April 17, 2000
AT TECHNICAL SCHOOL 26 in Goosivsky, Russia, a young boy waits pensively in the shadows cast by the school's sparse lighting. Texas Baptists are working through Buckner International Services to bring hope to these almost-forgotten orphans. (Photos by Scott Collins/Buckner)
'Please don't forget me' haunts
Texas Baptist worker in Russia
___By Scott Collins
___Buckner News Service
___GOOSIVSKY, Russia--Light comes in small rays at Technical School 26.
___Outside, during the cold Russian winter, daylight lasts only a few short hours. Inside, hallways that have light have precious little of it. Single light bulbs dangle from frazzled outlets and cast shadowy images of the residents.
___But it's not the exterior of the campus or even the dimly lit hallways that make thisplace so dark. The darkest parts of Tech School 26 are the youngsters who live there.
DARK HALLWAYS in the dilapidated dormitory of Technical School 26 require light from a window because most of the lights in the building do not work.
___This is a place of last resort--the final stop on an orphan's journey into the world of reality. From here, teenagers are thrown into a society that has ignored them for 19 years. And as bad as life has been during their years in Russia's vast orphanage system, it gets even worse once they leave the technical school.
___In a land mired in economic chaos, Russia's orphanages are near the bottom of priority for funding. Just below the hundreds of orphanages are technical training schools like Tech School 26.
___It is not uncommon for the school's lone dormitory to go weeks without running water, leaving more than 50 orphans with no way to bathe. Heat is often considered a luxury, which is why the young people wear their coats while indoors and outdoors.
___And yet, as difficult as the physical conditions are, the false hopes generated by the training school can be just as cruel. Young people between the ages of 16 and 19 come to Tech School 26 believing that when they graduate, they will have a marketable skill to make a living. The orphans learn the basics of tractor maintenance, tailoring and dressmaking, cooking, bookkeeping and truck driving, only to discover when they graduate that the skills they have acquired are not needed or that their training is obsolete.
___Mike Douris has seen first-hand the desperation on the faces of Tech School 26's orphans. During his frequent forays to the campus, orphans on the verge of leaving the school often grab his hand and plead with Douris for help.
___During a trip in November, Douris said a girl around the age of 19 who was nearing the end of her time in the orphanage system stopped him and begged for help.
___"Mike, please can you help me get into an apartment, help me to get a job and be ableto make it?" she begged.
WITH LITTLE HEAT, the young people often must wear their winter coats indoors at the orphanage, like this young man on the verge of leaving Technical School 26.
___Douris sat down with the girl and together they put together a plan for her future.
___"As we made that plan, she felt really good about it and she hugged me and said, 'Please don't forget me.'" That evening, Douris said, "she came up to me six different times and said, 'Mike, please don't forget me.'
___"Each time, I had to reassure her that we would not forget her--that we were going to provide for her and help her make this adjustment. The reason she came up so many times is because many, many other people have forgotten her.
___"She is an example of many orphans who are in desperate need for someone to care. And us coming over here and walking side-by-side with them gives them the confidence they need that they can make it in this world.
___"What these children want most of all is someone to love them," Douris said. "When you put your arms around a child's neck and you love that child, you're making a significant difference."
___And while hugs and reassurances are important, Buckner International Services, under Douris' leadership, has begun the process of improving the physical surroundings of the orphans at Tech School 26. Working with Colorado-based Children's HopeChest, Buckner is paying to remodel the living areas of the dormitory. Last year, Buckner and Children's HopeChest spent nearly $20,000 to install a heating system for the dorm, alleviating months of suffering through the harsh cold of a Russian winter.
___Buckner is an agency affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas and funded through the gifts of Texas Baptists.
___Another Texas partner in the work at Tech School 26 is the Rotary Club of Athens. Theclub and Buckner provide funds for the school to employ an independent living skills teacher along with curriculum for the students. In November, Rotary Club member Henry Pearson traveled to the school with Buckner to investigate additional ways the club can help. MacArthur Boulevard Baptist Church in Irving also has gotten involved by funding a medical staff worker at the school.
THE SHADOWY DARKNESS of the facility symbolizes the inner struggle many of the young residents feel year-round.
___Douris said reaching out to orphans who end up at transitional places like Tech School 26 provides Buckner and its partners with a unique opportunity to rescue young people on the verge of social destruction.
___That point was driven home for Douris during one visit to the school when a child care worker approached him and grabbed his hand.
___"She was an older lady who showed her hard life by her weathered hands and face," Douris recalled. "She looked me in the eyes and began to cry. It took all the courage and humility she could summon, but she begged me in Russian, saying, 'Please help our children. We need your help so desperately.'"
___The poignancy of the moment was driven even deeper when he looked at the orphans standing nearby.
___"They were all looking at the floor. The thin veneer was gone and helplessness was etched in their faces. There was total silence. Not a word was spoken, because not a word was necessary," he said.
___"We have the chance to restore dignity to these children and give them the hope we share in Jesus Christ," Douris said. "But we need the prayers and help of a lot of people if we are going to be successful in meeting the needs of these children."
___For more information on helping the orphans at Tech School 26, call Mike Douris at (214) 758-8020.
___
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