The Global Fund For Children

Six Languages Not a Problem for Building an NGO Community at the Moscow Knowledge Exchange

• By Joseph Bednarek on June 25th, 2011
• Category: Blog, Europe and Eurasia

Moscow and Orion, Russia – One of the essential parts of any GFC Knowledge Exchange workshop is a site visit to at least one nearby GFC grantee partner, so when Kitezh Children’s Community invited our Moscow Knowledge Exchange participants to visit Orion village, I was very pleased. Kitezh Children’s Community provides permanent foster care for orphaned children in a therapeutic community. Orion is the “offspring” of Kitezh, a smaller version of Kitezh that is located about 50 miles from Moscow. The last time I was at Orion village, in December 2010, I stayed just a few minutes, long enough to get some tea before we continued on the road to Kitezh, three hours away. On this particular occasion, I was interested to see more of Orion and to see how our Knowledge Exchange participants—GFC grantee partner leaders—would respond to the visit.

I was not disappointed: although the drive took more than two hours, and came after two and a half days of intensive discussions and workshop sessions, the Knowledge Exchange participants arrived at Orion with plenty of energy and optimism. The site visit confirmed what I had learned about the participants over the previous two days: despite formidable language barriers, oppressive Moscow traffic, and cultural differences in communication style, this group of NGO leaders was determined, in just three days, to learn as much as possible, develop ideas and plans for the future, and form lasting friendships and partnerships. For example, the Knowledge Exchange participants jostled for the chance to ask questions of our Orion and Kitezh hosts about the site’s special educational model of foster families in one village. Afterward, when given the chance to rest and enjoy the atmosphere of the tiny village, the group overwhelmingly demanded to remain active and help the village by collecting firewood in the forest. Even though they were visiting for a short while, the Knowledge Exchange participants were struck by this caring environment for children and wanted to make a contribution. Then, on the way home, over two hours flew by as I listened to dozens of ideas and proposals for cooperation between the participants’ organizations, their plans to revise their fundraising strategies, and their ideas for targeting organizational needs through consultancy relationships: they wanted to make use of every available moment at the Knowledge Exchange.

We finally reached the hotel after 9:00 PM, and many of the participants said good-bye to one another at this time because they were leaving early the next morning. I watched with particular interest as Judit Horvath, from GFC partner Nap Klub in Budapest, Hungary, said good-bye to Valentina Lebedeva, from GFC partner Vita in Chisinau, Moldova. Valentina speaks only Russian, but she was able to talk to many other participants who spoke Russian during the workshop. Judit, meanwhile, attended the Knowledge Exchange even though she knew she would only be able to speak the same language with one other participant, Agnes Ivan from GFC partner Tudor Foundation, also a Hungarian partner. While Agnes speaks English, Judit speaks only Hungarian and had to rely on Agnes the entire workshop to translate for her. Nevertheless, Judit asked questions at Orion through Agnes, and at the very end of the day, I watched her somehow communicate a heartfelt good-bye to Valentina, even though neither shared any common words. Throughout the workshop, Judit overcame many obstacles to achieve something for herself and her organization, a determination that I believe GFC partners worldwide share. No matter what language or culture or continent, GFC grantee partner leaders consistently demonstrate their commitment to children by actively working to improve their own and their organization’s ability to serve kids.