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Everyone we met with in Russia was very positive and appreciative of our visit. They all thanked us for our work and are also thankful of the families that provide assistance and homes for their children. We left with a greater understanding of their needs and concerns, and left them with a better understanding of how we work and why we can and do place special needs children. For the orphanage in Ryazan, we are assisting with the purchase and installation of carpeting for their new music/dance room and in Shakhty, the purchase of school supplies for the older children in the orphanage that attend the regular high school in town.
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Kids To Adopt, 2012
Broadway Street, Vancouver, WA, 98663 |
In
all, things went very well and we feel the trip was a great success. We
were able to meet with our coordinator's office in Moscow and with
regional officials in two regions in Russia, as well as visiting a couple
of orphanages. In Ukraine, we met with officials in one region and also
with national officials in Kiev. We were able to get tours of a number of
orphanages, a children's hospital and an art institute providing services
to disabled children. We received
requests for assistance from everyone we visited with and are looking
forward to providing what assistance we can.
In
Russia, it seems like the timing for our trip was pretty good. We met with
regional officials in Ryazan and Rostov. The people we met with had many
questions for us relating to how we find and prepare families to adopt,
how we deal with abuse of adopted children by their adoptive parents, how
the children adjust to life in the USA, why do people adopt disabled
children, do families make money by adopting children, if the children are
aware that they were adopted and if they have an interest in their birth
country.
In
Ryazan our meeting with the regional Director of Education was arranged at
an orphanage for younger children. The orphanage has just recently
completed adding an entire floor (the third floor) and is in the process
of finishing the final work to begin using this new space.
The
new floor includes updated play areas, a new music and dance room, an
"atrium" with several plants and a small indoor pond, therapy
rooms for children with developmental delays, a Montessori style learning
area and even a baptismal for use by local priests to baptize children in
the orphanage. We were not able to meet any of the children in this
orphanage on this trip, but we were given information on some of the children
the orphanage director and head doctor feel have the greatest medical
needs.
In
Rostov, in addition to everything else they asked, we were asked a lot of
questions about our adopted Russian children, Kyle and Nadia. Kyle was
adopted from the town of Shakhty in the Rostov region and they were
particularly interested in how he is doing and his interest in Russia and
his birthplace.
After
our meeting with the Director of Education and other officials in Rostov,
we headed on to Shakhty to tour the orphanage there. Our son Kyle was not
in the orphanage, but in the local children's hospital as the orphanage
was not able to house babies when Kyle was born.
About
a year after his adoption, the orphanage was expanded and the babies were
moved in. On our arrival in Rostov, we were met by the same people that
assisted me when I was there to adopt Kyle, and at the orphanage, we were
also met by the Social Worker that had charge of Kyle's case in Shakhty.
We had a wonderful time at the orphanage and did get a tour and met many
of the children. However, we were not able to get information on specific
children available for adoption.
Our
visit to Ukraine was even more timely than in Russia. We spent a few days
in eastern Ukraine where we met with a regional Director of Education and
toured a number of facilities.
In
a children's hospital, we met several children with various medical needs,
from basic medical treatment to urgent and even life saving surgical
needs. Several children are in need of shunts for hydrocephalus and the
surgery is simply not available to them where they are. Many of these
children could stay with their families if they receive the proper and necessary
medical care. In addition to basic supplies, the hospital is in need of a
couple of larger items such as a new refrigerator for the children's food
and a small commercial grade washing machine for washing the children's
clothes and bedding.
Our
next visit, to an orphanage for disabled and delayed children was
extremely depressing. While we did meet a couple of staff that did not
seem to care much for the children, most of the staff and the director are
very caring persons that are very willing to accept any assistance they
can get.
This
orphanage has never had a child adopted and we really want to change this
and get some of these children placed into homes. Families considering a
child from this orphanage must be prepared for a child with extreme
developmental delays and malnutrition. This orphanage needs so much, but
their immediate requests were very simple... non breakable cups and bowls
and a couple of microwaves for heating food. We are happy to say that some
of these donations are already on the way and we will be working on
getting this orphanage other needed items soon.
We
visited two more orphanages in this area and both seemed to be clean and
adequately staffed. In one orphanage, we were treated to a performance by
some of the children. This was very fun and many of the children played
music, sang and danced. It was wonderful to see the children really having
a good time entertaining their guests from America.
We
were able to meet many of the children and did get to talk to a few about
their life in the orphanages. The common thing we heard from all the
children was that while the orphanage was a relatively safe place that met
their immediate needs, most want a family. Both of these orphanages asked
for help with school supplies and we were able to assist with at least
part of this need with donations that were sent for these orphanages.
One
last visit in this region was to an art school that has classes for
disabled children. Most of these children have CP and are living with
their families. Their art is created by using straw, in various forms, to
create several types of artistic work. We saw many different things and
thought all were wonderfully done. After some discussion, we decided the
best way to help would be to assist in raising funds by displaying,
selling or auctioning the children's artwork. We were able to bring back a
number of pieces and are in the process of trying to figure out how best
to use these for maximum benefit for the children in the school. All funds
raised through these items will go directly to the school to expand their
programs and to the children to assist with some of their medical needs.
Our
final couple of days was spent in Kiev. Our goal of meeting with the NAC
did not quite work out, as our request for a meeting was granted, but
could not take place for at least 30 days. After a bit of running about,
we were able to meet with the Assistant Director and other officials of
Child and Youth services. This meeting was certainly the most rewarding
and informative of our trip. This department is scheduled to soon be
taking over the role of the NAC and hopes to make changes to actually
improve the adoption process for both Ukrainian citizens and foreigners
wishing to adopt in Ukraine.
We
had a great deal of discussion about ideas to improve the adoption
process, assist families in keeping their children (particularly special
needs children) and also improving the future possibilities of children
that can't or won't be adopted. Many of the ideas and suggestions we
presented to them were very warmly received and appreciated and we learned
much about their ideas and plans for changes and improvements. Our meeting
went better than we could have hoped for and we have agreed to continue
our discussions and to work with them to provide assistance where we can.
After
our meeting, we had the opportunity to visit a private orphanage in the
Kiev area. This was by far the best of the orphanages we had the chance to
visit.
This orphanage
receives some funding from the government, but the majority of their
funding is from a non-profit organization that works with this and one
other private orphanage. Most of the donations come from Ukrainian
business sponsors and from foreign organizations and individuals. The
orphanage is small and only houses about two dozen children. They
currently share a kitchen with a neighboring school but are in the process
of building their own kitchen. They also have plans to add a floor to
their building to double the number of children they are capable of caring
for.
Overall,
our time in Russia and Ukraine was wonderful and rewarding. Everyone we
met with was very positive and encouraging. We learned from everyone we
talked with, and feel we helped them understand our work a bit better. We
have begun relationships with many people interested in our work in
assisting orphans find homes and improving the conditions in the
orphanages for those children that remain.