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<h1><em>NEWS</em></h1>
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<h1 id="pagetitle"><!-- InstanceBeginEditable name="HeadlineRegion" --> <strong>Wired!
New Computer Lab for Nikolsky Orphanage</strong> <!-- InstanceEndEditable --><br />
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<p>The current director of the Nikolsky
Orphanage (Leningrad region), Yuri
Yevdokimov, is much more than an advocate
for children or an administrator with
a big heart. Having grown up
at the very orphanage he now runs,
Mr. Yevdokimov assesses the childrens'
needs from the ultimate insider's perspective. </p>
<p> Of
the 80 children at the orphanage today,
only 8 have no living parents, while
the rest are so called "social
orphans," either rescued by the
state from abusive environments or
abandoned by their parents. All
of them, without exception, experience
acute loneliness and many make up excuses
as to why their parents do not visit
on holidays. As a child, Mr.
Yevdokimov used to explain away his
mother's absence saying she was in
Antarctica on business. A friend
of his related that his father was
wounded while apprehending a criminal
and could not come because he was in
the hospital. The orphans would
habitually stare out the window at
the bus stop, hoping against hope that
today would be the day that their mother
or father would come for them. </p>
<p> <img src="images/wired1.jpg" width="468" height="366" hspace="5" vspace="5" align="right">It
is not surprising that Mr. Yevdokimov
emphasizes the need for orphanages
to cultivate volunteers to go and spend
time with the children, write letters,
send birthday cards, and somehow make
them feel special. In today's
climate, however, most people are indifferent
and worried about their own problems. Unfortunately,
this attitude tends to reinforce the
orphans' feelings of inferiority and
lack of societal acceptance, generating
deep fears about aging out of the orphanage.</p>
<p> These
children grapple with varying combinations
of ailments that include heart problems,
hearing and visual impairment, intestinal
problems, poor motor skills, and developmental
delays. Only 4 of the 80 youngsters
at the orphanage today are fully healthy. And
in the past 40 years, only 17 graduates
have gone on to complete a college
degree, 5 have gone to military schools
and 7 have earned teaching certification. The
only people willing to invest in the
Nikolsky orphans have been the teachers
and caretakers who have consistently
donated money from their own pockets
to maintain basic programs, such as
crafts workshops, language classes,
physical education, etc.</p>
<p> For
the last 20 years, orphanage administrators
have also fought for the completion
of a new building constructed with
the childrens' needs in mind. The
building that houses the orphans was
initially constructed as a "House
of Culture" in 1939, and was soon
after commandeered by the Germans for
use as a horse stable during World
War II. In 1962, the "House
of Culture" was refashioned into
the Nikolsky Orphanage, which remains
until this day an inadequate and overcrowded
state institution that gives the appearance
of a prison or army barracks. While
ground was dug in 1989 for the new
orphanage, periodic funding shortfalls
have halted the completion of the project
indefinitely. </p>
In
meetings with the RCWS staff, Mr. Yevdokimov
has demonstrated his commitment to alleviating
the despair of the Nikolsky orphans,
drawing on his own life experience. In
2006, RCWS granted the Nikolsky Orphanage
$9,500 for the creation of a new computer
lab. This equipment will help the
children gain indispensable computer
skills. The computers and Internet
also open up numerous learning opportunities,
especially for those with learning disabilities. With
your help RCWS hopes to significantly
increase its commitment to improving
the lives of these children at the Nikolsky
Orphanage and giving them hope. <!-- InstanceEndEditable -->
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