VZCZCXRO3933
RR RUEHAST
DE RUEHRA #0657/01 2300542
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 180542Z AUG 06
FM AMEMBASSY RIGA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3252
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 RIGA 000657 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SOCI OPRC LG
SUBJECT: RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES VISITS LATVIA 
 
 
RIGA 00000657  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY.  At the invitation of Ambassador Bailey, a three-person 
team from Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) visited Latvia July 
24-28.  The team visited a number of hospitals and orphanages to 
assess the quality of care and look for possible areas of 
cooperation.  They also met with representatives from the local 
business and philanthropic communities to learn about charitable 
giving in Latvia and gauge the depth of possible support for a local 
RMHC chapter.   The Embassy received very positive feedback from 
participants, and the establishment of a chapter is quite possible 
although no specific decisions have been made at this point. 
According to RMHC reps, this was the first time an Embassy organized 
their visit and it provided them with useful access they might not 
otherwise have had.  The visit also provided a useful context to 
discuss and promote the further development of Latvian charitable 
endeavors.  END SUMMARY 
 
¶2.  RMHC, the charitable arm of the McDonald's corporation, is a 
global children's charity represented in forty-nine countries. 
RMHC's goal is to improve the health and well-being of children 
through several core programs.  These include: the signature Ronald 
McDonald House, which provides a "home away from home" for families 
of seriously ill children receiving treatment at a nearby hospital; 
and a Mobile Care Unit that brings health care services to children 
in underserved areas. 
 
¶3.  On July 24-28, 2006, RMHC Senior Director Janet Burton, RMHC 
Trustee John Falletta, and Special Projects Manager Laurel Schumm 
visited Latvia at the invitation of Ambassador Bailey to assess the 
situation of children's health care and social welfare.  The team 
visited Riga Children's Hospital and the Dardedze center for 
children who suffered from violence.  They also met with pediatric 
doctors, philanthropists, business leaders and government officials, 
as well as toured orphanages in the eastern part of Latvia. 
President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Latvia, Jerry 
Wirth, accompanied the group to many of these events. 
 
¶4.  Latvia has only one specialized children's hospital.  The Riga 
Children's hospital is located in Riga, but treats patients from all 
over the country.  It is a sprawling complex of buildings in various 
stages of renovation.  While the hospital has fairly modern 
equipment, it lacks resources for less essential needs. 
 
¶5.  During informal meetings over dinner and at a philanthropic 
roundtable discussion with well-known Latvian philanthropists, the 
team learned that charitable giving in Latvia is still in its 
infancy, but has made some progress in the past few years.  Local 
businesses are looking to improve their image through charity and 
are beginning to understand corporate social responsibility and its 
role in a democratic society.  Significantly, three out of four 
roundtable participants were foreign-born Latvians who have returned 
to Latvia and now serve as role models in social responsibility. 
Latvian philanthropists agreed that establishing trust is among the 
key challenges to Latvian charity work, as Latvians still remember 
scandals in early 1990s, when a considerable amount of foreign 
technical assistance was used for personal gain. 
 
¶6.  In order to understand the business environment and to gauge 
private sector interest in supporting a RMHC Chapter in Latvia, the 
RMHC team met with Latvian Economics Minister Aigars Stokenbergs and 
a group of local and American company representatives, including 
Johnson and Johnson, Eli Lilly, and Coca-Cola.  The participants 
expressed strong interest in an RMHC chapter.  The team was 
particularly pleased to receive a pledge of approximately 25,000 USD 
from one of the companies. 
 
¶7.  An overnight trip to Latgale, Latvia's Eastern region bordering 
Russia, was an insightful experience both for the team and the 
Embassy representatives.  Latgale is the most depressed region of 
Latvia, with unemployment rates as high as 25 percent compared to 
6.3 percent national average.  Despite this underdevelopment, the 
orphanages that the team visited were in reasonably good condition. 
The team also visited a regional hospital that was recently rebuilt 
and appeared adequate, though doctors there confirmed that they 
refer more difficult pediatric cases to Riga Children's Hospital. 
 
¶8.  A particularly inspiring success story on this trip was Grasi 
Children's Village, a privately run orphanage that accepts children 
with developmental disorders.  Its charismatic French founder is 
using non-traditional methods both in caring for the children and 
raising money for the orphanage.  One if the orphanage's most recent 
projects is a "children's farm" where children will interact with 
animals and receive a form of developmental therapy through such 
contacts. 
 
¶9.  Towards the end of the RMHC visit, the team met with Latvian 
Minister of Health Gundars Berzins and Parliamentary Speaker Ingrida 
Udre.  These representatives reassured the team that the GOL is 
committed to improving children's welfare.  Moreover, the Minister 
of Health gave a personal promise to intervene if RMHC projects in 
Latvia need legislative support. 
 
¶10.  The RMHC visit showed that there is strong local support for a 
 
RIGA 00000657  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
RMHC Chapter in Latvia.  The visit also confirmed a need for family 
accommodations that would allow parents from outside Riga to stay 
with their children undergoing treatment at Riga Children's 
Hospital. At the same time, the RMHC team cautioned that, within the 
Latvian context, it would be better to slowly build up a 
chapter--starting with smaller projects and then moving to more 
ambitious goals such as creating a Ronald McDonald House.  The 
discussions with pediatric doctors and social workers confirmed the 
need for a Mobile Care Unit that could provide not only basic health 
care to children in underserved regions, but also educate parents 
about medical treatment options for their children.  According to 
the team, if a chapter is established in Latvia, it is likely that 
it will start with such a Mobile Care Unit. 
 
¶11. Comment: The potential establishment of an RMHC chapter in 
Latvia would be a significant contribution to improving children's 
health in the country and would be emblematic of the private-public 
partnerships the Embassy has been advocating in the health care 
field.  RMHC team members said this was the first time that an 
Embassy had organized a visit for them and it provided them with 
access to individuals and new sources of information that might not 
otherwise have been available. 
 
BAILEY