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Show Page 12 THE OGDEN VALLEY NEWS Volume X Issue II May 1, 2004 Utahans Go the Extra Mile to Aid Underprivileged Children in Kostroma Russia Compiled by Shanna Francis Ogden Valley News The Utah-Russia Institute based at Utah Valley State College (UVSC) in Orem has been promoting Utah-Russian relations for over ten years. They are currently working with the well respected Russian non-profit organization Charity Fund “Resurrection” in the Kostroma region. Charity Fund “Resurrection” was officially founded in 2001. However, humanitarian work by the organization began long before it was officially registered with the Russian government. Charity Fund president Peter Shpanchenko, along with Father George from the local Russian Orthodox Church, started receiving humanitarian aid in 1991. Kostroma Orphan Center. Charity Fund has worked with many respected international humanitarian organizations such as the Norwegian Red Cross; the Irish Historical Society, and the Ireland based Aid for Chernobyl Sufferers; the Russian Orthodox Church abroad; as well as with German and American Government support departments. These organizations have donated everything from clothing and general hygiene products, to children’s food and medical equipment. Their contributions primarily aid children in the region and are distributed to people according to the specifications of each individual organization. Financial assistance for repairing children’s hospitals and orphanage has also been received in the past. In October 2003, Charity Fund “Resurrection” hosted the Utah dental humanitarian group Share-A-Smile. Charity Fund organized the transportation, accommodations, working facility, and scheduling of patients for the 21 dental professionals and support staff who participated in the project. In the five days the dental professionals were in Kostroma, the group treated approximately 160 individuals, performing everything from sealants and fillings to root canals and cosmetic build-ups. Share-ASmile also contributed dental hygiene products, blankets, and toys, which the president of Charity Fund, Peter Shpanchenko, personally delivered to regional orphanages and children’s shelters. Since processing shipments through Russian customs is a major hurdle for many charitable organization, the expertise and integrity expressed by the Charity Fund “Resurrection” in doing this has enabled long-awaited aid to reach those in need. Most recently, Charity Fund “Resurrection” has begun a relationship with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ Humanitarian Services of Utah, which plans on sending 200 shipping containers of humanitarian aid to the Kostroma region in the near future. While still working on receiving and distributing humanitarian aid throughout the Kostroma region, Charity Fund “Resurrection” has also begun a new endeavor, that of establishing the Kostroma Regional Orphan Social Integration Center. The Center will help orphans, neglected children, and children from low-income families to find a better quality of life through psychological, practical educational, and material assistance in the hope of preventing at-risk children from ending up on the streets where, in order to survive, they often become prostitutes and criminals. The Utah-Russia center at UVSC is striving to help with the development of the Orphan Social Integration Center. The Center will create and maintain the “Family Adaptation” program, preparing orphans to live productively in society upon leaving the orphanage. To begin, 40 5o 50 orphans will be separated into created “families.” Each “family” will have two primary caregiver (a “mom” and “dad”), a separate living facility, their own budget, rules, and specific jobs with the “family,” such as food preparation, cleaning, and laundry. Since living in a family unit helps to build skills from home management, and family members expect mutual respect and responsibility from each member, a family unit remains one of the best ways to aid children as they make the transition from the orphanage into society. The Center will enlist the support and help of Utah Valley State College and Brigham Young University’s departments of Family Home, and Social Science Departments, providing work-study projects for their university students to participate in. The Center will also create and maintain the “Master-Apprentice” program, providing opportunities for the at-risk young adults to learn practical trade skills while receiving a specialized high school education. The orphans and at-risk youth will work side by side with skilled craftsmen as apprentices while learning practical business skills, earning wages, and paying taxes as society requires. Graduates will then either enter institutions of higher learning or continue to work and live for a fixed amount of years in their “family” unit until they can live on their own in society. The UVSC School of Technical Trades and Industry Department will also participate in this work-study project. On a visit to Kostroma in January of 2004, Deputy Director of the Utah-Russia Institute Amy Barnett met with the mayor of Kostroma City, Irina Pereverzeva,; Deputy Governor, Valery Kolsanov; and Governor of the Kostroma District, Victor Shershunov. They all expressed their appreciation for the aid offered, and their desire for a prolonged partnership of goodwill with the state of Utah. UVSC is also helping Charity Fund “Resurrection” with their planned ServiceLearning program by providing English teachers at orphanages and at the Children’s Center. An ability to speak English will greatly enhance the marketability of these orphans as they prepare to enter society and its work force. In return, students from UVSC will be provided an opportunity to learn about a new culture while on work study programs in Kostroma. The Utah—Russia program is looking for financial and material donations to help continue and develop these programs in the Center will focus on helping orphaned, neglected, and low-income children find a better quality of life through psychological, practical educational, and material assistance. The Center will contain a dental clinic, cultural hall, vocational and technical skills training facilities, a shop to sell goods produced at the Center, class rooms, kitchen and dining facility, and beds for temporary housing. In addition, funds are being accepted that will be used to higher the English teacher at the center at a cost of $1,800 for one year’s salary. The Utah-Russia center is also collecting paperback books from all reading levels that can be used to establish a library of English books at the center. If you can make a financial donation to any of these Russian projects, please make check payable to UTAH-RUSSIA INSTITUTE, and mail to: UTAH-RUSSIA INSTITUTE UTAH VALLEY STATE COLLEGE 800 WEST UNIVERSITY PARKWAY OREN UT 84058 If you have any paperback books or scouting supplies you can donate, please call Shanna Francis at 745-2688 or at 791-4387 before May 9. For more information, you can call the Utah-Russia Institute at (801) 863-8897. Please note on your check that the donation is for the “Russian Projects.” You may also specify which project you wish the contribution to be applied to, i.e., the teacher’s salary, educational supplies, scouting equipment, or construction costs. Kostroma Scouts at 2003 summer camp. Kostroma region of Russia. They are currently raising funds to reconstruct an existing building in the center of Kostroma that was donated to the Charity Fund “Resurrection” by the local government. The building will become the Kostroma District Orphan Integration Center. The The city of Kostroma is located in the center of the Kostroma region, and is situated about 340 kilometers northeast of Moscow. It was founded in 1152 where the Kostroma river meets the Volga river. Approximately 288,000 people live in Kostroma. |