A good report from MIR, our Russian partner:
The best way to know spring is here is to watch the nature wake up. A beautiful opportunity like that was provided by Simon and Sue Young in the course of the Eco Camp visits to Tolmachevo orphanage. Together with the children we went out to check the the trees and the nearby stream to find out the condition of environment.
Sergey Tovstopyat, our camp Elama administrator is taking a lead on this project in Saint Petersburg and the area. Love Russia UK has provided a connection with the Youngs, who contribute all their knowlege, resources and love for kids to bring them closer to God’s creation and by that — to God Himself. Some great specialists from Mendeleev Institute participated in development of the Russian visual aids and professional British publisher printed those aids out.
Simon and Sue brought simple tools and colourful charts that equiped boys and girls as they searched and categorized the lichens and the animals in the water based on how sensitive they are to pollution.
The girls found out that some most sensitive lichens live on the trees around the orphanage which means that the air is very clean. Both teams realised when it comes to the water in the nearby stream — only the least sensitive bugs and warms survived, so this is a bad sign.
Children immediately remembered there is a factory that runs it’s condensation waters into this stream. This simple experiment shows it doesn’t take much to be attentive to the world around you.
It is especially important to the kids who survive in the tough orphanage world, because their God-given skills and reactions are very often damaged and perverted. We were glad that for the 2 hours they spent with us nobody left for a smoke. It is a great way to connect with the children and share God’s love with them.
We’d like to see growth of this project and do follow-up visits to orphanages and shelters. We’d like to make and leave some simple equipment with the children in the orphanages as well as design and publish results of the researches children do.
Support for MIR can be mailed to Stoneworks on sent through the Support page on this site.
