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| Our early morning trek to school this past Saturday. |
Problem: Aside from some drawings the children made, there is not artwork or wall decor in most of the rooms at the orphanage. The bedrooms are particularly dreary. Solution: I'm thinking of contacting my favorite photographers on flickr to each send one inspiring photo to the orphanage that they can then hang up on the wall!
Problem: The kids don't feel especially loved or 'remembered'. Solution: I am making a brief call to the orphanage every day and asking to speak to a different child each time I call. Already started!
Problem: The children want to learn English but, no offence, the teacher at the school is really not qualified. Solution: Seeing if I can get Rosetta Stone to donate 2-3 sets of their English language program and convince the orphanage therapist to allow some kids access to the one orphanage computer to practice.
Problem: The children have no clean water to drink and therefore drink no water AT ALL! Solution: See if I can find enough people to donate so that I could set up a weekly delivery of fresh water to each group that they can access whenever they want. My friend Svetlana gets a giant container of water delivered to her apartment there every week, so I know it's do-able.
Problem: The children have no working knowledge of the outside world. Geography is foreign to them. Solution: In an effort to widen their scope, I want to see if I can get some big colorful globes and maps donated, perhaps get a church to take on the project.
Oops! Gotta run! More to come!
"No clean water" makes it sound as if they have dirty water. Perhaps purification would be cheaper and more efficient than having water delivered. Filters? Distillation? Where does their water come from and what makes it undrinkable?
ReplyDeleteIf you know someone who has a subscription to National Geographic Magazine, they probably have stacks of maps - world, regional, thematic maps are sent out in the magazine to subscribers
ReplyDeletequarterly. Or you might check with a local library. Lots of libraries no longer keep maps as it's easier for patrons to use a computer.
Also, have you though about contacting the one laptop, one child program? They might be amiable to your purchasing a couple of their 100 dollar laptops for the orphanage. They are designed to be used by those in similar conditions as these children.
I forgot to mention that the laptop comes with a webcam and can be used for Skyping.
ReplyDeleteI will try to incorporate some of your ideas into the letters I mail. A large brown envelope with quite a lot of pages was less than $3. I'll work on it Kari.
ReplyDeleteOdie
Oh and I also printed off the picture of the children standing outside in the cold and have it on the wall of my desk at work to constantly remind me of them.
ReplyDeleteOdie
Dave, here is a little info on what they are dealing with:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-11390.html
I nkow, speaking to friends who live there, that water cannot be drunk in the region without boiling. But even that is useless. THe chemicals and pollutants that have been dumped into their water supply over the decades is massive, and it also happens to be the most polluted region in Russia in terms of air quailty too. I coughed up dark stuff pretty regularly. Cleaned coal soot off my windows every day, and I wont even tell you what the bathtub looked like after we bathed every night. Horrible.
How about sponsoring a child for lunches through out the year? Is there someone who could bring lunches to the school for the kids to eat? That is just heartbreaking to me...
ReplyDeleteThanks Odie, you're such a blessing! And Amy, I'm going to *try* to convince the staff of the merits of this. The director, and she's right,. will not start anything that cannot be supported long-term, bc it just leads to letdowns for the kids. This is something that may take till February to accomplish, as I know I'll have to have a face to face meeting with them to convince them when we have the funds!
ReplyDeleteoops! And Hedgetoad...GREAT idea! I'll add that to my To-Do list. It's getting Pretty long...yikes!
ReplyDeleteWow, I would be really interested in sponsoring a child's lunches. I'll be keeping an eye out to see if that comes up in the future. :)
ReplyDeleteI just happen to know someone who works in the public health field, specializing in potable water for developing nations. I sent him an email, asking if he has any suggestions for low-cost, low-tech purification. We shall see.
ReplyDeleteThese are wonderful ideas. I would gladly donate some of my photography (mostly of nature) to the cause. How would you like them printed? Matted? Cheap frames?
ReplyDeleteI would be interested in sponsoring a child for lunches as well.
ReplyDeleteUnless the request comes from a non-profit, few companies will be willing to make donations. However, some are very happy to do so once that requirement is met. We can talk more about this when I'm out your way.
ReplyDeleteThat's probably the only way the child lunch idea will work. Individually sponsoring one child at a time isn't fair unless we can find sponsors for all of them, and we'd need to be sure that the sponsorship would continue. Perhaps we can find out what it would cost to cover all the orphanage kids for one year and pull those finds together in time for the next school year. If we can guarantee support for the entire year by having all the funds ready at the start of the school year, would the director ok the plan? Having a number and a date can make raising the funds for subsequent years a lot easier as well.
How about "phone English" for the students who are more advanced? That's one of my part-time jobs, and interestingly enough, the founder of the company I work for AND (coincidentally) his second in command, are both adopted. They decided to set up a phone-English program at an orphanage in Korea.
ReplyDeleteKeri — what do you think of the One Laptop Per Child idea? BTW, they are $200, not $100. And designed to be used in remote areas. We'd need an in with OLPC — but I bet I have the connections to find us a way in. And we could raise the money, or much of it, instead of relying on OLPC to "pick" this orphanage for their program. (I'm sure they have a lot of kids on their list of where they want to go next.)
ReplyDeleteIf we raised $2,000, we could buy 10 laptops. $6,000 would buy 30 laptops. Would that be worth it? Would it makes sense in their world to have 10 or 30 laptops? I feel like 10 would barely make a dent. 50 would be better. Would they be taken care of? Is there anyone at the orphanage who would be able to figure these out and teach everyone how to use them?
Check out what these laptops are — they are not your regular PCs. http://laptop.org/en/laptop/index.shtml In order to get the cost down, they work differently.
Ping me to talk about it more, would you?
Verrrryyyy good ideas!!! What do they drink if not water?? Tea?? Coffee?
ReplyDeleteI don't know what our Dd drank at the orphanage, but I'm guessing the city water. She had a parasite that was not a common one we were told when she was tested after getting her home. It def. improved things once that parasite was killed off!! So I'm supposing it came from contaiminated water.
Having a non profit set up helps everyone because it reduces the hard dollar outgo and individual contributors are more likely to give more if there is a tax benefit.
ReplyDeleteThere are 100 children but how many are in school? What is the cost of a lunch for a day? That will give you a starting point. I say go for it and get it going for after their winter break. Even if it begins as the kids get lunch every friday. Can you set a poll up on this site? That would give you a chance to do some pre-calculations.
I can help you with the calculation if I get the numbers.
Please find out about school lunches ... how many children are going to school and what does it cost for each for the entire school year? I also find the current situation heartbreaking. I agree that it should be a project to fund each child ... no child left behind.
ReplyDeleteI must get ready for work but will email and ask other specific questions.
All the best getting Daniel's dossier ready.
Maria(Canada)
I'm thinking we could solve the ugly bedrooms and the lack of world maps in one fell swoop. All I can find is this: http://www.tgt.ru/maps/world/big/world.gif But I'd be willing to purchase and ship 2 large maps of the world, in Russian. It would be cool if they were laminated, but maybe that's asking too much. Anyone know of a place to get such a thing? Or can they be purchased in Moscow? I'm up for paying for them, just think they should be in Russian, not English.
ReplyDeleteA non-profit would be great. :) Hubby and I get to make individual choices about where our giving from our businesses go, but I feel like I'm being a little bit irresponsible from a tax avoidance perspective since I've chosen a cause that isn't deductible. Creating a non-profit would be SUPER!
ReplyDeleteI'd be interested in the school lunch sponsorship thing, too...
ReplyDeleteI'm noticing in this picuture the children aren't wearing mittens. Is this a need too?
ReplyDeletePlease tell us all you can.
Maria(Canada)
Can the art be just about anything? I work with an artist of very lovely, colorful works...I dunno as she'd be willing to do a special piece for the kids (but knowing her, yes) but what we do with her art is PRINT it for various items (greeting cards, etc.) - so there is TONS of material right here on my computer. And we get proofs of all the art/cards, every time. Those probably get tossed. They're the size of greeting cards but they are gorgeous and fun and there are a *lot* of them...d'you think they'd enjoy those? I'd just send 'em anyway but might need to explain what they are for, briefly. Can someone help with the Russian, or will someone there translate a note?
ReplyDeleteagain, I have a girl that i use on ebay that will personal shop over in ukraine. she charges a small fee and ships it.said she can do Russia.......
ReplyDeletecreative_master is her ebay id. message her. she is also on FB but responds more readily to ebay. she has sent things to two children we know in a ukrainian prphanage for two years.....toothbrushes, candy, fruit, you name it
Dear Keri, the Russian magazine Starhit would like to write your story about an adoption of the Russian girl. About it would learn even more person and could help you and further. Please, give to us your e-mail that we could communicate with you. Our e-mail redactor@regit.ru We will wait very much
ReplyDeleteIdea 1: artwork is really needed. The flickr idea is good and could help with the understanding of the outside world (i.e. geography).
ReplyDeleteIdea 2: being loved or remembered. That is a tough one. Consistent letters and phone calls and actual visits from people who love them is the key to their future. This creates an image of self in a child who would otherwise not have any. Church groups sending gifts and letters is also another option
Idea 3: learning English is the ticket to having an opportunity. Having used and in the process of currently using Rossetta Stone that is the best option.
Idea 4: The water cannot be purified. Bottled water from another part of the world is the only option. Even rain water is poisoned from the pollution. The air and water is full of lead, mercury and other carcinogens that would make the EPA turn the place into a hazard zone. Just like most of the world these kids are dehydrated all of the time. This affects behavior and how well they do in school. The weekly delivery is the best option.
Idea 5: someone else said this but this could be done in one swoop with a large package of national geographic maps. It would also be nice to have someone visit and teach them about the 'outside'.
Setting up a non-profit makes sense at this point. Donations could be designated for the ideas above or put into a general fund. Start small and expand from there. Get good at one idea and then go from there. There is momentum and I am VERY willing to help any way I can. Our daughter comes from the same orphanage and was one of the few that were adopted with Anastasia. We are compelled by God to do everything we can. I am here to witness to those who have not see it with there own eyes that these children need us.