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California Camping News
Russian and American Lives Changed for the Best
through Summer Camps
CAPISTRANO BEACH, CA, June 2, 2004 (INB) On June 16,
2004, a team of forty-four teenagers and adults will be leaving for
Kostroma, Russia to host summer camps for two orphanages sponsored by
Children's HopeChest and Capo Beach Calvary. The children in these
orphanages have been labeled "mentally inferior," although an
independent team of psychologists and educators determined that seventy
percent of them have been misdiagnosed. According to Lady Caroline Cox,
"Our findings revealed that the majority of these children are average
or above average intelligence." Due to their diagnoses though, they are
not eligible for a normal education in Russia. The care provided them by
the government barely serves to keep them fed.
“During the summer, the teachers and school staff leave the orphanages
and the children are left to themselves with minimal supervision and
little to do. That’s where we come in, to encourage their self-esteem by
spending time with the orphans, teaching them life-skills and showing
them God’s love,” Rod Mayer explained. "The trip is life changing, both
for the Americans and the Russians," continued Mayer, who led a similar
team last year. Directors of the orphanages welcome the summer camp
teams, who organize activities for the children and keep them busy all
day long. One director said after last year’s summer camp, "We can see
the positive influence the American kids have on our orphans, and we are
very, very pleased."
According to statistics gathered by Children’s HopeChest, an
organization in Colorado Springs that provides sponsorship for Russian
and Romanian orphans from American churches and corporations, nearly
fifteen percent of Russian orphans commit suicide within two years of
leaving the orphanage. An estimated seventy percent end up in prison,
prostitution, and crime. Corporations that sponsor Russian orphans
through Children’s HopeChest include Interstate Batteries and a number
of Chick-Fil-A restaurants.
"No one holds out any hope for these kids. That includes government
officials, people in general, even their supervisors," according to
Chuck Smith, Jr., who has visited these orphanages several times. Mr.
Smith's church provides sponsorship and humanitarian aid for two
orphanages in the Kostroma region. "Last winter the heating pipes in the
Neya orphanage burst and they were without heat for several days. The
temperature inside the orphanage was below zero. Teachers had the 180
children, ages three to eighteen, running in the halls the generate
enough warmth to sit in classes for twenty minutes."
If you would like more information about The Summer Camp for Orphans or
about the Capo Beach Calvary team members, please contact Rod Mayer at
949-493-2006, e-mail
teenpastor@cox.net or visit his website at
http://www.myreddoor.net.
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