Project Details

Helping Hands, a Ukrainian aid organization, runs two camp sessions each summer for orphans and children with disabilities. The 11-day experience affords the underprivileged children an opportunity to engage in educational and fun activities while having their health needs cared for. Set on the Sea of Azov, each session of Camp Mayak (or “Camp Lighthouse”) is attended by approximately 80 children from the nearby town of Melitopol and the surrounding villages. For many of them, the stint in the sun and sea is the highlight of the year and serves as a respite from the dreary state-run orphanages and harsh living conditions they normally endure.

Campers receive three healthy meals each day – something all-together foreign to most of the children – and participate in Christian-based activities that help to enhance their self-esteem and also teach valuable moral and life-skills lessons. The children play sports, swim in the sea, do arts and crafts, and participate in seminars aimed at addressing the needs and problems specific to orphans and persons with disabilities. Camp Mayak is held at a rented facility and is run by Helping Hands staff, including trained counselors. The $245 Project cost accounts for the total cost of attendance of one child for one session of the camp. This is an on-going project; the cost of attendance will be applied to as many children as funding permits.