BABY HOUSE NUMBER FIVE
Moscow, Russia
Posted 23 September, 2003
My wife & I adopted our little girl from Moscow in January, 2003, through Adopt-a-Child, Inc., located in Pittburgh, PA.
She was 14 months old when we first met her, at "Baby House Number 5". We stayed at the Marriot Tverskaya, and the orphanage was approx 10-15 minutes away, depending on traffic. The building appears to have been originally designed as an orphanage, as it has dual hand rails (one for big people, and a lower one for little people). It is of a "Stalin-era" type of construction, as we were told by our very nice driver/translator Sasha. This fairly large building, albiet older & non-descript, was in fine shape, and new paint was evident (a flat orange & white exterior, and white gloss interior/over many coats of paint). The windows appeared to be in good condition (none were found to be broken), and all had the traditional "second set" of interior windows. An exceptionally thick & strong high concrete wall surrounded the building & grounds, and was painted a rather drab flat green. Large dual metal gates admitted motor vehicles. The grounds inside the walls offered various outside activities
for warmer months, a swing set, a play house, etc.
Our new child's age group was located on the second level, and their "play room" was quite large, and well lit. We did not get to see the sleeping accomodations, but, we were told that each child had his/her own bed. A second, more intimate/private room on the first level was provided to us for one-on-one interaction with our daughter-to-be. The children at this orphanage looked active, clean, in excellent health, and were obviously well
fed. The staff that we met were very friendly, and were observed taking considerable care of each of the twelve children in this group. Visually, the surroundings were "comfortable", but not luxurious. The children had many toys, rockers, walkers and other "learning devices" to occupy their time, and a new Sony VCR/TV was installed. We noted several boxes of toys that had never been opened yet, obviously donated by grateful parents-to-be preceeding us. Child-sized tables & chairs were noted throughout the rooms of the building. On the lower level, a piano could be heard being played, with a Caregiver having a "sing-along" with other children. All in all, we were impressed with the surroundings being provided to these unfortunate orphans. During our stay, various Caregivers could be seen reading to the children, when not feeding or changing them. I regret the fact that we cannot remember any of the names of the Caregivers...Sorry.
We noted that there was approx 6 "full time" Caregivers, and also, 2 younger "Interns" in employ, plus a Director. As I have seen on other posts, a strict time schedule IS imposed and followed rigidly by the staff regarding daily activities (eating, napping, play, sleeping, etc.). It was interesting to note that although the outside temp was approx 20-30 degrees
(F), the interior temperature was well over 80 degrees. Children walked & crawled about in light clothing, as there was no need for heavier clothing. (Now, when going outside, THAT is another story...A child outside could survive the North Pole, the way they bundle & dress them.) We observed that the many hot water radiators were childproofed, having large sheets of ventilated thin plywood protecting the many little hands from the hot
surfaces. The day we left with our Sophia, some of the the staff was present for our departure, and we noted that a few tears were visible on said staff members.
The Caregivers are obviously bonded to their children.
Both of our trips to Moscow were remarkably problem free. Our Agency's staff had all paperwork and had all necessary tasks performed on time, without any delays. One who wishs may read more about our actual adoption process at the Adopt-A-Child.org website (Click on the "Parents Speak" link, then click on
"The Wolinski Family" link)...
An exceptional & quite memorable experience, without question.
Thanks for letting us share our story.
Ed, Cathy & Sophia Wolinski
Uniontown, PA
USA
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