The program starts with recruiting the candidates, reviewing their resumes, and interviewing them for the positions. The hiring process included signing contracts with the interns and explaining to them the relevant clauses of the Russian Labor Law, their responsibilities and obligations. After being hired, the program manager assisted them in their work plans and hours. Just this part of the project alone was a valuable experience for the orphans.
This year twelve interns, including five in Ivanovo, have an exceptional opportunity to learn and practice job skills in a friendly environment, and to gain work experience. Originally the plan was to hire three interns in Ivanovo, as in the other regions (Vladimir and Kostroma). But in Ivanovo we received more enthusiastic responses from the young people than in the other regions. Eager to encourage their enthusiasm but limited by the number of internships, we offered some an opportunity to split the pay and time, and five young people agreed to share the three positions.
Once a week the interns participate in the Ivanovo Ministry Center staff meetings and the program manager has individual meetings with them to discuss important issues to further develop their job skills. Topics include:
* Work discipline and ethics
* Repercussions of breach of discipline as stipulated by the Russian Code of Law
* Taking care of the current documentation (work plans, compiling updates and reports, etc)
* Personal conduct in the work place
* Communication with their co-workers, use of appropriate language
* Safety in the work place
Below you can read about the amazing young people that were interns in Ivanovo for the past school year.
Alexander helped coach the guys at the gym and made sure the gym was clean. A big issue is that orphans have one pair of shoes that they wear both outside and in the gym. During winter months, when there is a lot of slush and mud outside, it takes a lot of work to keep the floors and the equipment at the gym clean. In addition, Alexander led monthly seminars for the Ministry Center participants and technical schools focusing on Healthy Life Style. The topics included “Say No to Drugs, Say Yes to Life”, “The Repercussions of Drug Addiction”, “Abuse provokes Addiction and a Step to other Drugs”, etc. Up to twenty young people came to each of Alexander’s sessions.
The older orphans who come to Alexander’s trainings are high-risk youth. All of them smoke and quite a few of them drink alcohol, and some used to sniff glue. One of the participants, Kolya K., in the beginning was skeptical about the value of Healthy Lifestyle training and found it boring. He skipped the sessions at first but joined the sessions out of curiosity to listen to his former orphanage mate. (He and Alexander grew up at the same orphanage.) After several sessions of listening to Alexander, Kolya finally decided that he would quit drinking to see if that would make a difference in his life. For many like Kolya such a decision is quite a leap.
Oleg says.: “I recently took part in a training led by Alexander and learned about how important it is to take care of one’s health and how harmful a bad habit can be. I smoke and sometimes I drink. When you are young you think that you should try everything in life and at the dorm everybody smokes and drinks. It’s hard to be different, not like others. Everything that Alexander told us was right. I’m addicted to smoking and I think I will try to quit drinking alcohol.”
Igor says: “I took part in Alexander’s trainings several times and even helped him to select material. There are several books on healthy ways of life at the Ministry Center. I took one book home and read it, and now I want to organize another training too. The problem of taking drugs must be discussed all the time because a lot of young people take drugs.”
Denis and Anna led conversations with other Ministry Center participants on topics of Leadership, Personal Development and Skills for Success. They invited other orphans to share their stories of success at their sessions. Between 15 and 20 young people participated in such sessions that take place every two weeks. Both Denis and Anna contribute a lot to this program. Denis has previous experience organizing leadership projects. Anna invites her university friends to come talk to the older orphans. These university students are great role models and help connect older orphans with the Ivanovo community. Many orphans in the Ivanovo Ministry Center reach out to the kids at the orphanages where they come from and Denis and Anna’s sessions prepare them with the necessary skills and knowledge and inspire them.
Victor says:: “Denis and Anna invite successful graduates to share their experience with the others. I was pleased to be one of those people and was thankful for the opportunity to share from my experience. Just like it was important for me to learn from successful people who helped me in the past, I think it’s important for everybody to help others”.
Igor assists with computer classes twice a week. The need for learning computer skills and using computers in the Ivanovo Ministry Center keeps growing as more older orphans who can’t afford personal computers come to the computer lab to do their homework: type reports, essays, papers and diplomas. Igor’s participation allowed keeping the computer lab open for three additional days a week. Igor teaches the participants to use Microsoft Office, CorelDraw, MC text editor, Graphic editor and Photoshop.
Oxana watches the kids of the Young Families program participants and prepared conversations with the young mothers about parenting and child development. The “Mothers Day Out” enables young mothers to have a break from their daily routine and run errands. It also provides educational games for the children and helps prepare them for pre-school. Currently Oxana is pregnant and her internship will cease in April.
The internship program is helping older orphans learn and practice important job skills and be engaged in meaningful outreach to other orphans. It’s also a great way for them to experience the love and care by people like you. Thank you for supporting this program in Ivanovo this year!
Alla says: “All of us have children and some have two children. We all are orphans. Many of us haven’t got any relatives at all. Our lives are hard. But we know that there are people in the world who think of us, love us, help us and pray for us. Thank you so much! We admire you and your kind hearts.”