Alpine Update #8

The Alpine Update is our almost monthly newsletter keeping you informed of the Alpine Fund's activities.

The Alpine Fund's Mission

To get kids into the mountains

.....or in more words......

To provide vulnerable youths that need an extra chance in life experience and education in the mountains where they can learn about the natural environment as they learn more about themselves and their broader opportunities.

For this end of the year update we decided to give you a better idea of who we work with. The following are voices from our youth, their history, and hopes for the future......

This time we thought that you might be interested in hearing from the children. When I asked the kids in my English class if they wanted to contribute to this newsletter I didn’t expect to have so many volunteers. Many of them were eager and happy to have this opportunity and they all know that many people around the world will be reading their contributions so they feel important; this is a good way to improve their self-esteem. They are wonderful kids and most of their stories are sad, I know many other things about them and their lives because we became really good friends but here you will find only what they have chosen to share. Their stories are honest and they were free to write about whatever they wanted, personal life, children’s home, what they like or don’t like and plans for the future, problems or dreams. They wrote it in Russian and Farida and Dasha translated everything.

Maybe it will be good to explain you a bit about the Voenna Antonovka Children’s Home, which we normally call VACH. The kids there are divided in 4 families; each family has around 25-30 boys and girls and live in a separate area of the building. Like a real family they have their own home, kitchen and dinning room, a dormitory for boys and one for girls and also a living room where they can watch TV, play games, etc. Each family have its own carers that are like parents for the kids.

Sometimes kids complain about the place but in these writings everyone seems to love it there. Not sure why, maybe they were afraid these letters could be read by their teachers or carers or maybe after reflecting about their lives and the places where they lived before this place is very good. Also maybe that they just want to be good boys and girls and write what they think we expect to hear from them. I have this problem often I want them to think critically so things can be improved, I want criticism that looks at the problems or situations and then offers possible solutions but… it is difficult here. All kids write how wonderful everything is, the lesson, the trips to the dacha, the events we organize… Anyway, the kids in this children’s home are very lucky, it is a nice place and very conveniently located, 45 minutes away from Bishkek by local transport.

At the moment I am fundraising to be able to take the younger kids that come my English lessons to the mountains also, it would be fun and they have never been in the dacha before, so we will have a great time there. It is not much money, about $150 for 10 kids for a weekend, but here it is difficult to fundraise, salaries are low and people can't give much. So if anyone out there wants to help, please let me know. And as always I will ask once again my friends and family and hopefully in the next update we can tell you all our latest adventures there. Also if there is anything you want to say to any of this kids, I will pass on the messages and that can be useful for our English lessons.

From the Kids

(note - for their privacy the pictures are not always the youth that are writing, but all are from pictures from our hike last week)

Lyosha

My name is Lyosha. I’m 13 and study in the 6^th class. When I was little my father drank and later he died. I have 2 brothers and a mother and a grandfather and a grandmother. One of my big brothers, Sergey comes to visit me and the middle one does not come. I don’t know where he is and I haven’t seen him since I was a little boy. When my father died they brought my big brother to a children’s home and then they took me also. It was so bad there, then they took me to Belavodkse Children’s Home for little kids, there it was bad also; they took our presents for New Year from us and they beat us.

Then they took me to VACH, it is very warm and they give very good food here. We go to the mountains with Alpine Fund and also have English lessons. I like it there very much. They teach very well at school. I want to graduate from the children’s home and I want to go to a technical school and study hard there and find a good job and make a lot of money. And it can be very useful in my life. I want to study, to become an interpreter and visit different countries. I want to go to America, probably it is very beautiful there. I like drawing, studying English and also Russian. I like animals. I like it very much in the children’s home

Masha

I have a sister, her name is Nastya, I miss her very much. She is in the sanatorium at the moment and won’t be back until the January. I study in the 4^th class and I am 11. My grades are all 5s and one 4. I am in the family number 2 of the Voenna Antonovka Children’s Home. I like this family; all its members are very good. I watch TV, play dolls and construction games with my friends, they are Christya, Nastya, Sasha, Vika, Adelya, Olya, Oksana and all of them are my classmates.

My mom is in Ukraine and my father died. I have a grandmother Maria, my mom gave birth to 2 brothers and I like to grow flowers. I miss my sister very much, I want to see my sister, brother and mom and aunts and grandmother very much. I like to be here, in winter I like playing snowball and making snowmen. I like animals: dogs and cats, rabbits chicks, birds and chickens. My favourite food is plov, borsh,, salad and chicken meat, fat and bread with butter.

When I was little I had a grandmother and when I grew up my grandmother died. Now, I am very bored and I want to have everybody back and that not one disappears because I have a very cruel teacher. When I was in Talas city, I had a house but my aunt took it from me, and now my mom is in Ukraine and my dad was in prison for stealing two horses. - Masha

My name is Nurgazy. I don’t have a mother or a father but I miss them very much. I have a sister her name is Nurgiza. She is the only one I have. My mother went to Moscow and never came back; she was selling clothes there. My father was a drug addict and he sold all the furniture at home to get money for drugs. I love my parents despite the fact that they were not good people. My mother disappeared 5 years ago and my father died in prison. We also have an older sister but we haven’t seen her for many years and don’t know where she is now. Sometimes I cry, I miss my mother and I want her to come back from Moscow. After all these things happened they brought us and my other sister to Bishkek, before we were living in Talas city , here we lived in my aunt’s house for almost a year and then my uncle took us to the children’s home. When I came there were a lot of children here. They brought me to the children’s Kindergarten because I was in the 1st class, and Nurgyza to a family. I went to school to see how it was there and I wanted to learn how to read very much. In the beginning it was so boring but then I got acquainted with the children and became very funny. Then I learned reading and came to the 2^nd class and also to the family of my sister. I got used to live here in this family.

I like to study, I am an honours student, all my grades are 5s. Here in the children’s home I have my best friend Azamat, we go for walks and play football. And also I want to learn English and in the future I wan to be an interpreter. Now I know English a little bit.

One day, women came and they chose children that can dance well, 8 children in total and I was one of them. We went to Moscow, to a dancing competition where there were kids from many different children’s home. We danced and became 2^nd in the dancing contest. In 2002 I went to the president’s New Year party because I was also an honours student and there, Askar Akaev himself was giving presents and money to us.

Now, I am 13 and In the future I want to be happy and I wan to change this world because it is very dirty. I want it to become cleaner. I don’t want war, I don’t want people to be sick, I want them to be healthy and I wish you all that are reading this letter, to be happy, successful and healthy.

Erjan

My name is Erjan, I am 11 and study in the 4^th class. I have problems with my mother she beats us very much. I remember one time when we were little and my mother threw us under the bus but nothing happened to us. My brother beats us always, he beats us hard, he also says dirty words, and it’s terrible. I hate my mother and my brother. Maybe I cannot see because my mother because she works in a procuratore (police). I like ice cream and cakes, mandarins, oranges, apples, pears, sweets and biscuits, strawberries and pomegranate, sunflower seeds, cakes.

First, I was in the children’s home for babies, after they brought me to BelavodskeChildrens Home and when I became 7 they brought me to Voenna Antonovka. I like watching TV, listening to music and computer games. I like playing Tetris and listening to the radio with the headphones. I like playing cards and car racing and helicopters. Here they give very good food. Good!

Hello, my name is Salavat. I am 13 and study in the VACH I like it here very much. Here it’s never boring.

I came to the children’s home in 1993, when I was 3. I have 2 sisters and they are also with me in the children’s home. My parents were very good people, we were having a good life. We never had arguments but then my father started to bring home strangers, women, and he told my mom that she was a cousin or a very good old friend but she was his lover. My mom believed him. When my father had his birthday, my mom gave him a car as present, he was very happy, my father started driving to work, he was working as a businessman. But then my father had some problems and he started arguing with my mother more and more. One day my mom beat my dad with a hot iron on his face. I was very afraid. Now normally I am very afraid when adults argue, especially when they are my parents. It all started from this. One day my father didn’t come back from work and we were waiting for him for a long time but he didn’t come. Then my mother started to drink and started selling the furniture of the house. And then she sold the house and we all moved to live in another house. This house had just one room, sometimes we did not have food, we didn’t know where our mother worked and she always brought different rude men home and we didn’t like it. We were always waiting for our father.

Then my mother brought us to our grandmother to XXXX. We lived in grandmother’s house and we liked it there. One day my mom came to my grandmother’s house and they had a fight and my mom took us from there. We lived in Voenna Antonovka, very near the children’s home but we didn’t know that there was a children’s home there and we had a neighbour who told us about this children’s home near us. The next day my mother brought us to the children’s home.

At first I could not get used to it, then little by little I started to get used to it. I was speaking Russian very bad, we only spoke Kyrgyz before. When we came they sent my sister to the 1^st class and me and my little sister to the kindergarten. I didn’t like it there, I don’t know why. One day my grandmother and aunt came to visit us, they brought new clothes and presents. And it turned out that the next day mother came to visit us also, we explained to her that grandmother came with aunt and then mother forbade us to speak or communicate with them. From this time nobody came to visit us.

We miss our parent very much, sometimes I even cry when I remember how the past was. I study very hard and my elder sister also; but my little sister couldn’t get used to the fact that we do not have our parents with us, she started to pee in the bed and they sent her to another internat. We didn’t want them to separate us but we couldn’t do anything and now 6 years have past since we last saw her.

I am already in my 7^th class and my sister in 9^th class and we still live in the children’s home but one day when we were sitting and watching TV our carer called us and she said we must not be sad or upset. First we could not understand anything and then she brought us to another room, when we entered this room we couldn’t believe our eyes: we saw our father. He hadn’t changed he stayed the same. We hugged and kissed each other and we were very happy, we were so happy that tears were falling from our eyes. We explained to him everything that happened after he left. I hadn’t seen him for 7 years. He brought a lot of things for us and we were asking him where he lives, works and where he was all this time. He told us that he lives and works in the US. But I don’t know if I can believe him or not. We went to a café with him, and there we spoke and ate. After that he visited us one more time and that’s all, after this we did not see him again. We still live in the children’s home and I am even very happy that I came here. I study very hard. In 2002 I took a president reward (money) and I was very happy.

When I grow up I want to be a doctor and I want to treat children from the children’s home and I also want to not have unhappy children. I like reading books very much and listening to music also, I want to learn English.

My dream is to go to the Brazilian carnival and take part in it. I like to get acquaintance with new people and I have many friends. That’s all I wanted to tell you, thanks you for reading the story about my life.

Christina

I am Christina, I am in 4^th class and I’m eleven When I was little I was in Beladovske then they sent me to this children’s home. Now I have friends here, Oksana, Masha, Delay, Vika, Sasha, Adelya. I play with them and study. I like dogs very much, little and big and I also like furry rabbits.

I have a sister and brothers. My sister’s name is Alexia and my brothers’ names are Artur and Dima. Alexia is in Krasna Riechka children's home, they sent her there because she could not read. She can read just by letters and my brother is in Chuisky home, he was sent there when he was sick in Belavodske. My 2^nd brother is in special school. He is 15 and when he graduates he will be a cook, chef. This is his profession, Artur will drive a car and I want to be teacher.

My favourite lessons are literature, reading, Russian, English and singing. I like reading stories about animals, about cats and dogs. My sister likes chicks very much and cats, but I don’t like cats that much. My brother likes little cats also. In the 1^st class my grades were 4s, When I was in the 2^nd class I was an honour student (all my grades were 5s) and in the 3^rd and 4^th class 4s. Now I want to see my sister and brothers very much. I miss them.

I like flowers and trees. I like winter and summer; in winter we can play snowballs and make snowmen. Also I like to clean the house, clean the dishes, clean the floors and clean the courtyard. I like washing clothes; I wash my clothes when they are dirty. I have a flower in the classroom; I don’t know its name. I like to look after flowers.

I live with the 2^nd family at VACH. I like the 2^nd family, there, there are toys and my dream is to have a big toy, I don’t know why. I read, write, play. And I have my best friend, her name is Sasha, I play with her and we walk together. She is in the 3^rd family and sometimes I go to visit her and she visits me.

We have a dog here and her name is Jessy, she is very clever but she does not give her paw. She is very good and reddish

I study at 6th class, I’m thirteen, and my birthday is on the 25^th of June. I like to play football. I have 4 brothers and 2 sisters. My mom died when I was a little boy and then I was staying in my aunt’s house 3 years, during the 4^th class I was staying in my grandmother house and then I was sent to the children’s home. We are 4 here, my two sisters and a brother and I. My brother studies in the 2^nd class, my sisters, one in the 8^th class and the other in the 3^rd class. I feel like this is my second house. They take me home for the holidays; there live my 3 brothers and father. I like children’s home because they give very good food and very good clothes but I like home better. I study very hard and my grades are 4s and 5s and my favourite lessons are English, computers and physical training. I want to be an English translator/interpreter but I have to study very hard and get only 5s. Then I will graduate from school and enter university for English studies and I will study very hard there also.

I like America, when I grow up I will be able to go where I want. Sometimes Americans come to our children’s home and bring us toys, clothes, pens and pencils. Some Sundays my dad or my brother come to visit, they remember us; they will never forget us, they love us very much. I like it here very much, nobody offends me here and I like it here very much. We have a lot of toys and we play here and have a great time. We have 4 families here, and all teachers and carers are very kind and very good. We have food here 4 times a day and I like it very much. This children’s home is my second home. Our family have 7 people and with father we are 8 and we live together very good.

I am training with Ilya he is a very good trainer I have been training for over 2 years, before our trainer was Lyosha and he was a very good trainer also. They take us to the mountains and to the dacha and I like it very much. When we go to the mountains we make it to the top. I like climbing them. I like Alpine Fund because Marga teaches us English. When we went to the dacha for 5 days Marga and Ilya were there with 8 boys and 2 girls. We had loads of fun and also some rest. We had evening fires, it was very good and they also gave us very good presents. Marga and Ilya were kind, funny and good. I like going to the mountains, they are beautiful and the air is fresh.

Thanks a lot Alpine Fund!!! I like Alpine Fund very much, all of them are nice, kind good and beautiful and in a few years I want to be a trainer like Ilya. Alpine Fund everyone likes you and you make loads of kind things for us, I love you very much.

Now, I can already speak English a little bit and when I grow up I will have a wife, a house, cars and I will have a daughter and a son. And they both will go also to Alpine Fund. And I will explain everything to them, how I went to the mountains and how I lived and how Alpine fund was very good and kind to us.

Everybody, like and love Alpine Fund and don’t forget that once you loved it. I love you Alpine Fund. - from Janar

When I joined the training organized by Alpine Fund in the VA Children’s Home three years ago I had no idea that later on I would become an intern in the Alpine Fund office. After leaving the Children’s Home I was fortunate enough to give my first steps into adulthood and independent life with the help of Alpine Fund. Over the three years working here I have achieved many things and learned a lot. This knowledge and experience is very important for me because I will be able to use it in the future. Working with Alpine Fund as an intern and now as a volunteer is very interesting because all along I have taken part in many different actions, seminars, trainings, events, etc. And in all these activities there were children from the children’s home.

I improved my education here and got some training and qualifications, a certificate that allows me to work as a guide and trainer taking people to the mountains. I also participated and conducted seminars for other kids, children in children home, street children and those who live in other centres or institutions. I teach them about Kyrgyzstan, our country, our mountains, the geographic and cultural diversity, how we have to respect and help each other to achieve a better future for all of us and how important is to protect the natural environment and our beautiful mountains. I also gave seminars on ecology including topics like air and water pollution, global warming and teach kids how they can help by not throwing away any trash or leave things behind in the mountains and also in the cities or the place where they live. I also led some seminars about sexual health and family planning, gender equality and about the dangers of alcohol and drug abuse.

My time as an intern was very interesting, I had so much to learn and this helped me to develop, making me the person I am today. Personally what I enjoyed the most was going to the mountains, having treks, day excursions, camping trips were fun and adventurous. And all the other kids love it as much as I do. I can see how glad they are when they prepare for these trips. Everyone loves and respects our trainer, Lyosha. We have visited some beautiful places in our country, many situated in very remote and inaccessible areas but we made it there and our reward was all that beauty and our personal satisfaction. Now, I know by experience how rich our country is, its natural diversity and we all became aware how important it is for us to protect and preserve these beautiful mountains so in the future other children will have also this wonderful opportunity.

These trips to the mountains are my favourite moments, I will remember and treasure this forever and I am sure the other kids feel this way also. These trips helped me, and many others, to forget about the difficult circumstances in our life, our family problems and our daily reality. Alpine Fund does many things for kids in children’s home and all their programs and projects are very important for the kids. I know this for sure because I was one of those kids and I also know that I am like a small particle, one of the many kids they have helped since they started working here a few years ago.

I am also lucky because the people here became my friends. I had the chance to meet many different people in the seminars and trainings and also many different volunteers, some from far away countries that are now my friends. I learned how to use computers, how to communicate with people, etc.

I am working as a volunteer now, and come for English lessons here three times per week, that is important to me because I cannot afford to attend any private classes or going to one of the language schools that exist in Bishkek. English is very important these days to get a good job or simply to be able to communicate with more people.

I would like Alpine Fund to help all other kids like they helped me, I know this is impossible; there are so many kids to help and not enough money to run more programs, trips to the mountains, events. I hope they will be able to help as many people as they can, especially in the difficult moments, after leaving the children’ home and starting a new life, it is so important to know someone cares about you. This is the most important thing I learned here, adaptation to a new life; I have grown up and know this world now.

My plans for the future are to finish my technical school and then try to get a place at the AUCA (American University of Central Asia). I want to improve my English, to keep on attending my climbing training and have many friends. And I want to help Alpine Fund in any way I can. My hobbies are sports and mountain tourism, snorkelling, hip-hop and rap music and work with street children and go to the mountains.

I also hope that I can work as a guide in the mountains next summer, it is so beautiful there and I always enjoy meeting new people. I have experience, all these years going to the mountains with Alpine Fund are a solid base and I worked in the Peak Lenin base camp for a month last summer and this August I was the interpreter and cook for a German group, during 15 days we went to Lake Merzbacher near the Chinese border. It is a wonderful place.

I cannot imagine what my life would be like if I didn’t had the opportunity of becoming involved with this small organization and their programs.

This is just a small picture of some of the kids we have worked with over the past three years. For all of us that work with them the most rewarding moment is bringing them to the mountains. There they can really forget for a moment the troubles in their lives. But it does more than give them a small break, it gives that the feeling for a moment that they are special, that they do things that other kids, even kids with a family, have never done. For weeks after a trip they will always talk about all the little details that happened, about running up a stream jumping from rock to rock, or cooking, or the campfire. And we know that these memories will be with them for life. That is a present worth giving.