Orphanage in Pokrovka

Pokrovka is about 3 hours outside of Vladivostok or 1 hour from Ussuriisk. It is a very small village out in the middle of nowhere, right on the Chinese border. The orphanage is not really an orphanage, in Russian they call it an internatz. It is a "home for children without parents" and is quite different from usual Russian orphanages.

The children at Pokrovka range in age from 8 to 17. It is a pretty big building, half of which is a school and half of which is housing. We ate lunch there and were quite impressed by the food. It wasn't gourmet but the children got a decent portion, especially compared to the orphanage where Dima was and where Max and Nastia were previously.

The children spend about 4 hours per day in classes and then have free time to get into lots of trouble. Some of the children seem to be able to come and go as they wish, though there isn't much to go to in Pokrovka. In the summer, the home closes down and the children are farmed out to private families whom I assume receive some sort of stipend.

We spent a couple of weeks there in Feb. 2003 when we adopted Max and Dima. It was an experience which we still treasure. We both felt that those few hours we spent with the children each day were some of the times when we felt closest to The Savior and to His work.

When we would walk into the place, we would immediately be swarmed by children. Even the 15, 16 and 17 year olds were not hesitant to approach us. We did bring food for the children each day so that was part of the appeal. They would take the stuff and then run off like little squirrels to they rooms to store it for later. Then, they would come back and visit with us.

If I sat on the couch I would immediately be surrounded by girls - mostly Nastia's friends - and they would stroke my hair and snuggle up to me, hold my hand and give me hugs. Even now it brings me to tears to think about it. Even though these girls were teenagers, their needs were still the same as the toddler's needs. They needed a mama. Oh, how we wish we could have given a family to more of them.

The boys would surround Robert and Alexander. They figured Robert was a basketball player (he's 6'6") and so they would talk to him about sports even though he couldn't understand a word. Some of the lighter ones would ask for Robert to put them up on his shoulders - 10 and 13 year olds, they had just never had a chance to do that before. Alexander was interesting too, but they wanted to know about his gameboy, his clothes, his school and life in America for a child.

We were the first people to adopt from Pokrovka. It is basically a home for children, to prepare them to go out into the world. At 16 they are supposed to leave, though I know there were 1 or 2 there who were 17 years old.

There is a girl who is in almost every picture with Nastia. We are going to try to find out about her and maybe find someone who is looking for a beautiful girl to add to their family.

I will publish pictures as soon as I can. The hotel we are staying in has very limited internet and it is hard to do anything.