Latviakontakten is a private Norwegian humanitarian  aid unity, a charity unity, Org. nr. 990 209 774, and  consists of persons from Vestfold, Oslo and Telemark counties.

The group has been running the humanitarian aid activities in Latvia since 1994. The Slaathaug family got their first experience in Latvia in 1993-94, when they visited their daughter (at that time, an exchange student in Riga). The strong impressions lead to a prompt decision to start humanitarian aid. Since then, Latviankontakten has been actively working, and today many people are engaged in Latviakontakten`s work; 5 people from Vestfold, Oslo and Telemark are in the Board of Latviakontakten.

What we do
Places which are supported:

• Christian David- school, near Madona,
• Baldone: a small village 30 km south of Riga,
• Objects we care about i Baldone: the church, the hospital, the schools and the home for handicapped;
• Koknese: a small town 100 km east from Riga
• Objects we care about home for children, polyclinic
• Some private families

The Christian David-school, and different project there have been high on Latviakontakten priority list:

Activities:

• Yearly buss trips with rented tourist-bus + yearly transport-trips with lorries and vans;
• Information-meetings in churches, organizations and groups;
• Web-page: maintenance and renewing and writing new articles;
• Issuing of “news-letters “ twice a year, + other different activities
  (Briefing of the supporters?)

Financial support:
Latviakontakten gets money from the following sources:

• Supporters;
• Collections in churches;
• Selling advertisements on web-page;
• Private donations.
  
  The account is annual revised by authored public accountant.

Christian David-school:( registrated under the Moravian Church)
The Evang. Lutheran teaching.
Background information: the school is situated east of Latvia, near the city Madona (about 200 km east from Riga). There are ca 30 - 35 children in school, (1 – 9 class) + 8 - 10 children in the pre-school , and together with the teachers, there are ca 55 persons there. The school receives rather limited financial support from the State or the municipality, but as the educational institution, it follows the regulations of the authorities e.g., for plans, curricula, hygiene etc. Many of the pupils are from families that face different problems. These parents don’t have any possibilities to pay school-fees for their children. In this boarding-school the children have got their confident home with care, food and clothes. All the children live in the boarding-school - as in a big family. All others come to this school from the neighbourhood and from the nearest city, ca. 30 km away.

Latviakontakten yearly is supporting Christian David-school with ca. NOK 200.000 -, € ca. 25.000,-  for running the necessary daily operation at school, which really also are “ small projects” - bills for electricity, phones, firewood, fuel, food, etc, etc. + also appropriation money for a big project for future/ rooms for teachers.

We are also, in additional,  yearly supporting Christian David-school  with ca NOK 200.000,- € 25.000 for different big projects, read below!

Some other supported projects:

• Paying fee for 5- 6 teachers for further education in university;
• New central-heating system; both the boiler, radiators, pipes and the boiler house;
• Renovating: kitchen, dining room, chapel room, classrooms, changing windows, doors, etc., etc.;
• Bought a VW microbus;
•  Holydays for 7 children in Norway.
• Payed for renovating of the roofs with new metal plates+ insulating the both lofts
• Payed for insulation of the walls of the two buildings, etc., etc.!

The teachers are working on voluntarily bases, without any salary! They have got this work as their calling for life! They get the essential for the daily life from the school: food, clothes, medicines and other necessities ! 8-10 of the teachers are sleeping on coaches in the classrooms. They diden`t  have any private life. This is indignities! Latviakontakten wants to change these conditions! Now this conditions are solved, read below!

The Norwegian House:

In autumn 2010 Latviakontakten bought a property very close to the school , for 15.000 Euros, and gave this as a gift to the school.

The size of the property is ca 3 ha, and the house consists of 5 smaller flats, + an outhouse of stone.  Now the teachers can get their own private rooms.

You cead more about The Norwegian House in a separate link!

Baldone-church:
The church in Baldone, 30 km south of Riga, is a relatively big church made of stones; built in ca 1820 . In 1940 the number of the members were ca. 2.000. But during the Soviet time the Christianity was forbidden, and now there are ca. 200 – 250 members.
During the Soviet time the church was confiscated by the Soviet regime, and the church was remade into a plastic-factory, which produced plastic-combs! Everything inside which could remind you of a church, was removed. The church was totally empty inside! Everything was destroyed, even the floor, where the machines had been placed.
The renovation has been started. When Latviakontakten visited the church in September 2002, the church wasn’t in use yet, because of bad condition, absence of a heating system, and missing of some glasses in the windows. The congregation met for Services in a small room behind the church. There they could heat the room by a small stove. Latviakontakten helped with money for buying a big stove for the church and some glasses.

The big plate of stone on top of the alter, has a weight of ca. 1.400 kg, and is a gift from Granly Church, Tønsberg, Norway. The congregation also has got a block of the same valuable sort of stone, Larvikitt, for making a baptist-fonten. The church now is considerably restored and repaired, with new benches, and we are proud that a lot has been done thanks to Latviakontakten. But still there is a lot to be done in future, both outside and inside.

- Baldone hospital;  different medical equipments; as beds, furnitures, wheel-chairs,etc.,

- Children in two schools;  we`re paying dinners for more than 50 pupils for 2 schoolyears; ca 9-10.000 dinners pr. year, ca € 10.000 yerarly,

- and the home for handicapped is also supported by Latviakontakten.

Imanta congregation; A small congregation with ca 40 persons, in the surburb of Riga, Imanta. There are ca 50.000 persons, and ca 70 % of them are Russian-speaking. The congregation is renting a place in the culture-hall, to meet for their Services. The young pastor-couple is Agrita and Roberts Otomere, and Agrita is Norwegian speaking.

The congregate is running differet activities; Alfa-courses, diakonal work, meeting in privately homes for different groups, etc.!

Tor Slaathaug, leader

Email: Denne e-postadressen er beskyttet mot programmer som samler e-postadresser. Du må aktivere JavaScript for å kunne se adressen