Russia Blog Diary, Entry One

Scott Collins is blogging about his experiences in Russia as part of the 2008 ‘Shoes for Orphan Souls’ mission trip. This is Scott’s first trip to Russia with Buckner since 1999. He is vice president of External Affairs.

ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA – This is it – the place where Buckner became Buckner International.

None of us could have predicted God’s scheme of things back in the mid-1990s when Ken Hall first visited St. Petersburg on an exploratory mission. Then, it was simply reaching out in response to the tremendous needs of boys and girls in Russia.

The fall of the former Soviet bloc was just a few years old and when the Iron Curtain was pulled back, it revealed desperate social and economic needs. Especially in need were the very young and the very old.

My first visit to Russia was shortly after Dr. Hall’s initial trip. We weren’t sure where or what the Buckner work would look like back then.

My assignment at the time was to show through photography and written images the depth of need in the orphanages here. It was an easy assignment.

Trolley cars powered by electrical current were stuffed beyond capacity with people who would stare out the dirty windows into nothingness. I remember the vacant looks.

Soviet-style apartment buildings housed the entire population of St. Petersburg. Those massive concrete structures stretched throughout the city. Inside, they were dark, cold and musty.

But my most vivid images are saved for the orphanages. It’s hard even now to describe the needs we found. I had never been any place so cold, yet so unbearably hot.

These were cold places back then, made so by the despair we saw. Yet they were unbelievably hot too, kept so by vast amounts of steam heat coursing throughout the buildings.

We found another warmth in the orphanages, too – the directors and caregivers. These were extraordinary individuals working in the face of insurmountable odds. They never had enough of anything and there were never enough of them, either.

It’s been nine years since my last visit here. In the meantime, I’ve been busy traveling to other places where Buckner has work, especially Africa.

Already, I feel like someone who hasn’t seen a child for a long time and I’m amazed at the changes. Coming in from the airport Friday, I saw cars everywhere and construction is definitely on the rise. Those trolley cars that were once stuffed beyond capacity are now half empty.

During my last visit here, Natasha Votyakova had just started as director of the Buckner program in Russia. She is still with Buckner.

Natasha is concerned these days; concerned that Americans will abandon the needs of Russian orphans because of the perceived new wealth here. In welcoming the mission group, she was quick to point out that the needs are greater than ever.

It seems the gap between those who have and those who have not has grown extremely large. With the small slice of Russia that is benefiting, there is a much larger slice that is falling behind.

And left out altogether are the orphans.

If Natasha’s observations are right, then my assignment on this trip is much like the one I had almost 14 years ago on my first visit here.