Excellent Work Being Done in Omsk region
August 25, 2014
Katya & Kostya at the AiYD Conference in Voronezh
Omsk, Siberia -- Kostya and Katya have been doing tremendous work in the Omsk region. Their involvement in AiYD all started when Tatiana Baeva, our Director of International Operations, approach Kostya, who was her colleague through UT Arlington, with helping AiYD. He hesitated because he was already pretty overbooked, but then agreed because he saw how much good this program could do. They both attend the AiYD Conference hosted by our Voronezh team in May and have just kept on rolling with bimonthly soccer games for the summer.
After finding an orphanage willing to participate they have seen two young men who have emerged as leaders in the Omsk region: Ashkhad and Zhenya.
Zhenya is quick-witted, boisterous and athletic. He hopes to play professional hockey someday.
Ashkhad is smart, timid and dreams of traveling and seeing the world. He likes geography and history
One example of Katya investing in the future of the orphans is when Ashkhad was seeking employment. He wanted to apply, but was afraid that he would be turned down because he is an orphan and dark-skinned. Katya encouraged him to apply anyway, but first, he would need new clothes.
Everytime that Ashkhad received a monthly allowance, he would quickly blow it on expensive, unnecessary items. Katya encouraged Ashkhad to spend his money wisely and took him to look for a few inexpensive items. While shopping, and much to Katya's suprise, Ashkhad didn't know any of his sizes. He had been wearing shoes three times larger and shirts much too large for him. He had never learned or been taught how clothes were supposed to fit.
Some people at the orphanage had told Katya that Ashkhad was a "lost cause" and not to waste time trying to help him. But with Katya's help, Ashkhad has learned how to handle his money well and with new, correctly fitted clothes, he's ready to take on the world with his new-found confidence. This is just the beginning for Ashkhad and Zhenya thanks to Katya, Kostya and you.