So here's the 411. I'm staying in a village called Kitezh, located 5 hours outside of Moscow. Now this place isn't your run-of-the-mill, old and decrepit soviet village. It's actually an amazing and thriving social experiment. The idea is to create a community of foster families that work together as teachers, farmers, and mentors in order to provide educational therapy for orphaned Russian children. They also believe in complete environmentally friendly living--they grow most of their own food, raise their own animals, and compost nearly everything. Here, everyone works together, makes decisions together, and lives together deep in the Russian countryside. There are 14 houses, a dining hall, a school house, a farm, and a church (that never seems to be used).
Although somewhat isolated, Kitezh is always busy. Visitors come to see what life here is like. Other children from the sister community called Orion spend time here. Students from Moscow study here during the year due to the excellent education. And volunteers (like me!) are constantly in flux. The belief is that anyone has something to offer to Kitezh, so they're very open to new volunteers from around the world. But don't let that fool you--these guys are strict. If you're going to live here, you're going to work. And you're going to follow all their numerous rules about interactions with the children; for obvious reasons, there are certain topics and behaviors that are completely off limits.
Oh something completely interesting and unique about Kitezh: every summer (in 2 weeks!) they host a huge role-playing game for children. 150 kids from around Russia, mostly Moscow, will be staying here and participating in quests, battling evil, and fighting for the crown. Pretty much a little kid's dream. The idea is to teach them responsibility, in that they're able to choose exactly what they want to do each day, as well as foster their imagination and belief in the fairytale notions of good overpowering bad. Honestly, I can't wait to see it. Expect lots of pictures! (I hope I'll get to be a princess!)
So there you have it, the basic "what's what" in Kitezh. I'll leave you with this picture of the big Oak (in Russian "Doob"), the meeting place in the very center of the town. Sometimes they have morning exercises here too, oh goodie!
Although somewhat isolated, Kitezh is always busy. Visitors come to see what life here is like. Other children from the sister community called Orion spend time here. Students from Moscow study here during the year due to the excellent education. And volunteers (like me!) are constantly in flux. The belief is that anyone has something to offer to Kitezh, so they're very open to new volunteers from around the world. But don't let that fool you--these guys are strict. If you're going to live here, you're going to work. And you're going to follow all their numerous rules about interactions with the children; for obvious reasons, there are certain topics and behaviors that are completely off limits.
Oh something completely interesting and unique about Kitezh: every summer (in 2 weeks!) they host a huge role-playing game for children. 150 kids from around Russia, mostly Moscow, will be staying here and participating in quests, battling evil, and fighting for the crown. Pretty much a little kid's dream. The idea is to teach them responsibility, in that they're able to choose exactly what they want to do each day, as well as foster their imagination and belief in the fairytale notions of good overpowering bad. Honestly, I can't wait to see it. Expect lots of pictures! (I hope I'll get to be a princess!)
So there you have it, the basic "what's what" in Kitezh. I'll leave you with this picture of the big Oak (in Russian "Doob"), the meeting place in the very center of the town. Sometimes they have morning exercises here too, oh goodie!
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