East Barnet Baptist Church
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Belarus
Convoy of Hope
ConVoy of Hope (UK) was set up in 1992 in response to the tragic events unfolding in the Balkan region. ConVoy of Hope (UK) delivers humanitarian aid to areas of hardship and devastation: Belarus, Albania and Croatia. We have also delivered to Kosovo. To date, Convoy of Hope (UK) has sent well over 1000 tonnes of essential supplies, estimated at a value of £7million.
Each convoy comprises 7.5 tonnes trucks to 17-tonne lorries and, occasionally, articulated lorries. Aid goods are specifically requested by local receiving agents and are governed by legal regulations on Humanitarian Aid. Convoy of Hope (UK) delivers all goods directly to the people requesting the aid. 
The vehicles are funded by the driving crew who are also responsible for assembling their aid load. Financing so far has relied heavily on private donations and local organisations.
Convoy of Hope (UK) is registered as a charity in United Kingdom. Registered charity No. 1056786.
Registered Office.
56 St Isan Road
Heath, Cardiff
CF14 4LY
Trustees:
Margaret Annison
Michael Woods
Michael Rye
David Poole
Convoy of Hope / Belarusian Orphanage Projects
One of our Church members, Leslie McCrory, has been driving a lorry in the convoy for COH, and he writes:
We did our latest trip to Belarus at the end of October. We took nine trucks over and delivered to various projects all over Belarus. These were projects we have been supporting for a number of years now: orphanages, day centres, a hospital and a young offenders institution. Aid included: clothing, medicines, medical equipment, furnishings, toys, educational accessories, hygiene materials and food.
I delivered to an orphanage in Grodna (Belarus’ second city, on the border with Poland). The centre is in good condition and well-managed. The older children were at school while we were on site. The younger children we saw were friendly and appeared to be developing the kind of confidence which comes from growing up in a loving and supportive environment.
It’s very satisfying to see how projects can develop and thrive to the point of self-sufficiency. We’ll carry on providing occasional support to established projects like the orphanage in Grodna, but we’ll likely concentrate our future efforts on ‘new’ areas, like Uzhda which we visited while in country.
Uzhda is a small administrative area south-west of Minsk and is an area of high unemployment and poverty. We spent one afternoon visiting two families. In one family, the father’s disability means that the onus is on his wife and 10 year old son to provide for the family’s daily needs. The second family (parents and three children) survives on cash income of $35 per month and the produce of a vegetable patch behind their house. Despite their hardship, both families touched us with their generosity, offering us the best of their hospitality (Belarussian blinis and chai).
We also met the local officials who explained their work and the many needs of Uzhda. As a result, we have made commitments to help with two projects in Loscha, a village near Uzhda. One is the community hospital. The hospital should provide basic services (child birth care, geriatric care and basic A&E), but unfortunately was burnt to the ground in April. We have pledged our support in rebuilding the hospital. It’s a painstaking process as local bureaucracy and paperwork requirements slow everything to a snail’s pace. Secondly, we would like to build a children’s day centre. This would serve a dual-purpose: one as a play centre for local children, especially in the summer months, the other as a hostel providing respite care sojourns for ill children from our other projects in Minsk.
We need all the help we can get, from goods and medicines to financial contributions as well as transport and storage. If you would like to find out more about our work in Eastern Europe, you can visit our website Convoy of Hope It’s still under development, but it does give a good flavour of what we do. Otherwise, come and see me and I’ll do my best to answer any questions. Better still, join us for one of our trips!
Leslie McCrory
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East Barnet Baptist Church
Crescent Road
East Barnet
Hertfordshire
EN4 8PS