The Children of the Svirstroy Orphanage

Spring / Summer 2006 Update

We had a very busy spring and summer this year.  I spent part of April and May visiting the orphanage and local school to set up our longer visit in July.

New Camping and Nature Program

Designing new camping program

Jacque and I worked with the assistant director and the physical education teacher to design and fund a camping and nature program for the kids.  The kids will take seven supervised overnight camping trips in August and September, 10 kids and 2 adults.

New camping supplies

Prior to the overnight stay, they will learn about nature and the environment using the resources we purchased.  They will then document their trip with journals, drawings, and photographs, culminating in a group photo album / journal.  Your donations allowed us to purchase new tents, sleeping bags, journals, film, markers, colored pencils, pens, pencils, and photo albums for the program!

New English Program at Local School

Svirstroy School

I met with the local school principal in April to see what could be done to help the kids in the orphanage with their education.  She pointed out that many of the kids struggle in school, mostly because they did not have parental support.  She shared with me many things she and her staff do to try to provide the kids with more of the individualized attention they need.

She is also planning to begin a new English language program at the school.  Jacque and I are working with her to identify the resources she will need so we can provide partial funding for this program since it will definitely give the kids from the orphanage a leg up when they graduate.

New Cooking Program

Cooking supplies and equipment

One of the staff members agreed to begin a cooking program where the kids will learn how to cook for themselves.  We purchased all of the necessary supplies and equipment for the program, and the orphanage is setting up a room near the kitchen where the program can be housed.  This will provide the kids with a great life skill.

Orphanage Population Expands

The orphanage population in Svirstroy, which had been decreasing steadily from 125 to 54 kids from 1999 - 2004 has now grown to over 75 kids.  This is a huge increase since 22 kids have left the orphanage in the last two years.  The new kids range in age from 3 - 15.  The number of kids under 8 has increased dramatically as well.

5 of the 8 munchkins are new to the orphanage

Summer's Favorite Activity - Swimming!

Swimming with new rafts

Since there is not a lot to do during the summer, the kids head down to the Svir River to swim.  We bought them some inflatable rafts, and they loved them, especially the kids that are not quite confident in their swimming abilities yet.

Despite near record high temperatures, the water was amazingly cool and refreshing.  The older kids all wanted to show off their diving skills (they actually jump off a boat some poor guy leaves anchored in the cove where they swim!), and the younger ones wanted to show off their newfound swimming skills.

Even when it was in the upper 80s, they still build a bonfire to warm up after they get out of the water.  Russians definitely have some unusual habits.

Updates on the Kids

We spent a week in St. Petersburg meeting with the kids who have gravitated there for work or technical school.  Since it was summer, a number of the kids were actually visiting friends or family, so we did not get to see as many of them as we would have liked.

Luke and Sasha

We had the pleasure of coordinating our trip with Luke "Sergei" Winghart and his mom, Carin.  Carin's family adopted Luke from the Svirstroy orphanage six years ago, and this was the first time he's been back to visit.  He also had not seen his little sister, who had been adopted by a Russian couple prior to his adoption.  You can read more about Luke's visit by clicking here.

Katya and Liza

Katya will be leaving the orphanage in the fall to begin studying to be a nurse.  We are incredibly proud of her!  She spent the last three years traveling 30 minutes each way to attend school in another town where she was able to complete 9th - 11th grade.  That gave her the educational skills necessary to pass her entrance exams.  During our stay, we provided her with money to make the 2 hour bus trip to her new school in order to complete her exams and to stay the night there in a hotel.  We look forward to hearing many great things about her in the future.  She is an amazing kid!

Sveta and Vitya

Vitya moved to St. Petersburg and is living with his sister until he starts school there in the fall.  We sat him down with one of the older orphanage graduates, Vera, who explained to him what he needed to do over the next two years in order to prepare himself to enter the university.  Vera is a great example of what these kids are capable of doing.  She is working on a degree in robotics and is overcoming many of the obstacles thrown in front of her.

Vitya's sister, Sveta, is due to have her first child by the end of the summer.  She now has all of the necessities--baby clothing, crib, baby supplies--thanks to a day of shopping with Jacque and soon to be Uncle Vitya.

Ruslan and Kolya's lives have continued down the wrong path.  We had long discussions with both of them, and we offered to assist them in getting help for their addictions.  It is not something we believe will be turned around quickly, but we will continue to pursue it with both of them during our next trip and through letters until then.  It disappoints and saddens us to see them this way, but this really is the reality these kids face.  We've been very fortunate not to have lost any kids to drugs and alcohol, and we don't intend to lose these two.

Denis, Luke, and Jambul

Denis will continue his studies at the National School of Traditional Culture, where he had a great first year.  He spent a good deal of time with us during our visit since he was one of Luke's good friends from when he was in the orphanage.  It was great to see them together.

Most of the kids are still facing housing issues and trying to find and keep jobs.  They face a huge challenge when they leave the orphanage, but most of them continue to face it head on.  We are very proud of their successes!

Fundraising Update

We are still on the lookout for companies, church groups, and fraternal organizations that are interested in working with us so we can expand beyond our friends and families who have been the bulk of our supporters.  If you know of any leads, don’t hesitate to share them with me.  I’m pretty good at rejection!

So What Is Next?

Based on the outcome of the new camping and nature program, we hope to meet with the St. Petersburg chapter of the Rotary Club to get their support for some additional programs at the orphanage.  I would like to see a sports league started at the orphanage that will run throughout the spring and summer when the kids tend to have little supervised activity.  We will continue to work with the staff to design and fund additional programs prior to submitting our proposal in the spring.

We will continue to work with the local school principal to find ways to improve the education of the kids at the orphanage.  She has been very welcoming and is eager to work with us.  We hope to be able to get the new English program up and running for the next school year.

We managed to purchase all of the silverware we could find in town, but we still need to get some additional sets since there are so many more kids there now.

Another dozen kids are leaving the orphanage this fall, and that continues to increase the number of kids we are working with outside the orphanage.  Fortunately, most of them are living near the orphanage or near St. Petersburg, which makes it a bit easier to find all of them.  Still, they continue to face great difficulties in their lives.

Jambul and the Munchkins

We are excited that our friend and translator, Jambul, has begun his first trip outside Russia.  He will be studying for the next 10 months at the University of New Mexico on a Fulbright Scholarship.  His score on the exam required by the program was the highest in Russia!  We are very proud of him, and we know he will have a great experience here in the United States.

Unfortunately, we will not have his energy and skills available to us in Russia.  He has been incredibly important in our endeavors over the last two years.  Many things simply would not have been possible without him.  But, he has volunteered to lend us a hand with many of the things we do throughout the year while he is here.

Again, I want to thank each of you for the support you’ve given the children.  We could not accomplish much without your generous and continued support.

Thanks to all of you, we are making a difference, one orphanage and one orphan at a time...

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For additional information, email me at [email protected]