Irina Simonova Scholarship

FORO has established the Irina Simonova Award to be provided to one older child each year that is departing the orphanage system in the Arkhangelsk Region. The child chosen will be one who shows a spirit of hard-work, honesty, integrity, determination in the face of struggle, and most of all compassion and a willingness to help others--the qualities Irina demonstrated so well. While academic achievement is important, even more important is identifying a child who will go into the world dedicated to helping others more than helping themselves. By giving this award, we hope to help many orphanage children. It is hoped that the recipient will be able to inspire his or her friends to strive to develop these qualities, and perhaps in future years, return to the orphanage to visit and encourage the children who remain. It is hoped that the first recipient will be identified later in 2008.

Irina Sergevena Simonova: A Tribute

On January 31, 2008, Heaven rejoiced when God called home FORO's beloved facilitator, Irina Simonva following a battle with cancer. More than anyone else, she was responsible for FORO's work and success. In 2002, Irina took a chance on some Americans who contacted her out of the blue with a request for help.

She barely knew us, had no reason to trust us, and yet she plunged into doing the work that had to be done in order for FORO to exist. She did it not because she expected or wanted anything, but to help homeless and helpless children and express her own love and concern for them. Irina, a life long resident of Moscow was a gifted and respected journalist for Radio Moscow. But her real calling and mission in life was to serve others. Character, it is said, is displayed best by the acts one does in private, the ones for which nothing in return can ever be expected. Few people ever knew the incredible amount of work Irina did for FORO. But FORO did, and of course God saw it too. It was Irina's character-her strong, determined character, her sacrifice and selfless commitment at the expense of her own time and energy-that made FORO possible. The blessings all connected with FORO have received from her work, and from knowing Irina, have surpassed anything we could ever have imagined.

She was totally devoted to the orphans FORO served, and she served them too, selflessly, and at great personal sacrifice. She promoted and even defended, the FORO cause, not just in meetings with government officials, but with ordinary people across both our countries. Irina will live always in our hearts. Our memories of our remarkable, beloved friend, will sustain us, inspire us, and strengthen us, until that day when we will all be together once more in that place where there are no orphans.

The Roman Project

During FORO Friendship Trip One, Lisa and Phill Wurster met and became enchanted with a young boy named Roman. What better way to show our love for children such as Roman than by giving them books. And, what better book to share than the Bible.

The original aim of the "Roman Project" was to supply Russian language children and youth Bibles to boys and girls like Roman. FORO has provided Bibles to many of the orphanages and hopes to increase this work in the future, working with the Russian Bible Society. More recently, the scope of the Roman Project has expanded to also include the presentation of the Gospel to children in the orphanages via video and other communication by Russian evangelical Christians. These visits have been arranged and funded by FORO.

Arms of Hope

All children have unique, God-given potential for emotional and cognitive growth and development. But, that potential will not be reached unless neural networks in the brain are activated and made receptive. Children who do not have human touch and interaction as infants, often fail to have healthy emotional and cognitive development. The aim of “Arms of Hope” is to provide additional sensory and emotional stimulation to infants through holding, rocking, and verbal interaction with babies with consistent, additional caregivers. Usual, the caregiver to child ratio in orphanages is high so the necessary one-to-one attention needed for appropriate neural network development is absent. FORO hopes to launch this program later this year.

What’s Cooking

Children living in orphanages are often not exposed to basic family-living situations. They need to learn life skills to survive since they usually have no family support system to help. The goal of this program, being implemented this year, is to encourage children to learn the skills of budgeting, shopping, meal preparation and household chores. Children are divided into teams and given an amount of money to use to prepare a meal, set tables, serve the food to judges and clean-up. The judges select a winning team to receive the prize of a dinner in a restaurant.

Linking Friends

The aim of this project is to link orphans with adult sponsors. FORO is recruiting local congregations to volunteer their time. If you feel your congregation is interested in becoming a part of this program, please email us for details.

Buy A Bike

What child doesn't enjoy the freedom and fun of riding a bicycle? We have learned that many orphanage children would love to ride a bike, but that usually the orphanage can't afford this luxury. Through our "Buy-a-Bike" program, FORO has provided bicycles for some of the orphanages we continue to support.

Kotlas Kids Gym and Playground

The Kotlas Baby Home needed an indoor playroom for the children. The orphanage had the space but they did not have the funds for the remodeling and equipment needed for the gymnasium. FORO supplied the money, and now the children have a warm, pleasant place to play during the many months when playing outdoors is impossible.

FORO is in the process of rebuilding the orphanage's dilapidated playground. The progress of this program has been put on hold as more urgent needs related to a new roof and room repairs have been addressed. With the completion of this activity, progress will we hope soon resume on this project.

Spotlight on Sports

The older children's orphanages have a great need for athletic equipment. Also, the children would love to use community athletic facilities, but the orphanages don’t have the money for admission fees. Sports provide a wonderful, healthy activity for the kids, especially the boys, who outnumber the girls nearly two to one.

FORO has been very active in supplying equipment and recreation fees to enable the children to participate in these activities. The aid has been provided at numerous orphanages. Often this equipment and opportunities are provided to children as an incentive for good behavior.

Starting Strong

The statistics concerning the future of children who leave the orphanage system in Russia are grim. Approximately 50% of the children fall into crime, alcoholism, drug abuse, prostitution or other destructive life category. Some children are unable to seek higher education because the government provided stipend is inadequate to meet their needs.

Through “Starting Strong,” FORO supplies a monetary stipend of $250 to give the young person a financial boost as he or she begins their higher education. This work is being initiated at an orphanage in Severdinsk in the Arkhangelsk region where gifted children who wish to attend an institute of higher learning are sent for their last two years of high school.

The first scholarships were awarded in April 2005 and FORO representatives hosted a reception for the young people who benefited from the scholarships. One young man said, “You have changed my concept of what Americans are like, and I am not saying this to flatter you. I really mean it.”

Dima Fund

“The Dima Fund” is a special program of FORO designed to help special Russian orphans with medical needs. The “Dima Fund” is named for a little boy who, until April 2005, lived his entire 6 years of life at the Kotlas Baby Home. Through this program, FORO supplies funding to orphanages to help defray the cost of costly medical treatment for children with serious conditions.

Dima, now Jonathan, was adopted by FORO Board member Teresa Grigsby in April 2005! The “Dima Fund” will, on an on-going basis, be used to support the medical needs of other orphans in Russia.

Material Aid

Material aid of various forms is a cornerstone of FORO’s activities. This element of FORO’s work is critical as the needs are real and this assistance demonstrates FORO’s sincere desire to help. Appliances, vans, medical equipment, furniture, clothes, shoes, tools, and equipment are just some of the myriad of goods FORO has provided to the orphanages. Typically, these items are purchased in Russia to avoid logistical problems.

Building Renovations

Most orphanages are located in old and frequently dilapidated buildings. Crumbling walls, broken fixtures, and unsafe conditions are common. FORO provides funding to make necessary improvements and upgrade the living conditions of the children.

Vocational Training

Without a life skill, orphans are at great risk for falling into a destructive lifestyle such as crime, prostitution, drugs or alcohol, and for the orphan cycle to continue. FORO provides funding to permit the orphanages to establish special workshops for vocational training in areas such as woodworking, sewing, shoe repair and farming.