows, it is a place with no food for patients, no medicine, no xrays, no chemo, no bandaids, no aspirin, and has outbreaks of communicable diseases. It is no place for healthy people and certainly not a good choice for the ill. Since 1999, a number of infants, now some are nearly three years old, have been kept on a ward there. Why they have been kept in an institution--some supervision was at one time done by ICRC and Save the Children--when world-wide it is commonly known that the best practice to place children in families is a question no one we contacted was able or willing to ever answer. The children have had outbreaks of illness, had diapers changed only once every twelve hours. They lay for hours in their own soiled diapers. This was BEFORE the now announced shortage of shampoo and diapers. This funding situation is both irresponsible and absurd. The babies should be placed immediately with families while new funding for their care in foster homes is found. They should then be placed for adoption as soon as possible. Their health, education and welfare is in dire jeopardy. UNMIK is violating the international rights of the child. And so is every other organization who knows about this, but has done nothing. >> The message below is looking for funding for diapers and shampoo >> on behalf of the hospital. Thanks to World Vision funding of >> nurses' salaries, formula, >> diapers, and equipment, the 30-some abandoned babies at the hospital have >> been fed and kept clean to date, but World Vision has withdrawn its >> support. >> >> Rather than continuing donor support to the mismanaged hospital, I ask for >> your assistance in UNMIK (SRSG?) in shutting down the abandoned >> baby unit at the hospital and shifting the babies to foster families, NGO >> children's homes, or international adoptions. The hospital staff is >> unwilling to interact with the infants; even if the babies continue to be >> fed and clothed, they are at enormous risk of permanent psychological >> damage. The first three years of life are critical to social and >> cognitive development, and it's criminal that these babies have been allowed to >> languish in this sterile environment for so long. Already we see a >> 12-month old baby who rocks her head side to side for lack of >> any other stimulation, and an older boy who compulsively stares at his >> hand. >> >> Pillar II's Gabriel Rutten has been working on an international adoption >> law, but until it is passed, and considering that the hospital is unable to >> support these babies, I would hope the Quint and UNMIK could implement an >> interim emergency directive. From amead at maine.rr.com Fri Apr 5 16:56:48 2002 From: amead at maine.rr.com (Alice Mead) Date: Fri, 5 Apr 2002 16:56:48 -0500 Subject: [A-PAL] APAL NEWSLETTER/ABANDONED BABIES NEED HELP 4/5/02 Message-ID: ALBANIAN PRISONER ADVOCACY (A-PAL) APRIL 5, 2002 UPDATE: ABANDONED BABIES NEED HELP >Immediate Financial Help is needed for residential care for 30 >abandoned babies. > Please, PLEASE HELP US! We are beginning a collection campaign for >care of orphans in Pristina Hospital. SOS Kinderof is looking for >donors. Details below. > > > With nearly all prisoners back in Kosova, we have turned our attention >now to other human rights and civil rights issues--at the moment, >the most urgent is the humanitarian crisis regarding the 30 >abandoned children in Prishtina Hospital. As anyone who has been in >this sorry excuse of a hospital knows, it is a place with no food >for patients, no medicine, no xrays, no chemo, no bandaids, no >aspirin, and has outbreaks of communicable diseases. It is no place >for healthy people and certainly not a good choice for the ill. > Since 1999, a number of infants, now some are nearly three >years old, have been kept on a ward there. Why they have been kept >in an institution--some supervision was at one time done by ICRC and >Save the Children--when world-wide it is commonly known that the >best practice to place children in families is a question no one we >contacted was able or willing to ever answer. The children have had >outbreaks of illness, had diapers changed only once every twelve >hours. They lay for hours in their own soiled diapers." > >Meanwhile a solution for the orphans could be found, >but funding is so far not secured. > SOS Kinderdorf Kosovo is looking for donors for the following >temporary project: > >Project : two rented houses run by SOS Kinderdorf Kosovo for 12 babies each > >Duration : from May until December 2002 > >Costs : 40.000 EURO for rent, staff and all other running costs for >one house (The other house will be funded by SOS Kinderdorf - >donated money should go directly to SOS Kinderdorf Kosovo, not UNMIK >Department) > >Information: >Eva Kitzler, project coordinator SOS Kinderdorf (evakitzler at hotmail.com) >Gabrielle Rutten, Head of Social Services (rutteng at un.org) > >By the end of April 2002 Department and SOS Kinderdorf will need to >knowif enough donors are willing to help finance a temporary house. > Please help the babies by helping us. ****** Information on where to wire money is listed below**** >------- ------- > >Transitional Department of Labour and Social Welfare >Date : 9 March 2002 >Ref.Nr. : Children-in-Care > > From : Gabrielle Rutten, Head of Social Services > Bajram Kelmendi, Deputy Head of Social Services > Hasan Zekaj, Children-in-Care coordinator >Subject : Financial Help needed for residential care for all abandoned >babies > >The Department of Social Welfare has an agreement with SOS Kinderdorf >Kosovo for 2 permanent and 4 flexible family-type homes for babies. The >2 permanent units are presently located in rented houses but will move >to a new purpose built facility at the end of April 2002. SOS Kinderdorf >Kosovo will start the construction of the additional 4 flexible units in >the very near future. These units will be finished in December 2002. >This means that in December 2002 the Department has the necessary >capacity for appropriate residential care for babies without parental >care. > >Yesterday, the Department had a very constructive meeting with the >project coordinator of SOS Kinderdorf Kosovo. They are willing to keep >the two rented houses open until the 4 units are ready in December 2002 >if they can find adequate funding. This would mean that all babies are >out of Prishtina Hospital in May 2002! Obviously, the Department is >extremely interested in this option. SOS Kinderdorf has almost succeeded >in securing funds for one house, the other is still uncertain. > >For this reason we seek the help of everybody who has expressed their >concern about the conditions of the babies in Prishtina Hospital and >anybody who agrees that a hospital is no place for healthy babies! At >present there are 28 babies in the gynecology / maternity ward and 4 in >the pediatric ward. > > > DONATIONS > >Today Mrs. Eva Kitzler sent the data for donation by Wire Transfer: > > GERMANY > >Hermann-Gmeiner-Fonds Deutschland e.V. >Account Number 1111 111 >Deutsche Bank AG Muenchen >Bank routing code: 700 700 10 >Transfer note: SOS KDI KOSOVO, PROJEKT CSMP III, IV (BABYZENTREN) > >contact: >Hermann-Gmeiner-Fonds Deutschland e.V. >Menzingerstr. 23, 80 638 Muenchen >tel: +49-89-179 14 - 0, email: hermann.gmeiner.fonds at sos-kd.org > >!! It is VERY IMPORTANT to add the TRANSFER NOTE: >!! SOS KDI KOSOVO, PROJEKT CSMP III, IV (BABYZENTREN)) >!! Only by this your donation realy will come for the orphan babies. > > AUSTRIA > >SOS Kinderdorf, 6020 Innsbruck >Account Number 2390000 >P.S.K. >Bank routing code: 60000 >Transfer note: SOS KDI KOSOVO, PROJEKT CSMP III, IV (BABYZENTREN) > >contact: >SOS-Kinderdorf Oesterreich >Stafflerstr. 10a, A - 6020 Innsbruck >tel: +43-512-59 18-0, email: sos-kinderdorf-oesterreich at sos-kd.org > > >For more information or other ways of support please contact: > >SOS KDI Kosovo, Eva Kitzler >mobile: +377-44-501 393 >tel/fax: +381-38-22 10 69 >email: sos_kdi_csmp at hotmail.com > > > THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR HELP > > from the A-PAL-team > >Sincerely, > Wolfgang Plarre > > > >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> READ & DISTRIBUTE FURTHER <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< > > *** Albanian Prisoner Advocacy List -- Prisoner Pals *** > *** Archives: http://www.alb-net.com/pipermail/a-pal/ *** >_______________________________________________________________________ > > +---------------------------------------------------+ > | Wolfgang Plarre | > | Dillinger Str. 41, D-86637 Wertingen, Germany | > | E-mail: wplarre at bndlg.de w.plarre at kosova.nu | > | Tel: +49-8272-98974 Fax: +49-8272-98975 | > | Internet: http://www.bndlg.de/~wplarre | > +---------------------------------------------------+ > _________________________________________________________ > > Ein Zeichen setzen: @ ! KosovO + KosovA = Kosov@ ! > for Israel & Palestine too! > _________________________________________________________ -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: text/enriched Size: 6464 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.alb-net.com/pipermail/a-pal/attachments/20020405/c874004d/attachment.bin From amead at maine.rr.com Mon Apr 22 11:52:49 2002 From: amead at maine.rr.com (ALICE MEAD) Date: Mon, 22 Apr 2002 08:52:49 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [A-PAL] APAL/BABIES Apr 22, 2002 Message-ID: <20020423134941.74A4A8ABB@alb-net.com> APAL-- APRIL 22, 2002 UPDATE ON "ABANDONED BABIES"-Prishtina Hospital It seems that both NGO's and UNMIK, as well as the culture at large have all been involved in the egregious delay of personal care for the 35 babies still housed in Prishtina Hospital. A detailed report on the situation was sent to Dr. Bernard Kouchner in December 2000. On January 9, 2001, Dr. Kouchner wrote to his top administrative staff asking for immediate action for the then 35 babies. He also stated that they immediately needed better space, room repair, roof repair for leaks, and more staff besides the four nurses. The staff position of the person who wrote the report was terminated at the end of December 2000. It is now April, 2002. Hopefully in May, 2002, there will be a major change for these kids. But right now, there are still 35 babies, 95% are girls, being cared for by four nurses, still lying in their cribs nearly 24 hours per day, fed by propped bottles which fall out of their mouths and leak formula onto the mattresses. Because they spend so much time lying on their backs, their muscles are stiff, their posture arched and rigid. Until recently, neither social workers, UNMIK officials, hospital administrators, or pediatricians have advocated for these kids. Some NGO's who have been involved for periods in the past with these babies are--Child Advocacy International, UNICEF, World Vision, and Save The Children. They all provided supplies (sometimes as few as two diapers per 24 hour period and sometimes ran out of soap or shampoo). There are adoption laws in Kosova and an adoption board. Some babies are in foster care, some have been adopted. But there are now a total of 75 in need of long=term placement. International adoption may be possible as a last choice, at least until the overall number drops. UNMIK TV has produced a video with Marsha Lake, Social Services Division, to raise awareness about the babies and it will air on April 22 on RTK TV. These are not "war" babies. They are nearly all the children of unwed mothers who face shame and rejection in their communities for bearing a child out of wedlock. In the meantime, two other NGO's, Hope and Homes, and SOS Kinderdorf still need to raise funds to get these kids out of Prishtina Hospital and keep them out. The cost per child is estimated at 325 euro/month. The emotional, social, and physical well being of these babies is seriously at risk. UNMIK needs to provide long-term funding for this social problem as well as counseling and support for unmarried pregnant women.