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.