Datuna Appeal

Can you help us save the life of a little Georgian social orphan boy?

Just over a year ago we first introduced you to Datuna, a little 7 year old social orphan boy, who lives in the Temi alternative orphanage community in the foothills of the Caucasus mountains in Georgia.

Datuna is paralysed from the waist down, a suspected victim of child abuse who survived a fall from a 7th storey window when he was two. In Georgia child protection services hardly exist. An emergency operation removed his spleen and some of his ribs, but the severity of his spinal injuries was beyond the country’s resources. He was returned to his mother and was used for begging on the Tbilisi streets until he was 5 years old. Then, yellow skinned, filthy and crying with open wounds, the police found him, begging alone at midnight. He was so neglected, people feared he would die.

Watch This Video of Datuna in Georgia

Temi Community took him in, cared for him and slowly he began to speak.  He shared a room with 6 young adults with severe learning difficulties, and was often confined to bed. His twisted spine continued to deteriorate as his scoliosis advanced, again threatening his life. Temi is a wonderful place that saves many lives, but living conditions are poor.

When Madge Bray met Datuna he wanted to sing with her and told her his dream was to play football like his hero Shota Arveladze, then with Glasgow Rangers. Despite everything he always seemed to look on the bright side of life. He never complains.  He giggles a lot.

Madge came back to Scotland and enlisted the help of Fiona Lindsay, an Edinburgh based physiotherapist. An appeal to save his life began.

He needed:

* Bandages and dressings.
* A pressure mattress.
* A bed.
* A Wheelchair.
* A ramp.
* Specialist spinal surgery.
* Disabled toilet facilities.
* An education.

Slowly money trickled in.  With your help we have made fantastic progress.

Your kindness and Temi’s care means he is now wound free. He has a new bed, a wheelchair, a pressure mattress, and a ramp is being built to help his mobility.

He has been to Scotland twice for medical assessment and fitting of a new Spiderman brace that holds his back rigidly in place.

He seems to inspire kindness….

A spinal surgeon, Mr Thanos Tsirikos, will donate an operation, which he will need just as soon as he is old enough. Probably in about a year's time. Hospital staff donated their time to make a brace for him. His physio has done a wonderful job helping his mobility.

People have taken him to their hearts. He is an honoured guest at Thornlie Primary School in Wishaw Lanarkshire.

Arm wrestling with Fiona	Datuna and the Thornlie lads	Mastering a disabled lift

BUT HE IS STILL IN GREAT DANGER.

He still needs… 
* Spinal surgery and rehabilitation.
* Disabled Toileting facilities.
* An accessible building suitable for him to live in.
* An education.  

We have about a year to raise the money to cover all this.

Datuna earned £4 himself, peeling potatoes, polishing cutlery, and helping make bread in an Edinburgh restaurant. He earned another £2 folding leaflets.  He knows his own mind.  He wants to give it to the doctor for his operation.

If we can help him, he will help himself.  So please help him.

We can give him a future. Time is of the Essence. Give generously. Help us to save his life.

Madge Bray has worked in the field of child abuse all of her professional life, pioneering treatment approaches for severely abused young children.

The organization which she co-founded, SACCS, won the Meering Award for its contribution to childcare practice in the U.K. She was nominated as European Woman of the Year for her work in Eastern Europe. She currently works with Heart of the Brave, a Georgian registered Charitable Union. She met Datuna while working for this charity.

Ecologia Youth Trust collects donations on behalf of this appeal.
To make an online donation for Datuna please click here: www.justgiving.com/ecologia

Or send a cheque made payable ‘Ecologia Youth Trust’ (marked Datuna Appeal on the back) to

Ecologia Youth Trust
66 The Park,
Forres, Moray IV36 3TD

Or make a bank transfer marked Datuna Appeal to:
Ecologia Youth Trust A/C 00210221 Sort Code 83-20-14
Royal Bank Of Scotland, Forres Moray IV36 1RB
IBAN: GB52RBOS83201400210221

Please contact us if you have any further queries on info@ecologia.org.uk

We are guilty of many errors, and many faults.
But our worst crime is abandoning the children,
Neglecting the fountain of life.
Many other things can wait.
The child cannot.
For now is the time his bones are being formed,
His flesh is being made.
To that child we cannot answer Tomorrow.
His name is Today.………………………………. Gabriella Mistral - Chilean Poet.