Vaggan – a better life for disabled children

Photo: Jann Lipka

In Lithuania, 3,500 children are abandoned every year. Sixty percent of them are disabled. One of the most common causes is fetal alcohol syndrome, a disorder caused by drinking during pregnancy.

"In Lithuania, the birth of a disabled child is seen as a punishment from God," explains Lasse Hedell, one of the driving forces behind the Vaggan project. "Most parents completely lack training in how to raise disabled children, since it's automatically assumed that they won't do it themselves. Most are therefore raised by institutions."

When Dagens Medicin started 15 years ago, Lasse Hedell worked with marketing that targeted advertisers. In 2001, Per Gunnar Holmgren, then the magazine's editor-in-chief, asked him to travel to Lithuania to visit Lopselis, an orphanage with which he'd had a great deal of contact. Some 80 orphaned children live there, most of whom are under the age of three. Lasse jumped at the chance.

"Once you've been there and played with the children, you can't help but do something about it," says Lasse. "So we decided to start the Vaggan Foundation. (Vaggan, in Swedish, like Lopselis, in Lithuanian, means 'cradle')."

The goal was to establish Lithuania's first complete rehabilitation center. After the founding of the Vaggan Foundation, the project grew to include similar centers in each of the Baltic countries. Early on they decided not to use the funding to buy services, but to ask for cash donations for the purchase of materials.

"We started by running six ads in Dagens Medicin. The campaign resulted in so many donations that we were able to seal windows and doors to prevent snow from blowing in, in addition to making four bathrooms handicap-accessible. All of the sinks and other materials came from our direct donation efforts."

Vaggan has now received a total of SEK 2 million (280,000 USD) in cash donations and over SEK 10 million (1,4 million USD) in materials. Today the foundation is run by three main sponsors, two of which are the Bonnier magazines Dagens Medicin and Vi Föräldrar. The third is Microsoft. Each sponsor contributes SEK 70,000 in annual donations — enough to fund the project's administration (mainly travel and transport, since all of the administrative staff works on a volunteer basis). Whatever money is left over is transferred to the project's collection fund.

"When we started Vaggan we decided that all donations would go straight to the recipients," says Lasse. And that's exactly what has happened, thanks to their sponsors. One hundred percent of the donations go directly to the project.

"It feels like it could be Sweden, 50 or 100 years ago, so of course we wanted to get involved and support Vaggan," explains Helena Rönnberg, editor-in-chief of Vi Föräldrar and Vaggan Board member. "It began with a reportage that we did about the orphanage, which provoked a lot of reactions from concerned readers who wanted to know how they could help. It was then that we decided we needed to do more."

When Lasse Hedell discovered that the children painted as part of their therapy, he realized that the paintings could be sold to raise money for the orphanage. The paintings are now sold at events for children with disabilities, at physicians' conferences and online.

"We've now sold paintings worth a quarter of a million Swedish kronor, every bit of which goes to the project. Many of them are displayed in doctors' clinics and hospitals throughout the country."

In January 2010, Vaggan will enter a new phase. The rehabilitation center is now complete, and for staff and parents across Lithuania, training will soon begin in how to take care of disabled children. Equipment and facilities will also be provided to ensure that they are able to succeed. Still, the orphanage will need help in the form of money and equipment necessary for daily operations.

Do you want to help?

The orphanage Lopselis faces an acute need for food, diapers, electricity and water, among other items. You can make your donation to IBAN:SE5960000000000199576688 Swift:HANDSESS

You can also send porridge, baby food, toilet paper or other supplies. Mail info@vaggan.se to arrange free shipping.

If you are employed by a publication or website, Vaggan is also grateful for advertising opportunities — just contact info@vaggan.se

Read more at www.vaggan.se or join the Facebook group "We support Vaggan".