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This site was created to provide information about our organization which is
dedicated to helping orphaned and abandoned children in Russia.
The problem:
There are presently over one million orphans in Russia living in state run institutions. The vast majority of them are not true orphans in the real sense of the word. They often have a living parent, but are forced into orphanages because their parents have been stripped of custody for a number of different reasons, most commonly, alcohol or drug abuse. These children are known as 'social orphans'.
The Federal childcare system provides orphans with housing and food. However, due to a chronic lack of funds, the living conditions in the majority of orphanages, especially those in rural provinces, are horrendous.
In many cases, the children's most basic needs for items such as warm clothing, sturdy shoes, simple hygiene products, medical supplies are simply not met.
Deprived of family and love, having experienced emotional, psychological or sexual abuse,
orphans become socially detached, isolated, and develop emotional problems. At the age of 16,
when they leave their orphanages, these adolescents experience great difficulty in finding gainful
employment and joining mainstream society. As a result, 90% of these children follow their parents'
destiny and fall into lives of alcoholism, drugs, prostitution, and crime. The desperate and miserable
cycle just repeats itself again.
How do we solve the problem?
Our organization targets three major problems: inadequate financial support of orphanages,
the poor education and social isolation of orphans. We provide the most under-funded
orphanages with the resources to meet the children's most immediate and basic
needs. We develop and execute a number of educational programs with the main
emphasis on computer education and vocational craft and work skills. We also develop programs of social
rehabilitation and counseling. Our goal is to help orphans to become healthy, educated, self-sustaining
and contributing members of society. You also can help.
How do we work?
This charity organization was founded in 1998 as an informal volunteer-driven initiative.
We started by helping one orphanage and expanded our activity to 19 orphanages in Central
Russia over a four year period. During this time, we gained the necessary experience to identify
the most urgent needs of orphans, developed methods for the effective use of funds and goods, and
developed a system of monitoring and control in the orphanages we support to prevent misuse of funds.
We ensure that all our activities are completely transparent to the donors through postings on our
web-site, financial reports and descriptions of
mission trips supplemented with photographs.
Last News:
November 4, 2003
Report on the trip to the orphanage/school in Shuya (October 25-26, 2003)
by AlexSpaceman (in Russian only).
October 31, 2003
Report on the trip to the orphanage/school in Shuya (October 11, 2003) by Eka (in Russian only).
October 15, 2003
Report on the trip to the orphanages in Shuya (Ivanovo region) with the team of MURZIK.RU
(September 27, 2003) by Tata (in Russian only).
October 1, 2003
How to make a donation from outside of Russia?
September 25, 2003
Financial report of the Charity Fund 'Murland' for the period April 17, 2002 - September 10, 2003
September 20, 2003
Report on the trip to the orphanage in Shuya (June 12, 2003) by Guerman (in Russian only)
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