Olga Goncharenko works with local shelters to provide basic assistance for the children. She spends time with them just to let them know that they are loved and that there are people who care about them. She also continues to work with older orphans in providing safe houses and life skills instructions. DCHA works with Olga and provides funds as needed to help her in this work.

Olga Goncharenko makes visits to orphanages to meet with staff and assess the needs of the children. Her regular visits also allow her to develop relationships with the children and to identify children who would be candidates to participate in her program “Spring of Revival”.

This program places orphans into family homes, homes with a mom and dad, for a period of one to two years, and then moves them up to independent living with two or three other orphans who are mature enough to live alone in an apartment. During this time the young people are enrolled in the university, work part-time and manage the apartment.

This real time life skills training will prepare them for adult life in the real world. This program is a great bridge for children who have lived most of their lives in the institutional setting of an orphanage and never really developed the life / social skills on the “outside.”

In Belarus, Olga Goncharenko is doing an incredible job mentoring young people who were raised in orphanages. She started out by just going to orphanages to “love” the children. As she got to know them and watch them grow, she realized she needed to be there for them when they transitioned from the orphanage to independent living. She rented a flat (apartment) for four of the young women, aided them in enrolling in the University and helped them to find jobs.

She has provided guidance and encouragement to these young people starting out on their own without much life experience. She now has three such apartments which the young people maintain and one is fully supported by the young women who are now self-sufficient. One of the apartments is occupied by young men who are adjusting to life outside the orphanage with Olga’s help and guidance.

Caring for a six year old orphan