JOURNEY TO RUSSIA 

I have always wanted to get up early on May Day morning, and this year I had my long awaited opportunity. My journey to Russia began with leaving the house at 4.30am - the taxi driver asked me if I had managed to get my face washed in the dew - of course I hadn’t but I otherwise felt fresh, alert and ready for the coming adventure.

My purpose in going was to visit a very unique project called Kitezh, a theraputic community of foster parents and children, located about 300 Km south of Moscow. Dimitri Morosov, the founder of this community, had given a talk at Findhorn a few weeks previously and had offered to do a training in working with energy. The prospect of combining this with an opportunity to visit this community was enticing.

The following morning was overcast - a pattern which continued for most of my stay. The day at Kitezh starts at 8.15 with early morning exercises. The first day I didn’t make it but once I caught up on sleep I did try to join in with these. It was the one time of the day when I could participate in an activity which included the children. Apparently it is not always easy to get them out of bed, and these energetic early morning sessions are not for the fainthearted. It was led by Dimitri most mornings and was always good humoured with plenty of encouragement to get into the spirit and strength of the movements - which were a combination of kUng Fu and Chi gung. Breakfast took place afterwards in the dining hall...as you go in outside coats are taken off and you search for a pair of slippers which look roughly your shoe size. Porridge or some equivalent is served from a hatch which leads through to the kitchen, on another table there is always a pot of black tea. The diet at Kitezh takes a bit of adjusting to...the cook does very well with limited choice...grains, some meat, chicken occasionally, fish once, potatoes, rice, beetroot, cabbage, coleslaw...these are the kind of dishes that I can remember. The children tended to eat together as did the adults, sitting around three large tables. There was quite a large group of volunteers (6-7)during my stay and they tended to sit together.

I enjoyed watching and getting to know the children...a lot of names to learn at first but gradually I became familiar with them and although I couldn’t talk with them, I could watch their interactions and expressions. Some like Svyatoslav, a lively 6 year old who loved his bicycle, were the natural children of the foster parents...others like the Sincos, 7 children from one family who were being looked after by Tamara, were from the orphanages. With time I learned that the parents of some of them were still alive, but because of alcoholism or drug addictiion they were incapable of looking after them. In this instance they are called social orphans. With the Sinco children, the older ones had come first and had said that they would only stay if the younger children were allowed to come as well. The youngest two - Marina and Syusha sang us a song one night...a song about a little green frog that one of the volunteers must have taught them. The combination of their sweet smiles, funny gestures and beautiful accents was quite heart warming. Another little boy who I liked a lot was Masha’s foster son Sasha - he had a lively impish expression and always returned my smiles!

During the day the children would attend classes. The English classes before breakfast would always be taught by the volunteers (they thought that this was a ploy to get them out of bed!) later on they would be taught other classes such as history, geography, and maths by other members of the community. They seemed to work hard and classes were held 6 days a week. They were also rehearsing a play in English for the Orion open day which took place at the end of my visit. In between times they would play games and do the kinds of things which children everywhere like to do. What was very noticeable was the absence of rows, tantrums, whinges or fights. Occasionally I could see a child looking perhaps a bit low, but usually another one would come up and put their arm around them or take their hand. There was a lot of physical contact between the children and the adults. The only public argument which I saw took place between two of the adults!

Once during the week there was a meeting which involved the whole community...everyone spoke at this including the children...who were putting forward the suggestion that they should have a day of teaching the adults, reversing their normal roles! The younger ones were very enthusiastic about this, the older ones who would have to prepare and supervise it were less keen! Another item on the agenda was reminding everyone to replace their tools...it was interesting to see how everyone is encouraged to participate actively in the life of the community and to take responsibility for the health and wellbeing of the whole group. What a learning experience for the children and what was noticeable was the confidence with which they spoke - there was lughter and humour particularly at the contributions of some of the younger ones. Svyeteslav wanted Summer to come QUICKLY!!!

Some of the other highlights through the week were my two visits to the Banya...this is the communal sauna. The children usually went before dinner, the women’s session was next and the men went later on in the evening. Next to the sauna was a room where there were basins which could be filled with hot or cold water. To get the best out of the experience it is good to go for the extremes...getting really hot in the sauna first, then getting someone to pour freezing cold water over you. Liza did this for me and I screamed...but this is regarded as the natural thing to do!! It was a great release and a lot of fun. The other part of the ritual was to be thrashed with birch branches which apparently softens the skin...finally next door was another room where Galina, Vlad’s wife had provided a pot of herb tea and part of the time would be spent relaxing and chatting which was always very pleasant.

There was also a disco on the Saturday evening to celebrate the birthdays of the two eldest Sinco boys (Kydd I gave them 2 football strips which I took out of your cupboard, ones which I think you have grown out of...they certainly appreciated them and put them on straight away!!) When we came in the older boys were practicing break dancing...some of them had been taking part in a local competition. We were also invited to Masha’s house where she was having a music evening...this was most enjoyable, finally a way of communicating which didn’t depend on speech. I was touched by how this simple environment encourages the emergence of everyone’s talents and gifts.

We were warmly welcomed back to Orion. Everyone there was busy making preparations for the opening gathering the following day. The weather yet again proved uncooperative, but this did nothing to dampen the spirits of the adults and children. The minibus from Kitezh arrived late morning bringing the children who were going to perform the play. This was followed by a couple of cars and a large bus arriving from Moscow...bringing people from the expat community who have shown an interest in supporting Kitezh and Orion. This was Francesca’s flagship day. She had brought together an interesting group of people who seemed to enjoy their visit. The presentations took place in Russian and English and the play was fantastic. The young man who played the leading role had been speaking English for less than a year! In amongst all the activity of the day I spoke a bit with Masha Pechugina, one of the foster mother’s here - she is Tamara’s daughter, aged 22 and is in charge of the house we were staying in and fostering 2 young children! When she told me her age I realised that she is a year younger than my daughter Suzi.!! She told me that originally she and her Mother lived in a small house where there was scarcely enough money for food. She didn’t like Kitezh at first because it was in the middle of nowhere and you had to get up early to do the early morning exercises. However, living in Kitezh has without doubt transformed her life into one of possibility and opportunity in a way which could never have happened otherwise. In many ways she embodied and expressed for me the dynamic and extraordinary achievements of this small group of ordinary, and yet extraordinary people. I gave as many of the children as I could extremely small things which I’d brought with me...some decorative butterflies for the girls and pens for the boys...what touched me were the warm smiles and thankyous...these are stored in my heart.

Sara Trevelyan - May 2007

Only registered users can write comments.
Please login or register.

Be first to comment this article

Powered by AkoComment Tweaked Special Edition v.1.4.6
AkoComment © Copyright 2004 by Arthur Konze - www.mamboportal.com
All right reserved