Graduates of Moscow orphanages have the right to free travel on public transport, benefits for admission to a university, an increased scholarship up to 23 years of age and apartments. There is only one problem - when leaving an orphanage, a person most often does not have sufficient knowledge to pass the Unified State Exam and enter a college or university, nor the social skills to start an independent life. As a result, 80% of orphans rent out their apartments received from the state, move to live with friends and prefer not to work at all.

At the “Up” center, children from ordinary, correctional orphanages or psychoneurological boarding schools are prepared to take the Unified State Exam, they are helped to enter a college or university and find a job.

The Village spoke with the center's director, Olga Tikhomirova, about how a small charity organization manages to do this.

Olga Tikhomirova, director of the “Up” center

About the center

The Up Center grew out of the international organization ROOF (Russian Orphan Opportunity Fund), which was founded in 1998 by American and Englishmen Georgia and Andrew Williams. They were parishioners of St. Andrew's Church on Voskresensky Lane, so they asked ROOF to be allowed to locate in the church building.

ROOF was the first organization to provide educational assistance to Russian orphans. Then the directors of orphanages themselves said that the level of educational training of the children was very low and that this was probably the most important and necessary help.

I came here in 2001 as a history and social studies teacher. Due to difficulties with financing, the center closed in 2004, but then resumed work, and I was invited as director.

We function as an evening center where children over 18 years of age come after work or study. They must make their own decision to visit the center.

They learn about us through word of mouth. We do not actively work among orphanages, because we do not have such a large capacity and number (the entire team is about forty people). We train from 80 to 120 students per year.

I asked:
“What is a clearing?”
And after a long silence, one person timidly said to me: "Where vegetables grow"

We do not pay a stipend, and studying with us does not provide any benefits. Our education is in addition to their basic education, which they receive at school, vocational school or college. We offer them help in things that don't work out. The majority of our students have always been graduates of correctional orphanages - those who leave them at the age of 18 with an education at the level of the sixth to eighth grade. They want to be just like everyone else. They want to get a certificate. For them this is a sign of normality. Of course, it’s not easy to prepare for exams in a year. In rare cases, this takes two years, usually three, sometimes four. This year, a girl who has been studying with us for eight years took the exams. We understand that learning is becoming a way of life.

For me, the story of how I started working is very telling. I had a group of guys (15–20 people), a whole room, sitting with me. All are about 20 years old. We read a sixth grade history textbook with them, there is this paragraph: “The Germans settled among dense forests,” I still remember this sentence, “near reservoirs, in clearings.” I asked: “What is a clearing?” And after a long silence, one person timidly said to me: “Where vegetables grow.”

About graduates of orphanages

The world of orphanage graduates is a closed subculture. They clearly divide those around them into “their own” (orphans) and “home” (those who have parents). I learned this term here. There are “our own” people, and there are “home” people. Not even children, but “people”.

Until the age of 23, everything goes very well. At the age of 18, anyone who is deemed fit to live independently receives an apartment. In Moscow there are no problems with housing for the guys; they all get apartments. Then they go to study either at universities, if it is a comprehensive orphanage, or at colleges. And so they get one education. In our case, this is the specialty “tiler”, “plasterer-painter”, “seamstress”. And then they are told: “Let’s get another profession in our college for better socialization (colleges are funded on a per capita basis). Then, when you get the profession of a cook, you can get some other profession.” And until the age of 23, children receive support from the state: they are taught, transferred from specialty to specialty. At the age of 23, financial support (scholarship) ends and the person is sent to work. And then it turns out that you have to work for approximately the same money for which you studied.

Moreover, financial support stops at age 23, regardless of whether you entered a university or not, and how you study there. It happens that those who studied with us received certificates and entered universities later.

If we talk about financial support from the state, then the last few years have been even too good. At the same time, you need to understand that the guys are developing the wrong idea about money, where it comes from and what it means to live on the 12 thousand earned until the end of the month.

When government support ends, the easiest way to earn money is to rent out an apartment. It is no secret that 80% of orphanage graduates rent out their apartments and live with one of their own. They rent apartments not only for money, but also because they have never lived alone.

So he comes to a house where no one is waiting for him. Someone gets an incredible number of animals - cats, dogs, hamsters, everything that is possible - someone starts living with someone else. And so they live together, do nothing, drink. But there are different stories: we have a student who rents out an apartment, but pays for his education at the university himself, because he could not pass the competition for a budget department.

It's no secret that 80% of orphanage graduates rent out their apartments, and themselves live with one of their own. They rent apartments
not only because of money,
but also because they never lived alone.

We talk to everyone who comes to us to find out why they want to study. They have no connection between education and quality of life. At best, they understand that education is another specialty, but they have no idea what specialty they would like to receive.

If, as a result of our work, children begin to understand that knowledge is important, that certain types of activities are interesting, if they like to read, then we can consider that we have done everything we need.

One of the most fantastic stories that we are proud of is about a young man who receives a higher education. No one believed that he would finish ninth grade and receive a certificate. He moved hard towards knowledge. But at the same time he has enormous willpower. This young man passed his ninth grade certificate and then graduated from college. While studying in college, he prepared for the Unified State Exam, passed it and entered the Institute of Physical Education. He is very athletic, is now finishing his fourth year, works as a physical education teacher at school and runs in Moscow marathons.

About summer camp

Once a year we organize an away camp in the Pskov region. There, on the outskirts of the village, there is an orphanage for mentally retarded children. When we got there, there was poverty and terrible poverty. Now things are better from a financial point of view. But the children (from 4–5 to 22–23) live in this orphanage permanently. Most of them do not receive permission to live independently, and they will move from this orphanage to adult boarding schools, where the same closed life behind a fence awaits them until death. Since these children are not taken to summer camps, we bring summer camp to them. Every day volunteers come there in the morning and evening and conduct classes with children. Two or three students from our center work per shift. As a rule, in orphanages for mentally retarded children they are not taught, they are considered unteachable, but here they are being taught. A school was opened in 2010. This is largely the result of our work.

The camp is often more important to the volunteers than to the children. This experience affects people greatly. Many of those who traveled remain in the charity sector. I am deeply convinced that a trip to this camp as a volunteer is not in vain for anyone.

Thanks to this away camp, a football team was created in our center, led by Howard Amos.

About financing

Until 2008, we had one good sponsor, and we sat quietly, enjoyed life and didn’t tell anyone anything about ourselves. Then a crisis happened and before the new school year our wonderful sponsor said: “I’m sorry, but I can’t do it anymore.”

So the task arose to tell people about ourselves and what we do. A good way to make yourself known is through Christmas charity fairs. But what to show? The first few years we put up postcards, and it was a complete nightmare. Two and a half years ago, a volunteer appeared who made bird feeders himself and offered to make them together with the guys and then sell them at fairs. And we created a workshop. The effect of these fairs was amazing: a lot was written about us, there was a lot of attention. Now we are developing our workshop “Hands from There” so that it turns into a project that would allow the guys to earn money. Now we are sponsored by both companies and individuals who donate from 50 rubles to quite large amounts.

Nadezhda Fedorovna

mathematics teacher

The Up Center is a Russian non-profit organization that works with pupils and graduates of correctional orphanages and psychoneurological boarding schools.

Our goal is to help every child learn and develop as individuals, overcoming the negative consequences of the orphanage past.

We strive not just to lead a student to receive a certificate, but to encourage him to rise, to reach, to grow. We want the school year to be perceived not as walking in circles, but as climbing the ladder of time - from ignorance to knowledge, from discord with oneself - to gaining personality in oneself, from social uncertainty and disorder - to socialization, from isolation in your “I” - to dialogue with the world. What can help turn learning into climbing? First of all, friendship - between students and between students and teachers. Then - a fun game of discipline: without discipline, learning is impossible, without play it becomes boring. And finally, approaching studying as an adventure, difficult but exciting.

Our team of teachers has been working with orphanages for 10 years. In 2010, the Up Center was registered as an independent Russian organization - before that it was called the Post-Boarding Educational Center and worked within the framework of the international charity project ROOF (Russian Orphan Opportunity Fund).

We understand that today's orphanage cannot wait until the existing system of boarding education and training changes so that he has the opportunity to realize his abilities to the maximum.

We believe that learning - especially learning for people who really start learning at the age of 15-16 - can only be carried out in an atmosphere of trust and mutual respect, and we have managed to create such an atmosphere, and we work to maintain it every day.

Our programs:

Educational programs:

• Teaching the basics of writing and counting;
• Support of learning at school;
• Computer literacy;
• Preparation for exams for grade 9;
• Preparation for exams for 11th grade;
• Preparation for college and university;
• Help in college and university.

Socialization programs:

• The Literary Club is a regular class in literary analysis open to all students, alumni, and staff of the Up Center. These activities are less like extra lessons at school. This is exactly a club, with the accompanying relaxed atmosphere and equal rights for participants.
• The theater studio - “School of Scandal” was organized in February 2010, and this is one of those projects that grew out of the personal initiative of students and graduates of the Center. Within the theater studio
• Club "Country Studies" - every year the guys choose a country and prepare to tell everything they are interested in about it at a conference of student projects.
• Student Council - the Student Council has been operating at the Center for the third year. The guys themselves developed the rules of behavior at the Center, established duty and control over it.
• MyStepskaya is a creative crafts workshop, in which children create crafts and cards to participate in New Year and Christmas fairs.
• Excursions, cinema, theater, museums.
• General holidays.
  

Contacts:

Center "Up"- Moscow Center for Equal Opportunities for Orphans - works with graduates of orphanages and pupils of children's psychoneurological boarding schools. The mission of the center is to help every child learn and develop as individuals, overcoming the negative consequences of the orphanage past. Not only adaptation is important here, but also the personal development of the children is important, what will help them feel comfortable and safe in society, to be independent people. Education - especially the education of people who really begin to learn at 15-16 years old - can only be carried out in an atmosphere of trust and mutual respect. Olga Tikhomirova, director of the “Up” center, told us how the center managed to create such an atmosphere and what programs the organizers and volunteers offer:

Olga, are classes at the center held according to some special program or is it a general education school program?

I’ll say right away that the center has existed under the name “Up” for three years, but our team already has 15 years of experience. We work with the children according to the general education program. However, with children who live in adult boarding schools, the work is completely different: sometimes it’s just learning to read and write. Adults come to us who cannot read; they lived in orphanages for severely mentally retarded children until the age of 18 and were declared unteachable. Our task is to teach them to read and write. For some, this means achieving such a level of education that they can successfully pass a commission at a boarding school and receive permission to live independently.

For children who came from correctional boarding schools, it is important to reach the level of general education. And when we see that they are ready to study and pass exams, they apply to external studies and take exams there.

How many guys are currently studying at the center?

It is difficult to give an exact figure. The guys come to us of their own free will. We don't pay stipends. And in order to achieve results, you need to make every effort and study a lot every day. Not all the guys can stand it, that’s why we have a floating squad. Some people start, then give up, then come back again. Some people study less, but participate in the center’s events and come to the holidays. The number of students is constantly changing. Recently it has reached 150 people.

What age are those who study at the center?

From 17 to 30. We exist as an evening center, and those who can independently reach us come to us.

Do you have enough resources in your work?

Of course, if we had a larger premises, then there would be more guys, and we would begin to develop several more areas that we cannot implement now.

For example, which ones?

For example, we want to make workshops.

What already exists now besides the educational program?

We have several clubs: a literary club, a film club, and a regional studies club.

The literary club is the oldest - the same age as the center. It takes place once every two weeks. During this time, the children are given a short work to read, then they meet, drink tea with cookies and discuss what they read with the presenter. Of course, this is a club for our older students who can understand the works and are interested in discussing literary works.

In the film club, the guys watch and discuss films. It is noticeable how over time they begin to distinguish between mass cinema and auteur cinema. And as part of the regional studies club, children not only study the history and culture of different countries, but also visit various thematic exhibitions and festivals.

We also have a football team. Moreover, not only the center’s students play in it, but also their friends who do not attend the center’s classes, but want to play football. The team has existed for almost two years. It all started with enthusiastic volunteers, and more recently the team acquired a real, authoritative coach with a sports background. At first I saw this only as an opportunity to involve children who did not want to study in the activities of the center. And then it turned out that this was a truly grandiose event. There are a lot of boys and they all love football. In addition, team play is a very difficult job, which helps children learn communication and communication. They have been participating in blitz games for a long time, but they still cannot be said to be a cohesive team. I always tell them: the team is more important than victory.

I heard that there is also a theater studio in the center?

We have two theater directions in our center. The first one is led by one of our literature and Russian language teachers. She was the initiator of the start of theatrical activities in the center. This is a classic direction. The guys have already staged such works as “A Hero of Our Time,” “The Inspector General,” and scenes from “Cyrano de Bergerac.”

The second direction was organized by one of our graduates. At first he took part in classical performances, and then he said that it was all boring and that performances needed to be staged in a completely different way. This is how we got an avant-garde troupe, headed by our graduate. His first performance was “Cinderella”, for the second he wrote the entire script himself, making an unusual mix of old Soviet films. I compiled everything successfully, and the performance was a great success.

Now the avant-garde troupe is performing performances for which you can buy tickets. At first, this idea seemed controversial to me, but the guys themselves decided to earn money for the center, and, in the end, I saw that after this decision, they began to treat productions more responsibly.

They recently staged another play - “Notes of a Madman” based on Gogol. We showed it at the Bulgakov Theater, which helps us with the premises. One of our familiar directors was present at this performance, who praised their work quite highly and said that this was a completely different, not amateur, level.

Let's dream a little: where do you see the Up Center in a few years?

I don’t want to plan a lot in advance, but I would like this to be a full-fledged youth center for personal development through educational programs. Collecting entertaining activities is not a problem; another question is how to create motivation to set life goals and achieve them.

Our deepest conviction is that adaptation in society, a comfortable state and a sense of security give love and a sense of support; this is the key to obtaining an education. And I really hope that the guys who come here perceive the center as the very rear they never had.