EQUINE THERAPY FOR SPECIAL KIDS

Sasha Pavelchuk is organizing this fundraiser on behalf of Tatsiana Gula.

Donation protected

Help us build a riding hall - a place for kids with special needs to have equine therapy sessions regularly and free of charge.
(Minsk, Belarus)

Who We Are

We are a charity initiative operating on behalf of St Elisabeth Convent (Minsk, Belarus). The sisters and volunteers of the Convent take care of homeless people, ex-prisoners and those suffering from alcohol and drug addictions.

Among other things, we provide financial and emotional support to the kids with special needs who live in one of the state orphanages for children with psychoneurological disorders. These kids have no families: most of them were abandoned as infants and never knew the love of a parent. Our volunteers visit them, organize regular art-therapy lessons, involve kids in various creative activities which help them to improve their physical and mental skills. We also take them for walks and tours, for they - just as anyone of us - need to see the beauty and diversity of the world around.

Why We Do This

There’s a horse farm at one of the rehabilitation centres St Elisabeth Convent runs. For a while now we’ve been taking special kids from the boarding homes and orphanages for horse-riding sessions, and we are amazed by the results they’ve shown.

Equine-assisted therapy (EAT) is a well-known method of treating illnesses like autism, Down’s syndrome, ICP, which are difficult or impossible to cure using traditional methods. The warmth and shape of the horse, the rider's responses to its movements improve the flexibility, posture, balance and mobility of the rider. Communicating with horses balances mood swings special children often experience, and sets them in a good mood for a longer period of time. Kids start to become more open and sociable, and their speaking skills can improve as well.

It means that equine-assisted therapy sessions should be held regularly for the treatment to have a stable effect. So we need to have a venue where our special kids could meet with horses at any time of year in any weather.

Why Do You Care

You can make it possible for the kids with psychoneurological disorders to feel alive, valued and happy. In our country most of the children with such conditions have no families who would do anything to improve their state even a little bit. Governmental institutions can only provide them with the bare essentials. But we believe that you and us together can give them so much more!

How Much We Need

We already have an open-air manege where one can ride in good weather conditions. As you can see, it lacks the roof.

To start the construction of the riding hall we need 25 000 EUR. This will pay the project design work and geodetic examination for the foundation plan.

So for now we are asking you to help us collect this amount.
Out of 30 000 EUR we are asking for in this campaign 5 000 EUR is a precaution, as we are not sure how big a fee we’ll pay to GFM and/or our bank.

However, the realization of the whole project will cost us around 170 000 EUR, and if we exceed the goal of this GoFundMe campaign we will be able to pay for :

- excavation works for building the foundation and drainage system(22 000 EUR);
- purchase and installation of the metal frame tent (104 000 EUR);
- installation of electricity (11 700 EUR);
- preparation of the soil of the training ground (6 500 EUR).

We thank you in advance for donating and sharing the link to our campaign.
Together we can work wonders!