IT Training Project
“Got connected?”

Prior to leaving orphanages children receive vocational training in plumbing, carpentry, and other blue-collar occupations.
However, most of these jobs require intense physical labor and are low paid. In addition, children end up working with older adults and often get exposed to alcohol, smoking, and other unhealthy behaviors.

We believe that training children to become IT specialists provides them with better life opportunities:

• children like computers and are highly motivated to learn using them;
• trained IT specialists, web-designers, and system administrators have better chances of finding a job;
• there are more opportunities for self-employment…all they need is a computer;
• the IT field provides a different level of work with higher wages, without intense physical labor, and opportunities to grow and develop;
• IT is a growing market and is one of the national priorities;
• and finally, children will be surrounded by an environment that better suits their age.
  

“You made me smile”

Due to natural complications during pregnancy, some children are born with cleft lip or cleft palate, a problem that leaves physical defects on children’s faces. The illness is not very common (one or two children in 1,000 are affected), but when it happens children have difficulty eating, develop poor self-esteem, feel isolated from others…and last but not least, can’t smile.

The good news is that this defect can be corrected by a routine cosmetic procedure. Cosmetic surgeons in Baku are able to conduct such operations. However, many low-income families, especially from remote rural areas, or children without parents, are unaware of such operations or unable to afford them.

An operation costs $600 per child and changes his face and his life forever.
Each year five people donating $10 a month can make one more child smile. One child a year may not seem like a lot, but for some parents, it can be the only one.