Trip Report by Sam Harding, May 2008

At the request of Vladimir Fekula, RCWS President & CEO, I recently spent two weeks visiting various institutions in Moscow, Pskov, Velikiy Novgorod, and Yaroslavl that are presently recipients of RCWS grants with particular emphasis on our Scholarship Program.  My goals were to meet and become acquainted with those responsible for administering grants, to observe and evaluate their use of our funds, and to meet with participants and potential participants of our Scholarship Program in each city. Thanks to Ludmilla Koroleva, Director of RCWS Moscow Office my travel arrangements and accommodations in and from Moscow to V. Novgorod were excellent.  Throughout my travels, I met with an impressive array of dedicated professionals - all enormously grateful for our support and eager to demonstrate how they were putting it to good use.   It was an honor and a pleasure to represent RCWS in Russia.

Moscow:

Center "Bolshaya Peremena"
This school, founded by its director, Irina Ryazanova, serves about 60 orphans ages 15 to 25 no longer living in orphanages, who are trying to complete their education and find a profession. The school with its faculty of 20 is located in the basement of a large apartment building.  Its basement location precludes financial support from the city government, but through Irina’s tireless efforts the school garners substantial support from United Way, Ernst and Young and numerous other local and international organizations. Despite its location the school is bright, neat, and buzzing with well directed activity.  The teachers are an impressive lot.  B.P. accepts orphans of all abilities; 85% are delayed and psychologically needy.  The school stresses basic skills and self discipline, and endeavors to help its students learn to think, plan, learn and solve problems on their own (“samo-uch” - little of which is ever taught in orphanages).  Their motto is “Achieving the impossible”.
B.P. uses extracurricular activities and trips to foster self-sufficiency and initiative.  Their most impressive project was a weeklong trip to Prague completely organized and financed by the kids, including raising money, making reservations, purchasing tickets, etc.  The participants returned to write articles and make presentations on different aspects of the city.  This year they are working on a trip to Kiev.  Irina plans to submit a grant proposal to enhance her extracurricular activities.
I talked with four of the five RCWS scholarship students. One was sick in the hospital.  Nadia was 27 years old, had just earned her 9th grade diploma and was trying to decide whether to continue to the 11th grade or to go to a college (middle professional school).  Now, she is receiving only a $50 stipend since she does not technically qualify for our program. Vasya, 20, is noticeably delayed and lives at an internat for older kids.  He also receives $50.  He is working for his 9th grade diploma and hopes to attend a technical college.  Misha, 21, is studying at a technical college while preparing for his 11th grade diploma.  He’s bright and articulate.  His stipend is $100.  Natasha is 22, very bright and attractive and soon to take her 11th grade exams.  She is studying at an institute of tourism and receives a $100 stipend.  All four participated openly in our discussion.
I was very positively impressed by B.P. – its professionalism, its faculty, its publications, its focused but friendly, supportive atmosphere, its innovative approach towards socializing post-orphanage children.  Irina Ryazanova is a remarkable woman, a pioneer in this area of post-orphanage education – strict but caring, brilliant but approachable, tireless, resourceful.  I feel RCWS money is being well spent.

Moscow Center for Maxillofacial Surgery:
Ludmilla Koroleva and I visited Dr. Vitaly Roginsky in his clinic at the Moscow Center for Maxillofacial Surgery.  This large, energetic, 74 year-old maxillofacial surgeon greeted us enthusiastically in his modest office.  He spoke in detail about his work with children’s deformed or injured faces.  In his computer room, where all surgeries have been pictorially recorded in minute detail from initial diagnosis to conclusion, Dr. Roginsky led me through each of the carefully planned-out stages of two of his most difficult cases.  He and his team are miracle workers.
Dr. Roginsky introduced me to most of the children in his clinic, explaining in some detail each one’s diagnosis and progress to date.  This gentle giant has a wonderful rapport with his young patients and transmits to them a real sense of hope for their futures.  His incredible work deserves our support.

New Moscow RCWS Office:
The new office is located not far from the center of the city in the NE section between Baumanskaya and Electrozavodskaya metro stations. It is across the street from the newly rebuilt St. Nicola Church, which used to belong to the royal family.  The building, which also contains a chapel and the church Sunday school, is fresh, quiet, and clean.  RCWS Moscow staff has an excellent new work place, but they really do need a new printer to replace their ten-year-old antique.

Pskov:

Radio broadcasts, press releases and the honored name of RCWS preceded my arrival in Pskov thanks to Tatyana Bodrova, deputy director of the Pskov Children’s Fund and our trusted representative in the area.  I felt more like royalty than a retired school teacher.  Tatyana, supported by her full-time staff of three, well deserves the respect of RCWS that she has so well earned; she is bright, educated, energetic, resourceful, and genuinely committed to helping Russian children in need. During my stay in Pskov we accomplished the following:

Bobrovsky Orphanage; TV interview
I visited the distant Bobrovsky Orphanage for 100 children ages 4-18 with severe motor disabilities and mental retardation.  Run by an energetic, optimistic and proactive, middle-aged man, Viktor, and his social-worker wife, this institution for extremely needy children is working hard to meet its enormous challenge.  What I met of the staff (75 half-time) seemed to share Viktor’s optimism and exhibited genuine interest in their work.  Viktor counts no child out and his staff has often exceeded doctors’ expectations for improving children’s capabilities. He works and lobbies aggressively to improve his facility with notable success.  The large quantity of colorful soft furniture purchased with their RCWS grant ($12,975) is in most exercise, instructional, and gathering rooms and is in constantly use.  It is an excellent investment. Many children simply cannot walk or frequently fall.
A TV crew arrived to do a piece on the orphanage and on our grant.  It was a good opportunity to answer their many questions about the RCWS.

RCWS Scholarship Students
At Tatyana’s office we met with nine of her scholarship recipients – a group of neat, fairly confident, very appreciative young adults.  Some had traveled long distances to attend the meeting.  I gained a clear sense of the mutual respect and affection in the relationship between Tatyana and her students.  She cares very much. Tatyana presented a series of questions for each to answer, and all did.  Not only did they appreciate the financial support from their scholarships, but they valued highly the control and discipline created by their obligation to report monthly on their expenses and academic progress, knowing that at least one caring person maintained high expectations of them. 

Opochka
After a 1 ½ hour drive to the isolated town of Opochka we visited two institutions:

On the long trip back to Pskov we detoured through the Pushkin Hills and stopped to pay our respects at the tomb of Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin.  The Pskov oblast’ is about the size of France with its children’s institution spread far and wide… and difficult to visit in a short time.

Velikiy Novgorod:

Ludmilla Kozlova, an experienced administrator and director of the Victoria Rehabilitation Center since its opening 13 years ago, is another dynamo.  She had accepted the responsibility of shepherding me around Novgorod.  Again, preceded by newspaper articles and radio broadcasts, I felt a bit overwhelmed by my presumed importance.  Ludmilla had a tight schedule for me and kept me to it:

Rehabilitation Center “Victoria”
The Victoria Rehabilitation Center is another extraordinary institution, providing over 200 severely disabled children with medical treatment, psychological and educational support, and social rehabilitation.  Located on the outskirts of the city and not connected by public transportation that accepts wheelchairs, many must stay at home. But, many are wheeled daily to the center by parents (none live in the center) who stay with them during treatment.  Recently, RCWS voted to grant the center $17,363 to purchase a van that will provide necessary daily transport to the center and to various activities for children throughout the city. Previously, the Society granted money for a colorful Jungle-Jim that is already in use.
It is a credit to Ludmilla Kozlova that most of her administrative staff has been working at the center since its founding.  They are a committed group of professionals who seem to take pleasure in their work with children with grave disabilities.  They are experts in each of their fields, many having studied abroad in their specialties. The tone in the large building is light and positive – a multitude of activities, classes, various procedures and therapies.  RCWS is contributing significantly to the rehabilitation of these needy children.

Novgorod Scholarship Candidates; TV interview:
Three young men (teenagers) came to the Victoria Center from “Podrostok” (a municipal educational center for teenagers who have left orphanages) to interview with me for the RCWS Scholarship Program.  A TV team had arrived earlier to film the center and interview me about the Scholarship Program.  The students seemed focused, mature and well adapted, and come highly recommended by Podrostok.  After reading their applications, I am inclined to recommend their acceptance into the Scholarship Program. 

Tsvetik-Semitsvetic Educational Center for Disabled Children
Located upstairs in the same building as the Victoria Rehabilitation Center, this school supports about 135 children (no orphans) ages 6-18 who have physical disabilities, but whose mental capabilities seem intact.  They have a good record of their kids entering higher education.  RCWS provided a $5,000 grant to make computers and the Internet accessible to visually impaired children.  I had an interesting visit with six teenagers and their teacher in their well appointed computer room – complete with a Braille keyboard. They were an impressive, articulate group - spirited and ready to talk about the advantages of their new “Window on the World of Information” program.

Specialized Orphanage for Children with Learning Disabilities:
This orphanage houses and cares for 43 children ages 2 mos. to 7 years.  Again, it is clean, well cared for by organized, appealing women.  Their most recent of four grants bought smaller beds for the younger children and a digital camera.  They proudly steered me to them.  They are particularly pleased that the beds are made from real wood (not from the usual, “foul-smelling, noxious chemical materials”).  They also pointed out their popular clothes dryer and dentist suite, all in good repair and bearing the RCWS logo.  A very positive impression.

Pavlov School-Internat:

This large orphanage school has never applied for RCWS support.  It is known for its strong athletic program.  A number of its teen-agers have won national competitions; as a result the city of Moscow presented them with a field house.   I was taken there to meet three more candidates for our Scholarship Program. 
I also met with a representative of the Committee of Guardianship and Guidance, Elena Selika, who pledged to give her opinion of the candidates and to forward on the digital copies of their applications.  She is prepared to give guidance to the winners.

Internat for Deaf and Hearing-impaired Children:

This boarding school houses 82 children ages 2-20 with another 100 attending on a daily basis.  It is my understanding that no orphans attend the school. In fact, it closes for vacations. The school was constructed by Novgorod and Moscow governments in 1996 because the oblast’ had no such facility.  This is a large, well appointed school with a sizeable gymnasium and a new dormitory building soon to be opened.  A large, well-qualified staff, small classes, and some modern technology are helping deaf children to communicate.  I had a good visit, enjoyed the classes, and felt that the school is well run.  Apparently, they do not receive government funds for equipment and are hoping to purchase an expensive, leading-edge Verbaton machine ($40 K). 
The school had received a $5 K grant from RCWS to create a “Sensor Room” in their new dormitory building.  At the time, they had received only parts of the equipment, but showed me the room it would soon occupy.

Yaroslavl (Tutaev):

My purpose for being in Yaroslavl was to evaluate the progress of Friends of Russian Orphans after its first half year of independence. Being so close to Tutaev, I took the opportunity to visit the nearby Orthodox school, which has long been the recipient of RCWS grants.

Tutaev Orthodox School:
Tutaev Orthodox School is putting RCWS support to excellent use; without it the school might not have survived to this date.  But, I feel that my visit served a good purpose.  I arrived on the holiday of St Nicholas just after the church service.  Father Viniamin greeted me warmly and immediately introduced me to the large gathering of local parishioners who were feasting outdoors.  RCWS’ good work is well known to them and I was received with enthusiasm and gratitude. Later at the school, the students treated me to a delightful program of song, dance and folktales.  When they asked for some words from me I spoke again of the RCWS Board and its supporters who work hard to provide resources for their great school, and how they also need to work hard to keep up their side of the partnership.  I felt that I was able to put a human face on our organization for the present staff and student body.  The older children gave me a detailed tour of their school, stopping to show me the many RCWS logos on various equipment, books, etc.  After a long lunch with the headmistress and Father Viniamin, who later visited me at my hotel, I returned to Yaroslavl with the sense that it had been a worthwhile visit.

Friends of Russian Orphans – Yaroslavl:
FRO received several grants through RCWS.  Thanks, especially, to the hard work, resourcefulness and devotion of Galina Evstifeeva, the newly independent organization continues to have a positive effect on the lives of many of the city’s – and, now, the entire oblast’s – children.  The organization manages a wide range of activities in the areas of education (including RCWS scholarships), post-orphanage support for orphans (patronat), community events showcasing orphans, equine therapy, a website, fundraising, enlisting volunteers, and public relations.  In general, the organization has been doing excellent work these areas.  Recently, it solicited a new van from a local donor for an orphanage without one; garnered a $5,000 grant from its local bank; staged a large, successful orphans’ art festival; successfully promoted in the oblast’ Department of Education the patronat concept of family upbringing for orphans. 
Project "Preparing Orphans for Patronat" has been presenting throughout the Yaroslavl oblast’ a series of two six-hour seminars designed to teach personnel from 26 orphanages to prepare orphans for patronat.    Attendance has exceeded expectations. 
Equine Facilitated Therapy is a pilot program for 10 high-risk orphans.  Twice a week two psychologists and a recognized (pro bono) equine therapist work together with the ten children at an established riding academy (pro bono) to provide psychological therapy.  The pilot is being evaluated by the psychologists in regular interviews and with occasional written psychological testing.  The program is proceeding according to schedule with marked optimism. 

RCWS Scholarship Program:
We had an excellent meeting of the seven current students plus the four new candidates.  We were pleased to note the increased maturity and self-confidence in the veterans and the warm welcome and support that they gave the four new young women.  Some of the older generation have been visiting orphanages with Galina to encourage study and future applications to the program.  The new candidates appear to be a strong, focused group.

Conclusion:

This non-stop, two-week, four-city tour of institutions receiving RCWS support gave me a clear sense of the breadth and depth of the Society’s positive effect on needy Russian children.  I wish that each Board member could have such an opportunity.  I was able to speak personally and on behalf of the Society with many of our grantees and with the children whom they support. I think they have a clearer idea of who we are and what are our goals and expectations.    From what I saw and heard, the people who represent us in Russia are doing a brilliant job of selecting honest, worthy recipients of our assistance.