аааааааааа METIS Ц NEWS
ARC
CONTINUES ENGLISH, FRENCH CLASSES
MEET METIS Volunteer:а Gogli Zakharia
MEDICAL TREATMENT URGENTLY NEEDED
ARC
CONTINUES ENGLISH, FRENCH CLASSES
Action for RussiaТs Children (ARC) has awarded a second grant in support of English and French language classes at the METIS Education Center.а This award will be used to underwrite teacher salaries.
A previous ARC grant enabled METIS to renovate and furnish classrooms at the Timiryazev Agricultural Academy in northern Moscow.а Classes began in September 2003, and at present over 40 children are enrolled.а
Please contact METIS if you are interested in registering your child for these lessons.а Classes are free of charge.а
METIS extends its deep appreciation to ARC for this support, and looks forward to an ongoing program. Merci and thank you!
One day I happened to see several mixed- race children begging for money in the subway.аа I came up to them, introduced myself and asked them to tell me about themselves.
It turned out that they were just part of a large Russian-Guinean family with many children. Altogether there are seven of them. Their father, Dauda Kaba, disappeared long ago and left all the children with their mother, Tassia, who is very ill. She has heart disease and cannot work. The family lived from hand to mouth in a small two-room apartment.а They were in debt and could not pay the rent and gas bills. The children did not go to school because they had no appropriate clothing, and often no food.а Their mother taught them how to read and write.
Yet in spite of our support everyday life is very hard for the Kaba family. Their rent debts remain, and they face the threat of eviction. There is almost no furniture in the apartment and most of the children have to sleep on the floor.а Naturally such domestic surroundings are oppressive, and lead to depression.а In 2002 Seku, and last year Bengale, were imprisoned for drugs. Upon his release, Bengale was brutally beaten by skinheads.а
Now METIS is trying to locate their father, Dauda Kaba. Our goal is to save these children while it is still possible.а We would greatly appreciate any assistance in these efforts.
I am the grandmother of Arlett Liela. She is 8 years old now and she is in the Fund [a member of METIS]. IТm raising her alone.
My daughter Joanna (she is mixed-race) married an Angolan citizen. My granddaughter was born in that marriage. Arlett was 2 years old when her mother became ill and passed away. WeТve lived together, just the two of us, since that time. The father doesnТt help at all. He used to write us once in a while but he does not write any more.
I just want to say that the people working for the Fund do a lot of good. My granddaughter and I take part in all their activities: celebrations, Clownada theater, excursions, museums, movies, etc. Apart from that we receive food packages from sponsors every month and sometimes clothes. It is a great help to us. IТve worked as a nurse all my life and my salary is not high.
Arlett has made friends with many mixed-race children and waits impatiently for the meetings at the Ethnic Center because there she can always find kindness and joy.а There are no unwelcome looks, angry faces, or abusive words.
Thank you to everyone who supports mixed-race children!
ааа SPONSOR A CHILD AT SUMMER CAMP
As little as 800 Rubles can help send a child
to camp this summer
Summer is the time for fun.а During the past few years METIS has been able to send groups of children to the summer camp УFriendФ (Druzhniy), in the Naro-Fominsk suburb of Moscow.аа The camp offers various recreational activities:а drawing, dancing, soccer and other sports, swimming lessons, films and reading.а It is an ideal place for fun and relaxation, and a way to escape the heat and smog of Moscow and spend healthy time outdoors.а
ааааааааа
The Federal Committee for Families and Youth has sponsored METIS children at the camp annually.а Last year, 13 children were able to participate.а Unfortunately, the number of places offered to METIS is declining, even as the number of needy children grows.а In addition, this summer the Committee will require families to pay 10% of the cost Ц approximately 800 Rubles per child (up from 200 Rubles last year).а For many families this is too much, and they will not be able to send their children to the camp.
But your support can make a difference. The full cost of sponsoring one child for a three-week session is approximately 8,000 Rubles; this covers all expenses, including transportation and camp fees. Or, for 800 Rubles, you can cover just the familyТs share of the fee.
Please help us send our children to camp.а Summer is fast approaching.а DonТt delay - contact METIS today.а
MEET
METIS Volunteer:а Gogli Zakharia
A Man with Empty Pockets but
a Big Heart
We would like to
say a few kind words about this person.а
Gogli is from Togo, and he has worked with METIS for more than two
years.а He holds a graduate degree from
the Timiryazev Agricultural Academy.а He
has a mixed-race daughter named Elizabeth and he understands the problems of
metis children as few others do.
Two years ago,
when our organization needed to move out of the Russian Academy of ScienceТs
Institute of Africa, GogliТs help was invaluable.а He knocked on many doors, asking and persuading, trying to find a
solution to our problem.а At his suggestion
we turned to the Timiryazev Academy and to V. N. Koshelyov, the Vice-Rector for
International Relations, who listened to us and helped us.а In this way, with assistance from ARC and
IWC, we were able to open the METIS Education Center for underprivileged
families.
Aside from his
excellent organizational skills, GogliТs most important characteristic is his
love for children, his sincere concern for them.а Gogli has become a French teacher at the Education Center.а He always phones his students, to remind
them УDonТt forget to come to classФ or УI hope weТll see you on Saturday.Фа He asks about their health if they have been
ill.а Gogli knows them all by name; he
knows their problems and their joys.а
And the children respond to him with love.
Before the opening
of the class there were only 15 students signed up; now there are 45!а The children come to class and one can see
on their faces that Gogli is not only a strict teacher, but also a friend.а Little Oswald says, УI always look to Gogli
as a father Ц he is good and kind, probably just like my own dad far away in
Africa.Ф
MEDICAL
TREATMENT URGENTLY NEEDED
Philip Diakonov is 10 months old.а
His mother Julia is Russian.а His
father is from Guinea; he came here to study, but has now returned to his
country.
From the very
first days of his life little Philip has been quite ill with painful eczema all
over his skin.а In spite of ceaseless
medical treatment since birth, his condition is not improving.
Now the baby needs further medical treatment in ChildrenТs Hospital #
38 (Dr. Svetlana Nikolaevna Zaitseva, a pediatrician-allergist, is in charge of
his case). The basic cost of one day in the hospital is 800 Rubles, and some
treatment and tests must be paid additionally.
Julia is the only one in her family working.а In addition to Philip, she also supports her mother and her elderly
grandmother.а Julia has asked METIS for
help but, unfortunately, we are not able to help her. Our Fund is a
humanitarian organization and we simply do not have the financial resources.
That is why we turn to you, and kindly ask you to assist Julia with
contributions toward her sonТs medical treatment.а If you can help, please contact Julia Diakonova at tel. 461
3458а or Emilia Tynes-Mensah at tel.
391-9710.
HOW WE LIVE
(excerpt from Moskovskaya Sreda,
N. 24, 2003)
Emilia
Tynes-Mensah, President of the Inert-Racial ChildrenТs Charity Fund METIS:а УBeginning in the 1960Тs approximately
70,000 Africans came to Russia to study, and they left about 25,000 children
here.а The number of children from
mixed-race families is growing.а These
are very beautiful and talented children, but they have difficult lives in
Russia.а In order to protect their
rights, we decided to establish this organization [fund].а One of our goals is providing humanitarian
assistance.а
Unfortunately the
fathers of many of these children have left Russia.а Today we have 26 orphans registered in our Fund.а There are also broken families.а In Moscow and the Moscow region, we have 173
families, with 203 children from ages 2-20, and in RyazanТ and Tula we have
another 53 children.
Many children from mixed marriages finish higher education, even defend
dissertations, but do not work in their chosen professions Ц they cannot find
jobs.а They also turn to us.а Thus, in our fund we have 40 full
(two-parent) families, earning very little income, that account for 52
children.а They are also needy.а
Our fund is able to exist only due to financial support from foreign
sponsors.
I have visited
many Russian organizations, but I am not accepted as a Russian person.а СWhy do you come to us?Т they ask.а Even at the Ministry of Education I was
told: СGo to some African organizationЕWe have enough problems with our own
children!а And you bring us Africans!Та
How can they be
Africans, when they were born here?а
What should they do?а How should
they live?а When there are problems with
Azerbaijanis, Georgians, Armenians Ц they have somewhere to turn.а But our children Ц nowhere! These children
donТt look like Russians.а But who are
they?а They are Russians, because their
mothers are Russians.а But they are
treated as strangersЕЕФ
Today there is no
security for our children.а The
government is silent Ц they deny there is a problem.а After the idyllic unity of our Уbrotherly nationsФ this seems
rather unexpected.а It appears that
tolerance in our attitudes toward one another was lacking in depth because of
an absence of dialogue between cultures.а
However, during
the past several years a number of Moscow schools have conducted lessons on
tolerance, and conferences have been held on the topic of xenophobia.а It will be years before it is possible to
evaluate the effectiveness of these efforts.а
But in any case, the final result depends on the family - on parentsТ
attitudes toward Уour ownФ and Уothers.Ф Children echo their parentsТ
attitudes, and it is difficult to change them just through laws and school
programs.
AT HOME WITH METIS by Igor Frolov
IТve been with METIS for four years.а During these years the Fund has become our second home.а My grandmother volunteers, and I do my best to help the FundТs development.а I am happy to have a place where I can meet mixed-race children of my age since I donТt have many friends outside the Fund.а There is constant contact between guys and girls from the Fund; we call each other and invite each other to birthday parties and such.
The most important thing for me is that I can attend free courses in our Education Center. I am studying English and French, and the basics of information science.а Iа hope the skills and knowledge I get there will help me to find a job, because the only income we have now is my grandmotherТs pension.
Our financial situation could be cruel but we have some help from the Fund.а I receive food packages, clothes and footwear every month.а This is a big help.
I am glad that there is such a
helpful and supportive organization as METIS. I would like to thank all of our
sponsors and organizers for their understanding of the problems of mixed-race
children in Russia, for their kindness and support, and for giving us the
possibility to study and go to theaters, circus and museums.
