Czech Republic: Romani quintuplets have a new account for donations
At the start of April a new transparent account was opened for donations to the first-ever family of quintuplets in the Czech Republic. The purpose of the public fundraising campaign, which has been announced by the Maminky dětem (Mothers to Children) group in the town of Milovice, is to finance the quintuplets’ needs until they attain majority.
A bank account originally established for this purpose by the Club of Twins and Higher Multiples (Klub dvojčat a vícerčat) will close on Friday. According to the family’s legal representative, that account has been closed because of disputes between the family and the chair of the Club, Klára Vítková Rulíková, whom the family no longer trusts.
According to Petra Dobiášová of Mothers to Children, the money from the quintuplets’ transparent account will be used to cover the children’s clothing and shoes, educational needs, medical interventions, modification of the family’s apartment to meet the needs of an eight-member household, nursery equipment, prescriptions and other items. The bank account number is 2900747774/2010 and the account is with the Nymburk branch of Fio banka, a.s.
BANK ACCOUNT NUMBER
2900747774/2010
( Nymburk branch of Fio banka, a.s.)
A statement from the Mothers to Children group made available to news server Romea.cz reads as follows: "The quintuplets’ parents hereby announce that the collections undertaken to benefit their children by the Club of Twins and Higher Multiples, headquartered in Prague, are now ending. The money collected will still be used as per the purpose of the original fundraising effort. The parents would like to thank everyone who has given already, as well as the organizers of the collection, and they hope their supporters to date will continue to support them in the future. The parents will continue to work closely with the Mothers to Children group, headquartered in Milovice, not just on financial and material matters, but also with respect to child-rearing."
Last week the Club of Twins and Higher Multiples also announced on its Facebook page and website that it is ending its collection of funds from the public to support the first-ever family of quintuplets, as follows: "Due to the constant challenges and threats from Dr. Samková, the legal representative of Ms Alexandra Kiňová’s family, the Club of Twins and Higher Multiples will be closing its transparent account in support of the first-ever Czech quintuplets as of 17 April 2015. The fundraising campaign will end as of that date. The Club will announce how the net financial proceeds will be transferred to the family once it has signed a contract with them about the transfer."
Beneath this online announcement, many crude, racist posts have been made by fans of the Club, aimed not just against the quintuplets’ parents, but also against the children themselves. As of 13 April the administrators of the Club’s Facebook page have left these remarks in place without comment.
According to Samková, who represents the quintuplets’ family, the family has repeatedly asked the Club since January 2015 not to raise money on their behalf any more. "First the Club and Mgr. Vítková Rulíková did not respond to our calls, then they began to communicate through their legal representative," Samková writes in a statement for news server Romea.cz, adding that "the Club did not change its position until after the Czech Labor and Social Affairs Ministry and Prague City Hall, which permitted the fundraising drive, got involved in the negotiations to end this particular fundraising effort and transfer it elsewhere."
Samková says the allegations that she "threatened" the Club and that the account was closed because of such "threats" are sheer disinformation. She says the family’s calls to end the Club’s fundraising drive were completely legitimate.
Disputes between Vítková Rulíková and the quintuplets’ family flared up during the filming of a Czech Television documentary about the quintuplets. They did not come to a head, however, until the end of 2014, when Kiňová, the children’s mother, learned that Vítková Rulíková had drawn funds from the transparent account to pay the salaries of caregivers contracted by the Club without warning the family she would do so and without their consent.
Subsequently, in an interview for the news server Ona.Dnes.cz, Vítková Rulíková discussed private information from the family’s life, accusing them of wasting food and of being incapable of running an functional household without Vítková Rulíková’s help. The family thoroughly objected to those allegations and Dobiášová, who was a training worker with the family at the time, objected publicly to them as well.
