“The Dream Team”: #becomefriend – a socialproject of Belagroprombank for orphans

On 23 February, the head office of JSC Belagroprombank hosted the presentation of thecharity project “Dream Team” – a project on mentoring and friendship between adultsand kids.

“The Dream Team” project is focused on helping orphans find adult male friends who willbecome their role model and help them with goal orientation in life. By becoming a mentor foran orphan, an adult will discover something new about himself.

The presentation of “The Dream Team” project (fr om left to right): the Deputy Chairman of theBoard of JSC Belagroprombank Sergei Chuhai, the commercial director of the FC “DinamoMinsk” Sergei Varkalov, the director of communication agency PRCI Maria Gvardeitseva, andthe director of the non-profit organization “Knitting Friendships” Artem Goloviy

A representative of the General Partner of the Project, the Deputy Chairman of the Board of JSC Belagroprombank Sergei Chuhai laid emphasis on the social orientation of the project:

– Social responsibility projects in Belarus have been one of the key directions inBelagroprombank’s activity for many years. This time, we are delighted to participate in “TheDream Team” project that is an innovative project in Belarus. First and foremost, it is theproject’s aim that caught our attention– to find a mentor and an adult male friend for boys

growing up without a father. Through this project, we aim to help orphans make the most oftheir lives and show them that they can reach their cherished goal and become successful. Themain thing is to believe in yourself and do your best. We hope that “The Dream Team”projectwill go nationwide. I believe that there are enough men in our country who can give mentoringsupport for children.

An opening training session “The Dream Team” took place on February 23 at the footballarena with the participation of the players of Belagroprombank’s mini-football team: VitaliShenets, Alexander Kachurovsky and Andrey Vashestik

Within the project, 40 boys aged between 11 and 16 were selected fr om orphanages in Minsk.Each of them will be trained to play football under the guidance of coaches from FC “Dinamo-Minsk” for five months.

– This is not our first experience cooperating with orphanages, – says the commercial directorof the FC “Dinamo-Minsk” Sergei Varkalov. – We experience positive emotions being involvedin this project. Coaches who train kids expressed their willingness to support boys and teachthem how to play real football. We are planning to develop a specific format for the trainingsessions that will allow the boys to play together with reserve squad players at the moderntraining ground for professional athletes Olympic Sports Complex “Staiki” (Minsk district). 

In Belarus, mentorship is a new trend in social responsibility. A mentor is a caring adult friendwho is willing to give advice, share his life experience and help a kid make an importantdecision. A mentor helps kids to find their place in a society, choose a future career, feel moreconfident and believe in themselves.

– The importance of mentoring as an alternative for social adaptation of orphaned children isdemonstrated by the stats, – said Maria Gvardeitseva, the director of communications agencyPRCI and a mother of four. – As of 1 January 2015 Belarus has 28 704 orphans and childrenleft without parental care, 15,2% of them are brought up in orphanages (over 2000 persons).

The percentage of adoption of kids aged over 11 is no more than 1%. The majority of unadoptedchildren are boys who need a male role model – an adult friend, a mentor, a real man.

The boys believe in “The Dream Team” and look forward to meeting with their mentors

Mentorship in Belarus is promoted by the director of the non-profit organization “KnittingFriendships” Artem Goloviy:

– Unfortunately, in our country it is practically impossible to adopt a kid older than 10 yearsold. Other facts are worrying too. According to researches, only 16% of orphanage graduatesget into higher education institutions, and only 1% start their own family. Such life leads tonowhere. We want to change this situation.

Mentorship programme initiated in the USA in 1904. Nowadays mentoring is practiced in 13countries in the world, wh ere mentoring support is given to more than 270 000 kids.

Continuing his speech, Artem Goloviy said: “We need to understand that kids in orphanagesdid not lose a toy or a candy, they lost parents. I became an orphan at the age of 13. I rememberthat at my mother’s funeral I was thinking: “What should I do? Wh ere should I go?”. You aresimply not ready to tell many people how you feel inside. At times, orphans feel intenselyrejected and deprived. It is simply tough to hear that you are an orphan. I got lucky as in my lifeI met a person who became my real friend and an adult mentor”. 

If you are willing to make a positive difference in the lives of orphans, it is very easy to do so.Simply join one of the training sessions fr om March to May and support the boys by playingfootball with them, telling them about your keen interest in this game, giving a master class andeven learning from the boys. To sign up for a training session, visit the project’s websitedreamteam2016.belapb.by, wh ere you will find the training schedule specifying the time andlocation of the training sessions. Training sessions are held twice a week (Saturday and Monday)at the following address: Minsk, Angarskaya str. 2, building 2 (“Mogilevskaya” metro station).

– Shortly after you sign up, the volunteer of “The Dream Team” project will get in touch withyou, – explains the account director of the communications agency PRCI Kristina Kriuchkova.

– Further, everyone interested is expected to attend the training session and play with kids underthe guidance of coaches from FC “Dinamo Minsk”. After the training session you areencouraged to answer the kids’ questions and tell them about yourself. Therefore, contact withchildren is established not only through play, but through communication also.

According to the organizers of the project, the goal keeper of FC “Dinamo Minsk” AlexanderGutor will join the training sessions. A final friendly match of “The Dream Team” will takeplace on 13 May 2016. Join our training sessions and support the boys! 

Event’s hashtags: #dreamteam #becomefriend