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AT LAST!

We have our Charity Registration Number 1094153

...and while we are on the subject we would like to extend our warm thanks to our committee for their tireless, behind-the-scenes, efforts over the past year in achieving this goal. Without their perseverence and determination, often thwarted by unexpected obstacles placed in their way, we would surely not have succeeded.

St Petersburg - October 2002

Ken, Dave and Peter recently flew out to St Petersburg on a survey trip to the hospital. There they met with Alla Karpenko, the head of the Radiology and Diagnostic despartments, Doctor Okunev, the head of the hospital, and Edward, the maintenance manager. They also visited the Orphan House at Kingisepp and were dismayed at what they found. What follows is their report.

As you know, the hospital had asked us to help with the construction of a new entrance porch with a ramp to provide wheelchair access. We had plans drawn up by Bob Muir, who most of you know, but at the end of a long drawn-out meeting it was decided to put the project on hold for the time being. Apparently, the planning procedures and permissions required to change the appearance of the building's facade could take as long as two years.

This took the wind out of our sails and left us with less to do than expected. Consequently, we spent our second day touring various hospital departments in search of alternative projects suitable for our volunteers which could take the place of the cancelled project. The hospital made the following suggestions: -

1. Fixing a dado rail around the Radiology Department to embellish last year's decorating.
2. Furnishing the 'Mother's Room' in the Outpatients Department which they have decorated themselves. This requires cash to buy furniture, but would provide no work for us. Neither is it within our brief.
3. Build new toilets and a shower in the Outpatients Department, a proposal warmly greeted by the staff, who we then discovered would be the sole users of these facilities. The children's toilets, halfway down the corridor, are tiled and in good condition, although they could do with a good clean.
4. Continue tiling the floors from where we left off last year. We were offered funds for this to help with the materials, but we felt that this was a cosmetic exercise and not beneficial to the children.
5. Alla Karpenko suggested that if we ran out of work, and were standing around with nothing to do, we could re-decorate some of the rooms in her department. Once again, a purely cosmetic exercise.

The third floor, where the Intensive Care Unit, Ear Nose & Throat Department, and the Physiotherapy and Optical Departments are located, is also being renovated next year, so they couldn't offer us anything to do there either. Overall, we felt that with the postponement of our entrance porch project, the hospital couldn't really offer us another project worthy of our specific skills, in the best interests of the children, and most critically, in time for next year's trip.

After we left St Petersburg we visited the Orphan House at Kingisepp. After seeing the appalling conditions in which the children live, we decided that their needs are greater than those of the hospital. We spent three days there, meeting and talking with the staff and children. It didn't take us long to reach the conclusion that for our next trip, our efforts should be concentrated on restoring some semblance of dignity and well-being to the lives of these unfortunate children.

We will return to the hospital in 2004 if there is work for us to do.

About the Orphanage

The kingisepp school orphan house no.2 is some 90 miles from St Petersburg close to the Estonian border. We visited them about four years ago and were struck by the almost total absence of anything likely to brighten up the dull, deprived lives of the children. Consequently, two years ago Ken took out a truck-load of clothes and toys to help make their lives more comfortable. (See 'Santa's Ark" Newslettter, December 2000.) Since then we have remained in regular contact.

There are currently 66 children living at the Orphanage, boys and girls aged between 10 and 19 years old. The older ones are waiting to take their place in society, maybe lodging in a room somewhere locally, or perhaps just waiting to join the army, which is still compulsory in Russia. Either way, there is little work available for them in the area. If they are bright enough and lucky enough they may be accepted at college for further education. A high percentage of them don't know their fathers, some have mothers who can't afford to support them, others know neither parent and have endured the deprivation of the orphanage system since birth. Some of them have been sexually abused, some physically abused, while others have simply been neglected and discarded - unwanted by their alcoholic parents.

What can we do?

Perhaps we should change that to 'What we can do!' as the first thing that struck us, almost physically, was the state of the toilets. Out of a total of eight, six were boarded up as unusable and the remaining two were broken (see pics below and overleaf). There are no walls between the W.C.s and no doors to provide any privacy, the washbasin taps and waste pipes are either broken or corroded beyond repair: and critically, except for a badly stained footbath, there are no baths or working showers. As we understand it the girls are allowed one bath a week at the local town baths. Nothing was said about facilities for the boys.

In addition to the appalling state of the plumbing, urgent repairs are also needed for the roof, the entrance steps, decoration of the childrens' rooms and tiling replacement on walls and floors. Outside the main building, help is required to repair or replace their perimeter fencing, their climbing frames and their garden, all of which were badly damaged in the recent severe storm. We could also help them clear a space for a football/netball pitch.

Above: the terrible condition of the two working toilets.

Despite their atrocious conditions, the children are remarkably cheerful, displaying an incredible degree of resilience. But their main problem is boredom. They have a table-tennis table (we took it out 2 years ago) and a sparsely equipped gymnasium, but their outdoor equipment was also ruined by the storm. However, they do have something to look forward to - the advent of a teenage adventure playground. Martin Hartley has been hard at work planning this scheme. Together with his team, he intends using trees from the nearby forest for the structures, but he will need to take out tools and fittings from the UK to get the job done. Martin has done a deal with Playdale for the materials and together with Dave Coley he will drive out to Kingisepp in our van to start work. This also means we will have our own transport available during our stay.

Left: an example of the leaking and badly corroded pipework. Centre: an example of one they repaired earlier! Right: what was once a shower facility

It is the children's dream to go to the seaside, so we are hoping to hire a bus and take them for a day beside the Baltic Sea, which is only 30 minutes away from Kingisepp. The River Luga is only 300 metres from the Orphanage - a lot of the boys are keen to go fishing - so we'd appreciate all you hardened fishermen raking out your old unused rods and reels etc. so the lads can catch their supper.

On our last night we distributed presents to the children - gifts that had been collected by Dave Doran, his family and friends - books, pencils,pens, geometry sets, a couple of footballs etc - and some letters written by Liverpool children to the children of Kingisepp. We also gave each of them a new T-shirt printed with 'Kingisepp' and our website address. The whole affair delighted them and they were truly grateful for their presents. But you should have seen the joy on their faces when we told them we were returning in 2004. Little did we know then that we will be returning a year earlier.

Conclusions

Through Mr Michael Krupinov, our interpreter, we learned at our last meeting with Ms Rimma Zharkova, the Orphanage director, and her senior staff, that the state provides between E50 and E80 (euros) a year - less than fifty pounds! - for maintenance. Not nearly enough to execute regular repairs on such a large and well-used building.

So, you can see that a ton of cash and a deal of effort is urgently needed. We would like to raise £15,000.00 which is our estimate on what will be needed to carry out the priority much-needed repairs. The quicker the cash is raised, the sooner the job can be done and the sooner these kids can start living decently - like we do!

When do we go?

The trip will take place between June 13th - June 21st 2003

The costs

Total costs per person for the above 10 days will be £450.00. This will include British Airways flights from Heathrow, visas, insurance and transfer travel to and from the orphanage at Kingisepp. Accommodation will be proivided in the childrens' comfortable. but basic twin rooms with breakfast and lunch provided.

For those of you who want more home comforts, there is a pleasant, small hotel close by, but it can only accommodate about 12 people. The modest additional cost is £10.00 per person per night for a single/twin room on a first-come first-serve basis. If this appeals to you, be sure to let us know in good time for us to confirm a booking.

As 2003 is the Tercentenary of the City of St Petersburg we have had many requests from volunteers who would like to stay on for an extra 5 days until 27th June to enjoy the festivities and do some sight-seeing. For those interested, the additional cost for volunteers will be £124.00 per person sharing a twin room, or £220.00 per person for a single room. These hotel prices are a little higher than last year because of the 'White Nights' period and the Tercentenary Celebrations. We will need to know A.S.A.P. exactly how many of you would like to stay on for the extra days, so let us know when you send in your deposits, so that we can confirm flight and hotel bookings.

Payment

A (non-refundable) deposit of £50.00 must be received by Friday 10th January 2003.
The balance to be paid by Friday 11th April 2003 - without fail!

NB: These payment deadlines are critical this year! As this year, restrictions imposed by tour operators have changed.

Don't miss the boat!

This year, there is an increased demand for places now that we have decided to go to the orphanage. Some of you have friends who would like to come with us, so please send us their details A.S.A.P. so that we can send them the required forms.

Flight times

Seats have been booked with British Airways for: -

13th June Departure - take off 09.55am - London, Heathrow

21st June Return - landing 17.55pm - London, Heathrow

NB: For those wishing to stay over for the extra 5 days.

27th June Return - landing 17.55pm - London, Heathrow

Work to be done...

We have put forward proposals for repairs to the Orphanage and we'll fill you in with details nearer to our departure date. Right now all trades are welcome - anyone who can wield a paintbrush - plumbers, electricians, carpenters, tilers, labourers - or most importantly, anyone who can make a decent cup of tea!

... and cash to do it!

We need to raise a good deal of money to enable us to buy the materials needed to complete the necesssary work and, as we said earlier, we are aiming at £15,000.00. I'm afraid we can't go without it, but the ball is rolling and we've had our first donation of £1000.00.

For those of you who can't make the trip this year, how about raising some cash - say £50.00 or so - to help with the purchase of much needed clothing - underwear, shoes, towels and toiletries etc. The basics - they need the lot!

We are looking for a pub football game and a pool table. If anyone knows where there is one going spare, let us know. Also, any cartoon, film or karaoke videos which might be understandable to the kids will be appreciated.

... and finally

¥ Our website www.komsokids.org.uk is currently being updated with new pages. Let us know if there is anything you're doing - fundraising events etc - and we will add the information to our web so that everyone can lend their support. And don't forget to visit our guest book page to sign in!

¥ New database forms, which now include details of our child protection policy, will be sent out to all those going on our June 2003 trip. New sponsorship forms are also available.

PS Thanks to all of you who have offered your help both at home and in Russia.

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