Orphanages in Poland

If anybody want s to send me a pm , or email me about Polish childrens homes , i will be glad to help the kids in any way i can.....I have been contacted in the past by people who see Poland as a cheap baby farm , so i am a bit carefull who i put in contact with them....

wildrover


I suggest to be more then carefull. If by mistake you help anyone with let say naty intententions, they will gone mad. And you may finish polish prizon. And your neighbours are pesants, tust me you don't want to make them ungry.

Oh right...so if somebody asks me for contact name to help Polish children i should pay for mental health check of this person , because if at any time in the future they were to kill or harm a child i would go to prison for it....Amazing laws they have in Poland...!

In future i will not offer any help or advice to people wanting to bring aid to Poland....too risky...

my husbands family is from poland. last name paholak. they have lived in the usa for a long time now. i have two teenage daughters who make dresses for kids in orphanages. is there a need for clothes or other things in poland? with all the needy kids everywhere, it makes my heart hurt.

please let me know.

My boyfriend grew up in a orphange inPoland from when when he was 7 to 18 years old because his mother ran off with another man and his father couldnt care for him that well he was the middle of three boys,it made him a hard uncomplimentry guy he evens has a violent attitude plus I dont think he relates to women really well because when he was little.all I do is try and give him love.I think sometimes its sad to raised in a place like that. I wish to help Polish children like that. God bless all of you who care for these kids.

In Krakow, if you wish to volunteer with Polish children in state-run orphanages, you must undergo physical and psychological tests, first. These tests must be done here, not back home. If you do them back home, they will make you redo them again here, at your own expense.

These tests can include, but are not limited to:

-a complete general physical
-a vision check
-blood work and lung/torso x rays to check for evidence of TB and HEP-C
-urine analysis to check for drug/alcohol addiction
-fingerprinting/background check for some locations
-MMPI-type psychological test at nearly all locations
-multiple personal interviews with the director and some admin staff
-multiple personal interviews with the rn, aide or medical worker who comes to the site
-possibly, an interview with the tutor who comes to the site to work with the unwed mothers there (if it is one of the orphanges which also has this kind of division, as some do)

They do this to ensure that the person offering time w/the kids is not mentally ill, a pedophile, a drug addict or a criminal and is in sound health. This is called taking care of the children. I do not blame them for it. It takes 1-3 months from beginning to end for the testing and registering of the documents and can be costly if you're not a Polish national.

Caveat: a volunteer visa on your own is difficult to get and takes forever. Better to be associated with an international non-profit org and work thru them/come over on their behalf.

Regarding donations of goods and/or money:

Polish NGOs which might welcome your donations and help can be found at the link, below. Click the tab for English at the top of the page, if you cannot read or speak Polish:

media.ngo.pl

I can personally recommend Profamilia, CPES (aka Parasol) and also Dom Dziecka im Jana Brzechowy (aka Pod Kopcem orphanage/mother's home in Krakow) and Dom Dziecka Sieborowicach (orphanage in Sieborowice). And also these larger international orgs w/ Krakow branches: Burego Misia (aka Bure Misie, The Dun Bear Cub group), United Way-Poland, Red Cross-Poland and Special Olympics-Poland.

In re: the original poster's question? Yes it does happen here, and these children are often referrred to as "the lost generation" and the phenomenon is known as "euro-orphanhood". But probably it does not happen on a scale any larger here in Poland than in any other EU nation. To get more information on this, go here:

thenews.pl/news/artykul87800.html

spectrezine.org/europe/Poland.htm

helsinkitimes.fi/htimes/international-news/7141-bringing-up-a-lost-generation-.html

One would assume that priests are automatically exempted from these tests.

wow thats alot of test.I hope maybe to adopt from Poland. my boyfriend was born in Augustow but he grew up in a orphange in Goldap Poland.I think he had a hard time there but he says he wants to give something back to that orphange. my heart goes out to these kids.

Or indeed most (nearly all?) teachers in the private sector. Heck, I've been teaching kids without any background check whatsoever!

The requirements at state-run orphanages stand for all volunteers, staff and teachers having regular contact with the children there. Not sure about priests, who give communion once a week in some of them, and I have no idea about doctors and nurses who come there weekly.

I have no idea what public or private school teacher requirements are in Poland. I do not know if that is state-regulated, or if it differs based on type of institution. Sounds like that is not a standardized process here for private school teachers, though.

In the Catholic-run home, it was quite a small operation. We were told it was a former youth hostel from about 1970, that has been completely re-done inside and out, with all new floors, windows, furniture, etc. There were 2 live-in nuns, and 1 who arrived daily to help with cleaning and and cooking. The kids and nuns walked to the local church nearby; it did not appear that the priest ever was at the site on a regular basis.

The state run facilities were basically horror shows/very bad places, though it was obvious the staff ws trying hard. They just do not have enough people/money to do it right, and many of the kids have serious mental/health/other issues. They do have visits from therapists and sociologists, etc, but it is just not enough. Please do consider helping these larger, older, state-run facilities out. They do need money and they do need stuff, no doubt, but what they really need are warm bodies to volunteer/give time free of charge, as mentors to the kids with hope/promise.

The only exception to the "state run places are bad" rule, is the one for mothers who choose to live in with their children in a separate home next to the oprhans home. As long as they attend school, stay off drugs and alcohol and help with raising their child and do their chores, the mothers can stay to age 21. And if they do well in school, they can stay on thru their hoped-for university graduation, as well. They can purchase a state-owned apartment in a block somewhere and pay only 10% of the actual open-market/sale price of the home upon graduation, as well. They get no cash or payments of any kind other than the housing, food and clothes for them and their child, and they must work to get and keep that. Not a bad system, really. Beats our US-style welfare/food stamps/disability checks for drug addicts, in my opinion.

yes, I am very interested in a program that would allow orphans from poland to visit the USA on a hosting program with the intent to adopt. Is there such a prgrm? where can i search and /or how do i qualify?

thanks,
kathleen (kathsaylor@yahoo)

There are quite a few unloved children in the US who would love to be adopted. Why are you looking at Poland in particular?

Hi i work in a childrens home in England and i am looking at doing some charity work in Poland
for a couple of weeks next year. Thanks

Wildrover has experience in this field, hope he sees your post. Good luck.

I did indeed.... I have contacts in several childrens homes in Poland....My first visit to Poland was on route to take aid to kids in Belarus , then i wound up bringing truckloads of stuff to a childrens home in Poland twice a year....

If there is anything you need to know , just ask , i am glad to help...

Be carefull though..... i started off helping kids in Poland...fell in love with the place....ended up buying an old farm and moving here....

thank you for your response i have read previous posts and the infomation will be very useful

Maybe she doesn't want a black, bi-racial drug affected kid?
The waiting period to adopt a white child is very long in the US. In Poland it is also long and more expensive but it is the heredity that counts.

Maybe those are the ones that really need looked after.

Or is it that only a blue eyed white child will do? In which case, they don't deserve to adopt a child. After all, if you can only love a white child, then you're not a good parent.

[Moved from]: Toys for Tots (US Marine program) - a Poland's orphanage / children's home that is need of TOYS

I'm running the Marine Corps Toys for Tots for the Marines here at the US Embassy in Warsaw.

I'm trying to identify a orphanage or children's home that is need of TOYS. While I truly believe everyone needs a little Christmas joy, the donations we receive and are expected to receive are going to be that of TOYS! So I need a younger crowd, as we won't get much if anything that is geared towards teenagers.

Can anyone point me in the right direction or provide contacts for someone who will be in need this Christmas?

Thank you

i love it... i always get some toys for the kids, it's a great idea...

my idea:
why don't you contact the Jurek Owsiak Foundation called Wielka Orkiestra Swiatecznej Pomocy? here is the link: en.wosp.org.pl
they are doing a great job and i'm sure they will know best where it should go...

address and phone #:
Wielka Orkiestra Świątecznej Pomocy
ul. Niedźwiedzia 2a,
02-737 Warszawa,
Tel: +48-22-852-32-14, +48-22-852-32-15
Fax: +48-22-852-07-52

good job Chipmunk!

My family will be in Krakow in July. My husband has a sc ientific meeting to attend and I am looking for a way that my daughter and I can serve in the community during that time. My dauther is 12 and has traveled internationally since she was 6. Is there a way we can serve at a local orphanage during the week we are there?

M. Craft

See above, the answer is "no chance".

Thanks for this information.... I know a couple of years old but exactly what I am looking for. Moving to Warsaw soon and need a place to volunteer... any other suggestions from anyone?

Get in touch with the International Women's Group, they do a fair bit of volunteer work (as well as a tiny bit of drinking, or some of them anyway).

Hi
I am from London, but am half Polish & speak,read,write the language.
I have been going there all my life, and would really like to help an orphanage.
I am getting married at the end of the year and am asking for donations as a wedding gift, so I can then give the money to children who need it.

Can anyone recommend any orphanages that they know would welcome this help, and ensure that the money will go towards buying the children something.
Thanks!

In what area of Poland do you want to help....?

The childrens home i was bringing help for is is the £obez area of Zachodniopomorskie , i am sure they could do with some help...

if this is what you are looking for , send me a pm with your email address , and i will put you in contact with the home...

TThanks but not a woman... iwgwarsaw.eu might happy to join in a social though.

looking to adopt a female infant in Poland. Any help is appreciated

Sorry, currently I don`t know of any one ready for adoption. But I will ask my neighbours.

It is interesting that the Dutch are trying to kick out 'undesirable' Polish people and at the same time, you are wanting to write an article on abandoned children in Polish orphanages.

Might this be a piece of journalism in the style of the late Pym Fortuyn?
You might be a genuine journo with a heart but this might just as easily be muck raking
Having said that if your activities result in better conditions for kids in orphanages and Dutch people opening their wallets and making donations, then good on you