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| Home > News & events > 2007 feature stories > EBRD donation in Kazan | |||||||||
EBRD donation in Kazan |
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A warmer home for homeless children With its commitment to energy savings to address climate change, it was natural that the Bank would consider ways of compensating for the energy involved in bringing thousands of people from far away to Tatarstan for its Annual Meeting and Business Forum. So the Bank decided to sponsor an energy savings project at Central Children’s Hospital no. 18 in Kazan, but it wasn’t just about energy. The Bank was also responding to Tatar President Shaimiev’s call to make 2007 a “Year of Charity”. The two parts of this story came together in a memorable way when EBRD President Jean Lemierre, accompanied by several Board Directors, signed a grant agreement on 18 May with the City of Kazan to make a gift of 5 million roubles (about €140,000) to install modern, energy-saving insulation and siding panels on all external walls of this city-owned hospital for abandoned children with severe illnesses. The upgrade to the building will result in a decrease of approximately 35 percent in heat loss for the structure – energy savings that will bring a real reduction in heating costs in the years to come. The city’s Department of Public Health helped EBRD staff to select Central Hospital no. 18 as a charity worthy of support. Its 10 physicians and 33 nurses run an in-patient facility with 120 beds and medical departments dedicated exclusively to the physical and emotional needs of very young abandoned children. These youngsters suffer from a range of physical and neurological ailments – and an average of 200 are treated annually. The agreement was warmly welcomed by the Tatar authorities and extensive local media coverage of the President’s visit to the hospital has certainly raised public awareness of the hospital’s work – as well as of the potential benefits of investment in energy saving technologies. With Prime Minister Rustam Minnikhanov, Education Minister Shaikhelislamov, other high-ranking officials and a number of Board Directors in attendance, Mr Lemierre and Mayor Metshin signed the agreement – with the immediate knock-on effect of a pledge from the City to replace aging windows with modern, double-glazed ones. Yet it was the human element which was the real focus and the dedicated doctors and nurses were happy that attention has been directed to an issue that is often left unspoken. “Our goal,” said Municipal Public Health Director Airad Farrakhov, “is the health and well-being of these children and we actively seek families considering adoption. About 10-15 children are adopted annually – and it is gratifying that handicapped children are also now welcomed into families. In the first three months of this year,” he added with a smile,“ we’ve already found homes for 10 children.”
By Larry Sherwin
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