Savva Delegation Update

Posted by Sara Coggins, Kids Connection Manager

The Savva Delegation is off to a good start at camp. They are in the midst of their fourth full day. They have had three teaching days and today they took the day off for a trip to the park with all the children. They are enjoying their time and overall the team is remaining healthy despite the time change, heat, and change in food.


Daily Schedule:
Each day, the delegation follows the same basic daily schedule. It begins at 7:30 in the morning with a team meeting in order to see how everyone is doing. At 8:30 it is time for breakfast. English classes start at 9:30 in the school. Then, they have some free time. Lunch is at 12:30 followed by some organized activity time. Some of the group plays sports with the kids, while others do quieter activities (hair, nails, tattoos, etc). This is followed by a nap and then snack time. After snack, some of the group does some special activities with the youngest children while others have some more free time. Dinner is at 6:30 followed by an evening activity (craft, relay race, carnival, etc). This is followed up each night with dancing and then getting cleaned up. The night ends around 10:30 with a meeting to talk about the activities for the next day.


Overall Impressions
Those that are visiting Savva for the first time have been amazed at how quickly specific children become attached to them. On the first day I walked up to a group of children and they proudly informed me that two of the delegates were Vika's mom and dad. This family has sponsored her for the last few years and finally had a chance to meet her in person. You could see by the smile on her face how special it made her feel that her sponsors came to visit.


Those that are returning to Savva for the 2nd, 3rd, or even 6th time, have been reminded of how much it means to the children for them to return. Many of these delegates have had the opportunity to actually hear the children's life stories. The first year they spent a lot of time hugging and playing with children, but now that they have returned they have the opportunity to sit and talk with the children. So many are willing to share extremely difficult stories because the delegates have earned their trust over the years.


The delegation has three more full days at camp. They will return to Taraz on Thursday morning.

Savva Delegation

The Savva orphanage delegation arrived today with all of their luggage. They are tired after the long trip, but all in good spirits and excited about the week ahead. They are spending the night in host homes and will leave for the orphanage tomorrow for camp.

The Clowns are Coming!

Posted by Ember Mumaw, Intern

They not only came, but they brought horns and huge shoes, beautiful smiles, and a lot of crazy clown games! And the kids loved it! Here are a few shots of us celebrating Children’s Day (albeit a bit late) at Saramoldeava orphanage with the youngest children. The children and teachers are eager for us to come again with the clowns!


The cool thing about the clowns is that they work for a good friend of Interlink, Nadezhda (which means hope in Russian), who has a clown entertainment business. Several of her clowns come from PTL, the local school where orphanage graduates study and board. It so great to see the graduates working and able to make extra money while, in this occasion, they reach out to kids who are also from the orphanage.

Last Ulan Visit

Posted by Ken Baskette, Project Manager

We visited the children at Ulan orphanage last Thursday for the last time this summer. The children will all go to a summer camp for the next two and a half months. We will also see them when an American delegation comes in July for a week long camp.

It was a great time with the children Thursday, playing games, giving them small gifts, stickers and temporary water based tattoos. We also had a number of letters from American friends to hand out. The children especially love getting letters! We also had the two Knauss boys (Daniel and Caleb) and Theresa helping out with the children.

The children so love and appreciate our visits. All had a very nice time as the children went from station to station for the games, gifts and tattoos. Our friendships are strong there. We have also built a strong rapport with the staff at Ulan. Thanks for all your support back home that makes all this possible.

Posted by Daniel and Caleb Knauss, Sons of President David Knauss

Caleb: On Thursday I went to a Kazakh orphanage. We gave stuff to the kids. After that we went to a different part of the orphanage and did the same thing. Then we went home.

Daniel: On Thursday my mom, me, and Ken went to the orphanage with Sara, Kiikzhan, Caleb, Ember, and Muldir. We drove to the orphanage by car. It was interesting. When we got to the orphanage we passed out toys and stickers to the kids. Ken and I put fake tattoos on the kids. Then we drove home.

What did you do while you were at Ulan?

C: I gave out stickers and candy to a lot of kids.


What did you think of the children that you were doing things with?

C: I thought it was cool that people go there and give them stuff.

D: The first group I kind of felt bad for because some of them were 12 or so, but acted like little kids - Like they weren’t being taught how to act. I thought the second group was well behaved.

How does it make you feel when you see children that don’t have parents?

C: Sad because I have my own parents and I like it like that.

D: Bad because they don’t have parents and from our parents friends that have adopted children I have heard some things that have happened to them that were kind of scary.

What should people know about children in orphanages?

D: That there are a lot of kids that really need someone to give them attention. They need to know that someone likes and loves them. The living condition isn’t very easy and they don’t have very nice buildings. The inside of the building is pretty good, but the outside is kind of scary.

Savva Orphanages Turns 90

Posted by Kiikzhan Moldakhanov, Kids Connection Coordinator

On the 6th of June was the 90th birthday of Savva orphanage. The staff from Kids Connection and Youth Impact were invited to Savva to celebrate. It was a big party for the children and staff of the orphanage. The children decorated the orphanage beautifully. At the beginning of the party, they showed a documentary movie about the orphanage which was interesting. After this, the director of the orphanage made a speech. He congratulated all the staff, guests and sponsors. He also presented special gifts and awarded letters of commendation.

A lot of wishes were wished by guests and graduates that had graduated from Savva that were invited to attend. Many of the graduates have succeeded in life. It was a good example for children that are in the orphanage now or will graduate. These graduates told stories to the children about how they lived and studied. The children enjoyed listening to their stories. Also, I am proud of Sara and our President David Knauss for making major contributions for Savva Orphanage.



Posted by Muldir Kidirbekova, Youth Impact Coordinator.

Savva celebrated its 90th year on June 6th. There were 6 of us and David Knauss with his family that attended. When our car approached the gateway, we saw the kids from the 8th grade. They stood on two sides of the driveway. All of them were in white shirts and blue caps and they waved their hands with beautiful smiles on their faces. Discipline and love in Savva were reflected in their behavior. Their task was to greet every guest. Kids of Savva know how to make guests feel welcome. On every our visit they greet us with their kind hearts, warm hugs and hot kisses. They are able to receive and give love. They fill us with their love. This is very important for me. We also had this kind of wonderful greeting on this wonderful day. When we came nearer to the building we saw the kids from the 9th grade sitting along desks. Their task was to take the guests on a little excursion around the place. They enjoyed what they did. They were respectful and performed their task appropriately. All the staff of caregivers and teachers greeted us with their hugs and kisses.

Sitting in the concert hall I watched some kids who were in shining costumes. They were excited about their acting. Beth, Ember and I had an interesting talk with Svetta about her acting and holidays. She is going to go to the sanatorium (a place of rest for the summer). She told that she didn’t want to go there but stay with us during a week at the camp. Ember said that the sanatorium was for the sake of her health. She was in an Uzbek national costume and was going to dance Kazakh and Uzbek national dances.

I talked to Valya, she told me that she plays soccer and their team took third place. She also dances, but she likes doing sports most of all. I could see happiness about her life in her eyes. I am glad she is talented and is successful. They don’t have parents to support them, but they have brothers and sisters so that they are not alone, teachers that teach them how to use their knowledge in their lives, caregivers that educate and take care of them, and us that helping them be confident in making their lives better.

Before the gala we watched a documentary about Savva Orphanage. After that the director spoke about the history of Savva and about the staff working there. They were awarded with letters of commendation and gifts. Sara also received a letter of commendation and a flower for her hard work and love for kids. Then guests spoke and presented their gifts. David with Olya presented three framed pictures, there are hundreds pictures of kids on each. Those pictures were prepared by Ember. Two graduates spoke. One of them is teaching philosophy at three Universities in Moscow, and the other is a president of the service center. They were a good example to the kids of reaching an aim. I became angry when most of the guests left the concert hall while the kids were acting. Of course, they were upset. After having a small meal the concert continued. The hall was full of kids and working staff who were a sincere audience. I watched Sveta’s dancing as I had promised. She danced from her heart and spirit. The audience felt it. We said goodbye to some of the kids, working staff and the director. I wanted to watch the concert till the end and see their happy faces, but we had to leave.