Russian Missions in Orphanages

Entry 5 Russian Mission Blog

The Building:

The children’s center in Tel’ch’e is a large white single story cinderblock building split into 2 parts. The main part is for the children who live there, the other is a small kindergarden. Our first trip was in 1998 and we installed/painted the playground equipment that still exists today. Most of our early trips consisted of painting (with lead-based paint, unfortunately) playground equipment or the outside of the building. But this did very little in the way of helping take care of the needs of the children. By 2004, when we traveled with a sizable group, the floor was full of holes, the windows were broken, the heating system did not work and the beds the children were sleeping in were rotting. During the winter the children would all sleep in one room together to keep warm. Our group decided to pitch in and start with the heating system. The problems were many:

1) Neither of the pump motors worked

2) The contactors were falling apart

3) The piping was corroded

4) The thermostats and pressure relief valve did not work (very dangerous!!!)

We tallied up the total $ to get it repaired and everyone chipped in. Valya made sure that the work got done with the funds we left behind. In March the following year, I got a note from her saying that everything worked out and that the children stayed warm all winter. The next year when I returned, it was time to fix the remaining holes in the floor that the children were falling through. Valya let me know that the state takes care of the basic needs like food and medicine, but with the upkeep of the center, they are on their own. So we took care of the flooring, doors and windows. My goal for the future is to work in the bathroom where the piping and facilities need to be completely replaced.

The heater pumps we purchased in 2005.

The new hot water heaters we purchased in 2005.

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