Funding Education Centre for Russian Orphans

This has been a year of developments in Kitezh.  Our program to take in some children from 'ordinary' families from Moscow, and work with all our children as an integrated group greatly supports our orphaned children.  For them the first year after Kitezh, in the big world, is always the hardest.  For years we have considered and tried to develop supportive programs and networks to help our children integrate into this 'foreign' world where they tend to feel different, inferior because they don't know the social customs of their peers.  Now, we have brought the 'big world' to Kitezh, but on our terms.  There are many aspect of that outer world that we don't want to draw in.  Now our children leave knowing what to expect, how to behave, how to dress and look smart, how to just fit into the bigger world.  They also come to appreciate that they have something offer, as a result of the well rounded education of Kitezh.

All these new children have filled our houses, our school and all the disbursed classrooms to capacity.  The need for a new Educational Centre (more than just a school) has become even more urgent, and we have been looking for funds, but without much success, in these uncertain financial times.  But this summer we had the support of an architect who understood our vision, and we managed to raise enough money to start, to just lay the foundation slab for one third of a three module quite beautiful but functional building.  This is a step of faith, "boldness has genius, power and magic."

How will all this be for our younger children, what will it all mean for them?  One of the real joys of living here is to watch the development of these children, who arrive afraid of this new experience, lost and looking for help, someone to hold onto.  I think of Dasha.

She was, like all new children, very unsure, but willing to try.  Zhenya and Sergey took her into their family, their third foster child.  They reminded Alina how it had been for her when she arrived, and explained that they were about to receive another little girl.  Alina rose to that challenge, accepting and guiding her new little sister, showing her what to do every day, bringing her to join in the fun with her own friends.  Now, this lively but uncertain child, with straggly hair and an unhealthy appearance is a beautiful confident creative little girl, ready to take part in anything.  Although she was quiet when she arrived, Zhenya and Serge encouraged her natural talkative cheeky nature to emerge.  Walking down the street on a trip to Kaluga with her oldest foster child, Sasha, Zhenja simply put her hand out behind her to receive the child she heard chattering with excitement to her husband, Sergey, as they returned from a shopping trip.  The gesture looked to natural, so ordinary, yet it displayed Zhenya's extraordinary skill as a foster mother; that awareness to the child's need and how to respond appropriately.  Zhenya talks intelligently about the problems Dasha and her other children are dealing with, and how they relate to each other in this 'artificial' family.  This aspect of Kitezh, the professionalism of fostering, will remain; these new developments will hopefully greatly enhance the educational side of Kitezh, and make all this dedicated professional work much easier.  I look forward to seeing Dasha and all our children performing in a purpose-build studio, with proper lighting - not in our dining room with no stage lighting, and a pillar right in the middle of the room..  We all look forward to better, closer, equipped classrooms.  But we have a start.  After many years, the need for a warm, equipped craft workshop for the children is finally being realised.  We received a grant for the building, and some excellent donations for equipment.  This year we truly hope that our bold beginning to the Educational Centre will pay off; that by this time next year we will have one third of our dream completed and functioning - primary school classrooms and a performing arts studio!

Links:

• Our web site