Week 3 & Russian Village

I haven't been able to write any updates for a while but it's a good thing because I've been really busy and having a good time :)

Let's see ….. Tuesday morning my group headed to the children's shelter and was really looking forward to spending time with all the kids we'd met the previous week. However, we became all too familiar with the social system that these children are in the middle of… there were significantly fewer children on this trip than the previous time and we were told that those kids had been sent to the orphanage; their parent's rights had been terminated and the children would no longer have any contact with them - this included Amalia and Alania. Even more shockingly, was the fact that about an hour after I arrived, one of the little girls we'd been playing with (Larissa) was actually taken to the orphanage. She was playing on the playground, went inside with one of the staff members and emerged a few minutes later with a small grocery bag filled with her clothes and maybe a toy and was waving saying, "Good-bye! I'm going to the orphanage!" - while it was a little reassuring to see that she wasn't in tears leaving, there's no way she could understand what that meant. Although all of these children are now available for adoption, they all range in age from about 4-7, not exactly prime adoption age - especially in a place like Russia where there is an abundance of orphans and so few families willing to adopt. (3 of the children taken are siblings and would need to be adopted together - further decreasing their liklihood of being taken by a family)

I asked the translator who I was working with what would happen to these children now and she said that if they are not adopted, they will remain in the orphanage until they are 18 years old, at which time the State helps them find a job and a place to live; the state also pays for their apartment until they are 23 years old and then they are cut off from all financial assistance. While it's a far from perfect system and I am not close to knowing all of the details of either the U.S. or Russian child welfare systems, it seems like they are doing the best they are able for these children. It's apparent that the real root of this problem is alcohol; almost every child in the shelter (if not all of them) are there because one or both of their parents are alcoholics and either abuse or neglect their children. Until this issue can be addressed, there seems to be little that the social system can do for the thousands of children who are left in these terrible situations.

Besides being upset about the children being taken to the orphanage, I wanted to still make my time there the best it could be for the remaining children. There is one little girl in particular who really, really stole my heart - Amolia, probably around 3 years old I think… she took a barbie from the toy bag, gave me one and that was it! Here we are together!! played with the barbies, puppets, colored and she even found a toy necklace and was trying to put it on me! Even more, when it was time for us to leave, she gave me a hug and was running after our van waving and yelling… it was just amazing how much these children just want someone to love them and play with them. They've had such a difficult time in their short lives but are still just happy children-so happy to have someone spend time with them.

Wednesday, July 7 - this morning my group went to the women's hospital for some more crafts and games and in the afternoon our cultural excursion was to a traditional Russian village. After about an hour drive outside of Yaroslavl, we arrived in a tiny village, which is apparently very typical of "traditional" Russian life. Seriously, talk about the middle of NOWHERE!! There was literally NOTHING around - no stores, no gas stations… NOTHING! All of the buildings were built between 180-300 years and were surrounded by dirt roads. first went into the museum where the host gave the group the traditional welcome of tea (and cookies :). After a brief history of the village we went to the 2nd floor of the museum, where it had been decorated as a 19th century village home would have been, complete with Russian village costumes …. yes, I did dress up like a Russian peasant :) We walked down to the river where some people went on a 'boat ride' (3 people in a row boat) and some people were brave enough to actually JUMP in the river!! While it looked like a fun time and I know it was an experience they'd never forget, I have to admit that I opted out to be the photographer for the river swimmers :)

Returning to Yaroslavl around 7pm, me and a few other volunteers decided to go out and enjoy the evening with a nice stroll around downtown Yaroslavl and along the Volga embankment.... you know, just my standard Russian life.