Our New Son Aleksei, from Russia with Love.
2004
Click on the thumbnails for a bigger picture! New pictures from
Russia!
Ron
& Aleksei and Barb & Aleksei getting to know each other in Tyumen
What does Aleksei like to do? Anything that involves, the pool, a bike, cars, drawing, soccer, and just playing! He's a typical almost eight year old boy.
The Needs of the Embaevsky Children's Home (EDD)
The EDD was built in 1942.
There has been little renovation over the years aside from painting & patching.
Any monies that are available are used to clothe, feed & otherwise care for the
children of Embaevsky. The children are overall properly fed, cared for &
attend a local public school. The children of the orphanage have won
numerous awards in the arts & music over the years. There is little left
over for anything else. Adopting families normally bring over humanitarian aid
(medicines, educational supplies, etc.) when we pick up our children for the
final adoption. It is truly amazing what the directors and staff manage to do
with so little, especially considering the fact that there are over 90 children
aged 5 to 17 living in the home.
As you can see in the pictures, the children are beautiful, bright-eyed & well-mannered. They just need homes with loving families. They want to be able to succeed in life.
The conditions of the orphanage are clean but run down. As I mentioned, funds are used to feed, clothe, care & house 90 plus children. The walls have too many coats of paint on them, the linoleum floors are rippling, windows & doors need to be replaced. Future gifts may be forwarded to Cradle of Hope Adoption Center & those funds will be passed on to the orphanage. Email or call me at 203-377-0100, for further details.
A little bit about our sons & Russia. Kolya & Aleksei are from the Tyumen region of Russia. The Tyumen Region is two time zones East of Moscow & stretches from Kazakhstan in the south all the way up to the Arctic, a huge area. It is the "gateway" to Siberia & Russia's oil production region. The area is mainly flat with fields and groves of silver birches. Covered in snow it was quite beautiful!
The city
of Tyumen is situated about 1/2 way between Ekaterinberg & Omsk with a
population of approximately 600,000. Kolya's orphanage was located 60 miles
east of Tyumen. The orphanage was clean (you could eat off the floor under
the refrigerator!) and well-kept. The children are happy, well-fed,
well-mannered and healthy. The Russian orphanages are nothing like the Romanian
or other Eastern-block orphanages that you've seen on TV. It was heart-braking
to leave behind the other children in his group. Barbara & I cried when we
saw the other children hugging & shaking Kolya's hand as he said
"good-bye" for the last time. Kolya was the first child in about
6 years to be adopted from that orphanage. Aleksei is one of several
children who have been adopted in the past 2 years. A bit of trivia: during World
War II, Lenin's body was transferred to Tyumen for safe-keeping!
Moscow is a beautiful city. The Russian people are beautiful folks. And
after 70 years of Communist oppression, capitalism is beginning to
flourish. Try as they did to abolish God, the church is thriving! Hotels & restaurants are world-class. The sites are
breath-taking. In the spring & summer, it's got to be beautiful with
all the flowers & trees in bloom.
If you would like information about adopting an older Russian child (5 to 13 years old), I would be honored to talk to you. Please feel free to email me or even call me in the office (203-377-0100).
For further information on the Bridge of Hope Summer Program, you may want to attend one of these upcoming events in their various locales. Please call the local contact person for exact times & locations:
Silver Spring, MD Patrice Gancie,
301-587-4400
Copyright ©, Par Inc. of
Conn., Par Pool & Spa, 2000 - 2008
