The Global Fund For Children

Reconnecting

• By Joseph Bednarek on August 14th, 2011
• Category: Blog, Europe and Eurasia

Balykchy, Kyrgyzstan – Lake Issyk-Kul, the world’s second-largest alpine lake, is surrounded by mountains, and although it’s already August, many of the tallest peaks are still snow-capped. GFC grantee partner Children of Tien-Shan, which is named after the mountain range, works under this stunning natural backdrop. However, the reality on the ground, in the small town of Balykchy and in the surrounding region at the western end of Lake Issyk-Kul, is much more serious. Kyrgyzstan has endured three serious political and ethnic crises in the past six years, which have exacerbated the economic uncertainty and hardship in a country that was still recovering from the post-Soviet economic devastation. For the country’s most vulnerable children, many of whom are homeless, orphans, or social orphans, the situation is difficult.

Children of Tien-Shan, founded by husband-and-wife team Dmitry and Irina Trofimov, has worked for ten years to protect the region’s most vulnerable children. The organization is guided by one primary philosophy: that children who have been separated from their families for one reason or another should be returned to their families if at all possible. While Children of Tien-Shan runs a rehabilitation center for neglected, abused, or socially orphaned children, the goal is to provide a foster family for the children so that they will eventually be reunited with their families, or adopted when the family situation is too dangerous or when there are no parents. Today, I visited the rehabilitation center, where I was greeted by a group of small children who were busy collecting apricots on a hot summer day. The kids were laying out the apricots to be dried so that they could be made into jam for the winter.

Irina and Dmitry explained that most of the children stay for a few months, although some stay longer. The organization works with prospective foster families to find the right match between foster parents and each child. In some cases, the staff has undertaken extensive investigations and found the children’s parents in Bishkek (three hours away) or even in Moscow. Because of unfortunate circumstances, these children had been separated from their parents, but Children of Tien-Shan was able to reunite them. The staff makes sure, however, that any families or parents are ready to take their children back into a proper family environment. The organization also recruits and trains foster families to take into their homes children who need a transitional environment.