Volunteer Opportunity - Paid Trip to Russia

[Elena Gapova]

It is not the calling to volunteers that seems disturbing, but the fact that
knowledge of Russian, or experience working with orphans, is not required.
Almost like "anything goes"...

e.g.

-----Original Message-----
From: Slavic & East European Languages and Literature list
[mailto:SEELANGS at LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU]On Behalf Of Alina Israeli
Sent: Wednesday, January 19, 2005 11:47 PM
To: SEELANGS at LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU
Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] Volunteer Opportunity - Paid Trip to Russia


>I agree. It sounds naive at best and potentially a call for paedophiles at
>worst. Are there really no local volunteers available in Russia who could
be
>vetted and provide this service of cuddling babies and children?

In order to volunteer one has to not be in need of money. For the
past two decades foreigners were allowed to come and volunteer for
severely disabled people. Some of those volunteers were occasionally
profiled in Russian press.

The statistics for orphans in Russia is very severe. A few years ago
we were talking about one million children (in a country of less than
150 million). The adoption laws have been changed a couple of times
during the last decade. Now foreigners can adopt non-adoptable
children, that is either sick or too old to be adopted by Russians
(who usually adopt newborn babies, although not nearly as often as in
the US). Foster families do not exist as a system. One Omsk orphanage
recently adopted an excellent idea: week-end family. Those who cannot
adopt (single or too old) or do not want to adopt have a child over
for a week-end. But those young and adoptable actually still have no
parents. And many unadoptable do not have either.

Most of my information comes from my own volunteer work as
interpreter for an organization called Kidsave which is not an
adoption agency (but introduces children to families who are
interested in adopting older children or children with birth defects,
hair lip, for ex.). Once I had to translate for a director of a Dom
maljutki - baby orphans. I'll spare you the gruesome details.

Yes, volunteers are needed, orphanages are understaffed, and the
staff have their own families to care for. I saw maybe a few dozen
kids get a new family, which is a drop in the bucket. Kidsave worked
not only with Russia but also with Kazakhstan and Moldova to my
knowledge.

Keep in mind that there is no tradition of volunteering in Russia.

So there is nothing terribly suspicious about calling to potential
volunteers. I've heard of Russian language students spending summers
in Russia working for orphanages (probably for free). If you like
children, it's a worthwhile endeavor.

--
__________
Alina Israeli
LFS, American University
4400 Mass. Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20016

phone:	(202) 885-2387
fax:	(202) 885-1076

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