The Children on the Second Floor

After breakfast we were asked to perform the puppet show again for the children on the second floor. We had been allowed to go upstairs to visit these children the previous afternoon so we were prepared for what we would see. The severely handicapped children are on the second floor. Some of these children are still the result of the Chernobyl disaster and others suffer from other severe birth defects. Although we were not allowed to see the worst cases, we were told that many of these children will not live past their teenage years if they survive that long. Most of them could not walk and got around by scooting across the floor on their behinds or by dragging themselves with their arms. It sounds awful and in many ways it was, but they were as clean as possible, the room was bright and sunny, and it was obvious that the staff cared for them, even if there was not enough staff to go around. They had their own decorated tree and a TV mounted high on the wall was playing a holiday movie with Grandfather Frost and the Snow Maiden. Even if they didn't understand the puppet show it was exciting and different for them and we saw a lot of smiles.

We weren't allowed to take pictures of these beautiful children or of other parts of the orphanage. After the first day the Director told us "No more cameras inside." We were disappointed but their attitude is understandable. The Russian Orphanage system has made many improvements over the last few years and they are justifiably proud of what they have done. However, a lot of work remains. They do not want pictures of ongoing construction areas and things that might look bad taken out of context.