Since 1990, the municipality Ittigen – near Berne, the capital of Switzerland – has engaged in a partnership with the city of Dobrusch, primarily providing humanitarian support to the people of this town in the Republic of Belarus. In 2015, the former mayor of Ittigen and his wife, friends of the founders of PrimeSteps, brought to life a project idea to set up a simple Spitex organisation to offer home care and nursing in Dobrush. Establishing a Spitex service required a basic infrastructure and qualified starting team, so, with the financial support of our foundation, nurses and a social worker were employed and an old school building was renovated. The Spitex organization was able to begin operating in 2017.
With the start-up funding, PrimeSteps enabled the launch of a project that markedly improves the quality of life of many people and creates new jobs, as well. The Spitex organization, based on the Swiss model, has generated a very positive response in local media and inspired surrounding communities to create similar Spitex organizations of their own.