The Belaja Rosa Foundation was set up by employees of SANYO Energy & Ecology BV and its objective is to improve the lives of children in Stavropol, a city located in the south of Russia, and also the former home of Angela Skorobogataja (area manager for Russia & CIS).
Why was the name Belaja Rosa chosen? The foundation’s activities take place in Russia.
Belaja Rosa means ‘white rose’ in Russia. The rose is an international symbol of love. It was reputed to be the favourite rose of Venus, the goddess of love. In our foundation, the rose symbolises our love for disadvantaged children. White is generally regarded as the colour of purity, but white is also a mixture of all the visible colours in the colour spectrum. A child is born pure, yet also comprises every possible colour. Children’s lives are sometimes too “colourful” and all kinds of circumstances can turn the life of a child into a grave struggle; so much so that it ends up wandering the streets, sniffing glue, without food. The children get involved in crime and/or prostitution. We believe that there is purity deep within every child and by providing assistance we try to make that essential difference, so that children realise that there is hope and love in the world: a glimmer of light in a gloomy existence.
Why did Sanyo choose a cause outside the Netherlands?
SANYO already supports various causes in the Netherlands. We sponsor local activities, a number of local sports associations and scientific causes. A discussion about “assistance” led us to the trio: local - the Netherlands - international. We chose an area where the situation for children is far from ideal. Unfortunately there are many countries across the world to choose from. The thousands of aid organisations focus mainly on the “known” big problems. It is not the ambition of Belaja Rosa to grow into a large organisation and focus on the world's hotspots, but rather to provide manageable assistance on a small scale that can make the difference between a hopeless situation and experiencing a ray of hope and happiness. We are able to offer many people opportunities locally in Stavropol (South Russia) thanks to the presence of Angela’s family, who can keep tabs on how the foundation’s activities are implemented. In this annual report, we will attempt to show what the assistance has comprised since the foundation was set up. The activities can be divided into two parts: the
“Rosa” part and the “Vladimir” part; Chapter 2 describes how this came about. Vladimir is our current contact person. On behalf of the foundation, we would like to thank SANYO for its financial support and in particular Masafumi Yoda, because without his quick, courageous decision, the foundation would never have achieved what it has.
Please download our annual report to get more information about the Belaja Rosa foundation.