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SweetHearts for JewelGirls: A Valentine's Day Campaign

FAIR Fund, which works with ROOF on the Russian JewelGirls project, is dedicated to helping high-risk and trafficked girls. They are currently running a Valentine's Day Campaign called Sweethearts for JewelGirls.

JewelGirls update, Sept - Dec 2010

Since September 2010 the Russian JewelGirls project has been taking place mainly in Moscow and the Moscow region. We have regular workshops taking place usually once or twice a week, mostly on the premises of the “Way Back Home” shelter (“Doroga k domu”). The workshops were run mainly by Elena Timofeeva (FAIR Fund Program Manager) and Veronica Antimonik (Program Coordinator).

Four volunteers have joined the program’s activities: Dawn Tucker, Olga Terebilina, Valentina Kalinina and Marina. All of them have assisted in organizing the workshops. Moreover in November Dawn Tucker ran a JewelGirls sales party with the participation of American Embassy staff. Valentina Kalinina got involved in the project in December. She assisted in organizing workshops and selling jewellery. Olga Terebilina is from the Pskov region of Russia (in the northwest) and is interested in promoting FairFund’s activity there. Marina is a student and is planning to conduct socio-psychological research studying data from the JewelGirls project.

Generally about 20 children and teens participated in these workshops including both boys and girls aged between 7 and 17. As the shelter provides teens only with temporal accommodation, each month several new children join the workshops and start to create jewellery.

Each workshop usually lasts 2-3 hours. During this time each child produces up to 7 items of jewelry, mostly earrings, beads and bangles. The children are highly motivated and enjoy the workshops.

In the course of the program, children have also been offered social and psychological assistance and support to help them with their current problems and concerns.

From September 5 sales parties have been organized. One of these has been run with the assistance of the NGO “Step up”. Children accompanied by a social worker took part in selling their jewellery. Apart from these sales parties, other jewellery has been sold in this period through the Internet, through the help of  volunteers, etc.

In total more than 300 pieces of jewelry have been created. About half of these (150 pieces) have been sold. Some items of jewellery that did not sell for a while have since been redesigned by their creators.

The proceeds from the sale of jewellery was spent on winter clothes and shoes for the children and young people as well as on other items of their choice. All children participating in the workshops have also received New Year’s gifts.

Information about FAIR Fund and its activities in Russia have been widely distributed along with requests for volunteers. As part of this process, several web-pages have been created in social networks. They describe FAIR Fund and the JewelGirls project and contain pictures of jewellery. The purpose is to inform more people about the problem of human trafficking, FAIR Fund and JewelGirls. One of these social networks that is open and popular also outside Russia is livejournal: community.livejournal.com/jewelgirlsrus

From 20 December FAIR Fund began sharing ROOF's office space in Moscow. Several fundraising presentations have been prepared. A meeting with Dawn Tucker was also organized in December where important questions on the implemention of FAIR Fund’s activity for the next year were discussed.

Podolsk orphanage bids "farewell" to graduates

In September the orphanage in Podolsk held a farewell party for its graduates. This year 4 children left the orphanage. As one of the teachers said, the orphanage is the place where they are and will always be loved, remembered and waited for, and so far their only home.

Podolsk orphanageThe songs, jokes and games at the farewell concert were prepared by the teachers and the children themselves. Several songs in Russian and English were sung almost professionally by a former graduate. The orphanage has a singing group of its own and this time it sang of love  that one gives and receives. The concert was followed by the teachers addressing the graduates with warm, heart-felt words. Most of the children are mature enough to understand these words and appreciate all the care that the teachers and the orphanage staff have given them, while some take the care for granted, as children will, without noticing that the adults have been serving them with all their hearts. The adults say: “They will understand… later… What is most important is that they live a happy life”.    

The graduates are all very different. Everybody cried saying good bye to Anya. The teachers say she is their “helper”. At the age of 16 she is serious, responsible, friendly and open-minded, she is quite ready to live on her own. Anya has entered a pedagogical college in the town of Serpukhov and she’s got a dream: to work with children helping them to find their place in life, to get a taste for learning new things, as her teachers did. After the college she hopes to enter a pedagogical institute, and the main thing: “to have a family and children”. Zhenya has entered a college to study equipment servicing. Speaking about him the teachers sighed: we are so sorry to let him go… But we are not worried about him, he will be fine. Zhenya is kind-hearted, sympathetic and optimistic  -  these features will bring him happiness.”

Ilya and Kirill will study at the same college with Zhenya to become landscape designers and Xenia plans to enter the pedagogical college in Serpukhov, the one Anya is at now.

ROOF finances studies in many school subjects in Podolsk orphanage. Children attend individual and group classes after school getting help with their homework and preparation for tests and exams. There are a few children who will have their state exams in the coming year.  

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