Charitable “Children’s Fund”---SOS-October, 2007
07 Dec 2007

Charitable Fund index

Charitable Children's Fund, Ufa, the Republic of Bashkortostan, Russia

Let's acquaint. We know how hard it is to read long letters. Nevertheless, it is our deep request to you to read the letter up to the end. It is not often that we tell the world about ourselves so frank and open. It is quite hard to write about oneself but necessary for the fund to live and work implementing various projects for the orphan children of Russia.

The orphanage directors often ask us why there is no information about the Charitable Children's Fund in newspapers and on TV. We never advertise ourselves though we support much, as they say, the orphanages, boarding schools, students and orphanage graduates. We always answer them that we never aimed at advertising ourselves. Our true goal is to uphold orphan children. However, afterwards, and we should say we work for the ninth year already, we have realized that people should know about the work of our fund as well as about the changes the orphanages underwent, the accomplished projects and the kids we helped. It seems that we should reconsider the subject and, probably, get rid of Christian modesty.

You will ask, "What is the matter, by the way?" The thing is that after analyzing the work of the fund for all these years we have concluded that we work as a well-established organization which includes at least 10 employees who get good wages. In fact, only two of us work and have minimal wages (all people who support us know that). Besides, our translator helps us. She has no opportunity to live on the money that the fund pays her and has to work in another company as well while she translates for us in the evening. To work for the whole working day full time is our fate during all these years. For the first years of work we often had no wages at all for several months. However, we slaved away and called for help since we could not survive without a penny. As we got some money ($100-200) we just had enough to pay the bills. Sometimes we thought to quit but asked ourselves why we founded the fund then. It was created for moral uphold and financial support of orphan souls.

We should say that we started doing this work after the pastor of our church asked us about
it. We quit our previous well-paid jobs. Why do we say to kids about God's love, kindness and mercy if we quit ourselves???... And we
stayed again and again. We went on sowing the reasonable, kind and eternal forgetting about ourselves and our families.

You may ask what results we have. We just try to describe shortly our work. Everyone who visited our office knows that it reminds a storehouse of various clothes, shoes, toiletries, sports goods, toys, bags, stationary goods, books, packages of various things, which we usually deliver to orphanages since we cannot go there with no gifts for kids. We ourselves usually order, purchase, unload, distribute, draw up all the necessary papers, give kids a certain size of clothes at each group and orphanage. We always take pictures of the kids and send them to people to see everything themselves. We also need to work much with papers since bank financial and accounting reports and work connected with official and tax services and other institutions are also done by ourselves.

Besides, people often visit the fund. One of the projects is connected with orphanage graduates. They feel at home at our office. We purchased a computer and scanner for them to study. We also teach them many things. That includes cooking, living in the city, searching for various decrees and other documents connected with studying and working, laws about benefits for orphans. We teach them to learn literature including Christian books.

We invite many volunteers whom we usually meet at the airport, find flats or hotels where they can stay while they are here. We drive them to the orphanages, prepare work and projects. So, it turns that at the same time we work as the director, a driver, the manager, a teacher, an accountant, a loader, a cook, a waiter, a cleaning man, a camera man, a secretary, a care-giver and a builder - and there are only two of us over here.

The principle projects. We shall tell you about a few of them. Almost every project was started with repairs or reconstruction.

1. A mini-bakery at the orphanage of Aurgazi (the project was accomplished in 2000).
2. A shower at the orphanage of Yumaguzino (the project was accomplished in 2001).
3. A workshop and a trading class at orphanage # 9, Ufa (the project was accomplished in 2003).
4. A recreation room at the orphanage of Aurgazi (the project was accomplished in 2000).
5. Raising funds and organizing a most difficult surgery upon the vertebral column of Katya Shcherban from orphanage # 10, Ufa. The surgery was held in Novosibirsk. The fund arranged a few trips to the city to make the operation possible.
6.A sensor room at orphanage # 6, Ufa (the project was accomplished in 2004). All the necessary equipment was purchased in Saint-Petersburg.
7. Reconstruction of a bath-house, laundry and rest-rooms at the orphanage of Zilair. The laundry equipment was purchased in Moscow and Nijniy Novgorod (the project was accomplished in 2004-2005).
8. An art studio at the orphanage of Aurgazi (the project was accomplished in 2005).
9. Pen-pal project. The kids from the orphanages made pen friends with American boys and girls.
10. Mirasova Ilgina, an orphan girl from the orphanage located in the village of Petrovsk, had an opportunity to go to the USA for the summer holidays. The trip was organized by the fund under the pen pal project.
11. A pottery for blind and starblind kids at boarding school # 28, Ufa (the project was accomplished in 2006). The equipment was purchased in Moscow and Verhniy Novgorod.
12. Three children from the orphanage of Aurgazi had an opportunity to go to the USA for the summer holidays under the project "Orphans abroad" (the project was accomplished in 2006).
13.Medical room repairs at the boarding school of Voskresensk (the project was accomplished in 2007). The fund purchased a mowing machine for the orphanage.
14. A cooking room at the orphanage of Durtuli for the kids to acquire cooking experience. Purchase of equipment (the project was accomplished in 2007).
15. Organizing a trip to the USA for Mirasova Svetlana, a girl from the orphanage located in the village of Petrovsk. A very difficult surgery upon Svetlana's cleft palate was performed. The cost of such an operation is $ 75,000. The surgery for Svetlana was performed for free in the USA.
16. A computer classroom at the orphanage of Durtuli. The equipment including 8 new computers, a scanner, a copy machine and a fax machine are purchased by the fund.

At the moment the fund is implementing the project of a dentistry room for blind invalids and a summer working camp for the kids from the orphanage located in the town of Durtuli.

The above does not involve many other projects implemented by the fund where only two men work. We tell you if we describe everything it will take much more time. After we accomplished the project of computer classroom we hear interesting news. The director of one of the boarding schools also told us that they got computers as a donation from a well-established and large bank that is very popular in Bashkortostan. However, none of the computers operated. They cannot repair any. Nevertheless, the bank itself has already advertised widely its 'charitable' activities.

We asked you for help many times at hard periods during nine years of work. Thanks to God and you we always found a way out. Again we have to address you for prayerful and financial uphold due to the fact that our fund is in a critical position at the moment.

Since 2000 our fund has been constantly supported by the British organization, ARRC. They are now called ChildAid. Over the years the generosity of their supporters has allowed us to undertake, amongst other projects: the bathhouse at Ziliar, the computer classes, the ceramic workshop, the bakery and along with support from a charity called DentAid, supply the dental studio. ChildAid supporters also covered the cost of Katya's operations.

 ChildAid works in full partnership with the Fund along with a number of other partners in Russia and elsewhere. Unfortunately, at the current time, they have had to reduce the amount of money that they can send to us to cover our salaries and operating costs. However, they are still looking to obtain support for some future projects we are planning across the orphanages.

Our work takes a lot of time and strengths. We do not have an opportunity to work somewhere else since we work full time
here. Sometimes we have to work on week-ends. We often drive to orphanages. Our minimal wages fall again. It is hard to support our families, which are on the last place in our lives while we serve to orphans.

 If your hearts are open to such a request we are asking you to support our work financially and in your prayers as well.

As always we hope that the only Christian charity in Bashkortostan will go on working in its ministry supporting the orphan souls. Besides, our work allows Christians from the USA and England arrive with charitable and missionary goals in many orphanages of the Republic.

 Great Hope and Regard to all,
 Mark, Lydia

Charitable "Children's" Fund
101-50 Parxomenko St.
Ufa, Bashkortostan,
Russia, 450005
Office: (phone/fax) 7-3472-73 98 20
Website: http://deti.ufacom.ru
Email: blagoufa@ufacom.ru

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