From orphanage volunteer to advocate

Halyna Virt, new Stahili Ambassador, shares her personal story on volunteering for the European Youth Parliament‘s 84^th International Session in Trondheim and Røros, Norway. Halyna facilitated the work of the Human Rights Committee which addressed the issue of the institutionalisation of children for the first time in the European Youth Parliament. 

Until recently, the topic of the institutionalisation of children was not of utmost importance in my life. While in high school in Ukraine, I was part of a group of teenagers actively involved in our community, and every year we organised charity auctions to collect money and presents for a local orphanage. As a university student, I worked as an interpreter for foreign volunteers travelling to Ukraine from other continents to work with kids in residential care institutions. I remember young children in those institutions sharing terrifying stories about how they were taken from their families and now were visited by volunteers at the orphanages daily. I was shocked and I really wanted to help, but I didn’t know how. So, I continued volunteering, collecting needed things and helping residential care institutions along with other students from my university. I felt there was nothing else I could do. Over time, my support decreased and eventually ended when I started my Master’s degree.

Towards the end of 2016, I was selected as a chairperson for the 84^th International Session of the European Youth Parliament in Trondheim and Røros 2017. I was responsible for coordinating the work of a group of young people from different corners of Europe, facilitating their discussions, and assisting them in finding and phrasing solutions to problems. When I got to choosing the topic I wanted to work with, there were a number of interesting options presented to me by the project coordinators. I was surprised by how much the topic of the institutionalisation of children resonated with me, bringing back my earlier experiences volunteering for children in institutions in Ukraine.

Shortly after selecting the topic, I spoke with Michelle and Rob from Stahili, who were supporting our committee as experts. I remember our first call, when they told me about the striking numbers of institutionalised children globally, the reasons why children end up in orphanages, and how orphanages are also a business and a source of income in many countries. What struck me most was how little is being done to promote family-based care and even to count children living in orphanages.

Alongside 15 other young people from different European countries that formed the Committee on Human Rights, I continued researching the topic before we met in Norway in April. Our research led us to heart-breaking stories about the conditions of children in residential care institutions, and how national governments seem to close their eyes, unwilling to deal with the ways in which children, who in most cases have living parents, end up in orphanages.

The committee concentrated on what each of us, individually, and European institutions can do to decrease the number of children in residential care institutions. We talked about the students and young people who pay sometimes large amounts of money to volunteer in orphanages, thinking that they are actually helping kids, when they could in fact be contributing to institutions that prevent children from having a family life.. We also talked about the pros and cons of alternative care, in particular the issue of living conditions for children, and the reasons and hesitations for families to adopt. All the ideas were outlined in the motion for a resolution that successfully passed a vote of the approximately 300 participants of the session at the General Assembly.

Our group did not want to stop there. We created a video outlining the main problems of institutionalisation of children, and possible solutions. We hope that the video will continue to raise awareness about the topic in our networks and communities.

My work with EYP has created a change in my perspective on volunteering. As a former volunteer working with orphanages, today I proudly advocate to bring children home. I hope that people around the globe will join us in this mission.