Mission
Possible 10 years in street children's work
in Russia and Eastern Europe
Beginning
of the work: The situation was worse than we had thought!
There are thousands of lost sheep - who will go search for
them?
What, if anything, has changed during the ten years?
The
work began in September 1995 in Moscow:
The children's
situation was worse than we had thought!
When
we were beginning the work, our idea was just to bring some small relief
to needy children who had occurred in a critical situation.
But when we saw the horrifying reality where the children were living - violence, professional crime, abuse, drugs, cold - we understood that we were dealing with much more than just sharing out food:there was a fight for life and death going on!
Street children have been drawn into a mechanism that inevitably will destroy the whole child in just a couple of years - before the life even has really started.
Drugs, violence, abuse and diseases corrupt the child both physically and morally. We saw that the children simply were heading towards a bottomless chasm.
In
the beginning stage of our work the terrible street reality woke us up
for good through a dreary incident: an 8-year-old boy Sergey - the first
child in whom we were seeing real changes as a result of the street patrol
contact - was raped by four mafia men as a punishement for pilfering something
from a man related to the them. Sergey collapsed mentally because of this.
On the streets there is nothing sacred. There is no hope. Whoever ends up there has very poor chances to get away. There is only one direction: downwards.
We
then decided to change as many children's fate as we ever could. Now,
after these years, we are happy to see that there really are many of those
who have been rescued! Tens of children have been drawn from the streets,
and in addition to children many young drug users and children's parents
have begun a new life.
After the incident with Sergey we felt the need for a shelter home even more urgent. In fall 1997 the first children moved into a facility we renovated. The establishment of the shelter home was a real miracle, because we started with no resources. In addition to the home in Moscow, we also have two homes in Krasnoyarsk, a large farm and drug rehabilitation center in Yaroslavl, and street work is going on also in several other cities in Russia, Ukraine and Bulgaria.
Commentaries to the photos:
- Anatoli Solyanik, a former heroin addict and street youth, became our first patrol worker.
- The first children in the newly established Moscow shelter home in fall 1997. On the back Ignat Ivanov (left) and the home director Gennadi Dolbin.
- Children at the street patrol in 1996. Anatoli Solyanik, Gennadi Dolbin and Ignat Ivano on the back.
There
are thousands of lost sheep -
who will go search for them?
By
IGNAT IVANOV
MP
DIRECTOR
Translated by Jari Vesterinen, Jamtrex Language Services
I don't even dare to think what would have happened - rather, what would not have happened - if we hadn't decided to start the street child project ten years ago.
My
wife and I had many reasons to not start it. There was a lot to do in
the Russian literature projects and in organizing new congregations (work
that we continue to do even today) - and we had no experience in helping
street children.
We decided to try, however, what the street work would be like. In fact, we didn't dare not to try. We thought that one way or the other we would be able to save a few children - and if we didn't try, these few would not be saved.
This is when a flurry of activity started.
If we hadn't started, hundreds of lost sheep would have remained lost.
Today, the Mission Possible street child project is operating in three countries - Russia, Ukraine, and Bulgaria - and we have 40 local workers. Hundreds of children have been saved!
We humans are frighteningly powerful.
You and I have a power to make choices that impact the temporal and even eternal destiny of other people.
Heartfelt thanks to all of you that have shared in the work, one way or the other!
Thank you to all that
shoulder the burden in our organization! These ten years have been wonderful,
and with the help of God we will march onward!
What,
if anything, has changed during the ten years?
The children of the heating tunnels - today's reality
Translated by Jari Vesterinen, Jamtrex Language Services
Hundreds
of thousands of children are still on the streets of Eastern Europe, permanently
or some shorter periods of time. Children and the situations we encounter
are the same as ten years ago. However, we now have better means of helping.
The channels to the streets to the children and from the streets are in
place.
Children who no
one cares for
The alcoholism of the parents forces the children to the streets to seek
a living. It is shocking to meet children who no one has ever cared for:
Not the parents at home, not the authorities on the street. The girls
and boys, suffering from diseases, malnutrition, and violence, live in
places where a responsible dog owner would not allow their dog to live
in.
The legislature
has improved, the customs regulations have become stricter
During the first years of our operations, one of the challenges we experienced
was that the law did not recognize private assistance organizations. The
private shelter homes are now possible, although not without problems.
There are still occasional difficulties with the officials depending on
the city and individuals. The police is in charge of the street child
affairs, and they can be very rough at times with total disregard for
the child's circumstances.
Since the private organizations have to pay customs duties of the goods used for the assistance, this has resulted in the significant difficulties for them. This has ended our assistance goods shipments.
The most significant problems: the glue and the parents
The greatest problem
in the street child work has always been the children's substance abuse
and glue sniffing. They are like young alcoholics: they do not realize
what their condition is, they live for the day. Intervention is unsuccessful.
The second problem is the guardians of the children - the parents. Many
children have to suffer from hunger, violence, living on the street and
missing school because an alcoholic parent would allow them to enter the
shelter homes, but hold on to the child because of the child support payments.
Terminating the parental rights is a long process. This is why saving
a child from the streets into a shelter home is not always so
simple.
However, when we are able to get a child into safety, it takes only a
little tender loving care, and we are witnesses to miracles!
Street
Child Situation Worst in Siberia
The authorities in Moscow and St. Petersburg have become stricter in the
recent years, and there are fewer young children in the streets. The youngest
ones no longer drift to the metropolitan centers, because of the fear
of getting caught. The worst areas of the street child problem are now
the large cities in Siberia, where the children are left to their own
devices, and even the police ignores them. The climate is more severe
there as well.
How to move forward
from here?
Our efforts meet only a fraction of the need that is out there. We are
prepared to expand our operations as the resources increase. That is why,
dear reader, your participation within your means is vital to hundreds
of children!