Chernovtsy Orphan House
In March 2010 Alyona Mulyar and five orphan girls moved into the ROR House in Chernovtsy, Ukraine. The girls are Natasha, Tanya, Lyuba, Valya and Vika. They all attend a sewing trade school where they will be trained to enter the local clothing industry. Alyona is the “housemother” and is the manager of the home. The girls have a schedule of household chores that they are responsible for. Alyona and volunteer women from her church are teaching the girls to cook and learn other life skills. They provide examples and contact with productive women who live upright, successful lives.
The girls went to camps for the summer and are now back in the home. Alyona invests informal time with them as well as planned, organized time. Each evening they spend time together studying the Bible and praying. This house gives these recent graduates of local orphanages a safe place to live and the opportunity to become competent, mature adults who have the skills and the desire to live upright, productive and successful lives.
ROR – Update on the Chernovtsy House
(Click on the images above to see full size.)
On March 22, 2010 Russian Orphan Rescue, Inc. opened a girl’s house in Chernovtsy. The house is the result of years of planning and looking by Pat Day and Alyona Mulyar, the resident “housemother”. There are now five orphan girls in the house, Tanya, Vila, Valya, Luba and Natasha. They are all recent orphanage graduates.
ROR provides food and shelter as well as training in basic life skills which are not taught in the orphanages. These include skills such as cooking, housekeeping, personal hygiene and instruction in Christian living. The girls also attend trade schools provided by the government to prepare them for employment.
Their stay in the home will expose them to good adult role models and successful families to give them the opportunity to become compentent, mature adults who will have the skills and the desire to live upright, productive and successful lives.
Report on Trip to Russia and Ukraine, February 2010
Between Feb. 3 and Feb. 16, 2010, ROR Directors, Bill Polley and Patrick Day visited Lipetsk, the Petrov Farm, Ryazan and Moscow in Russia. In Ukraine, they visited Chernovtsy. The purpose of the trip was to visit the people we work with, view the ministries as they are occurring, plan for the future and address some problem areas.
Lipetsk, Russia – ROR does not have an actual ministry here but we do have many friends here who are connected with people involved in ROR ministries elsewhere. Lipetsk Bible Church is a partnership church with Sierra Bible Church. We were there for its 6th anniversary celebration. It is involved with orphans as one of its outreaches, including the Supazhoke Orphanage where they put on a Christmas program which ROR financed. This church is thriving and consists of an outstanding group of committed Christians in their 20′s and 30′s. They are and will be a valuable connection for ROR in the future.
Petrov’s Farm and the Supazhoke Orphanage – While at Petrov’s we visited the Supazhoke Orphanage. The Petrovs go there every Sunday and put on a program for the kids. The graduates of the orphanage who call the Petrov’s Farm home plan and present these programs under the supervision of the Petrovs. We also visited our home in Supazhoke. It is in good shape and the remodel could be finished this Summer if we can raise the money. $15,000 should allow us to finish the inside.
Ryazan Apartment – We spent one night at the apartment. We found it clean and everything in good order. Arina Poley, an orphan who is now the “housemother” under the supervision of Nina Petrova, is doing a very good job and is definitely our poster child.
Chernovtsy, Ukraine – We spent two nights at the Mulyar family apartment plus a night in a van getting there because our flight from Kiev was cancelled. We have many friends there, including our host, Alyona Mulyar and Sergey Romanyuk, the Young Life Director for Ukraine and neighboring countries. We visited the house that they were able to rent for ROR. They are not quite done preparing it for the four orphan girls who will live there under Alyona’s supervision. Sergey is in charge of the project and both are enthusiastic. The house has two bedrooms, a living room, kitchen and bathroom. There is a large unfinished attic with good potential for a group meeting room. The house is in a good neighborhood and close to a bus line. At $300/month it seems close to perfect for our project. Alyona will live there with the girls. She will also have help from Natasha, an oprhan who lives at the Young Life club house.
Russian Statistics
There are approximately 15,000 children that leave orphanages each year once they finish the 9th grade. They are usually 16-18 years old.
Of these children:
- 50% – fall into a high-risk category (ie. prostitution)
- 40% – become drug users
- 40% – commit crimes
- 10% – commit suicide
Only 10% of Russian orphans adapt to somewhat “normal” lives in Russia.
Source: Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation as shown on the website www.iOrphan.org.
