To Russia

To Russia, with love

August 18, 2001

By Katharhynn Heidelberg
Journal Staff Writer

Many young people travel abroad, but not all of them leave a legacy. Former Cortez resident Brady Tanner is the exception.

In June of last year, Tanner joined forces with Tyson Bauer, his friend and the founder of "To Russia With Love." To Russia With Love is a non-profit organization based in Provo, Utah. Its mission is to help the children living in Russian orphanages make their own way.

According to statistics provided by the organization, Russian middle-class society is struggling to make ends meet. This struggle has led some families to give up their children — or abandon them outright.

"Christina," 16, who was found on the streets of Kazan, had been deserted by her mother years earlier. Her mother’s cryptic note read: "I can’t take care of you any more. All the best." Others, like 12-year-old Sergey Bolyar, lost his family in Uzbekistan, a tragedy he finds too traumatic for words.

The orphans come up hard against the realities of Russian society. The government there provides for basic needs, like food, Tanner said, but when children turn 18, they are turned out of state-run orphanages. They face a grim economy, where jobs are scarce, and preference is naturally given to workers with better skills and education.

"Eighty percent of the kids have nothing when they get out. They turn to drugs and prostitution," Tanner said, and create a self-perpetuating cycle of poverty and abuse. Additionally, they are often psychologically damaged. "Growing up in the orphanage, they have no time to spend with themselves, and develop only poor social skills."

Tanner first became aware of the orphans’ plight while serving as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. During a return trip to Russia last September, he visited orphanages in Penza, Saratov, Smara, Kazan and Marx, among other towns.

It was in Penza that he met Ludmilla Vladimirvna, an orphanage director with a mission: Teach the children to help themselves. Vladimirvna had dreams of building a trade school, and Bauer and Tanner volunteered to help.

The difficulty was getting Vladimirvna to trust them — she had seen many promises go unfulfilled, and corruption syphon off funds originally intended for her orphans. But the two men were persistent, and so, the "School of Love" was born. Bauer and Tanner returned to the U.S., where they began a fund-raising campaign for the school.

The School of Love will teach "practical skills," Tanner said, including carpentry, computer skills and sewing. Additionally, the children are already learning to create art, which Tanner has had reproduced on greeting cards. These cards are currently being sold to help fund the school.

Teaching will be done wholly by volunteers, while the children themselves are responsible for the upkeep of the building.

"That’s another reason why we really like the idea," Tanner said. "It’s proactive" because it forces the children to take care of themselves when others cannot.

The school is scheduled for completion this September. To Russia With Love will continue raising funds for supplies.

Tanner said that his organization uses donations towards operating expenses and plane tickets only if donors specifically request it. Otherwise, "we really shy away from using money for operational costs."

He was quick to point out that the exchange rate enables To Russia With Love to "do a lot with very little." For instance, $100 can provide winter clothing for six teens. A thousand dollars can treat 300 sick children.

Donations of clothing are welcome as well, Tanner said, however, customs tax "makes (shipping clothing) almost not worth it." All donations are tax-deductible.

After a life of deprivation and indifference, even the simplest acts of kindness do not go unnoticed by the orphans. Tanner recounted how, on his arrival, all the kids ran up and greeted his party with hugs. "We were strangers. They didn’t know us."

One little boy was so excited at the prospect of a real Christmas that he ran away from his hospital bed, and all the way back to the orphanage, in his underwear. It was midwinter.

"I had to chew him out a bit," Tanner said, but seeing Santa Claus meant everything to the child.

Even though the building is not yet complete, the concept of the School of Love is working. Christina, the girl previously mentioned, hopes to work at an orphanage "helping girls like her." Sergey is pursuing a future as a builder. The dreams of others range from Irina’s modest hopes of becoming a secretary, to Sasha’s medical-school ambitions.

For Tanner, the reward is all intrinsic. "I became involved because this was the perfect way to help out. It makes my life a lot better."

To make donations, contact To Russia With Love at P.O. Box 2207, Provo, UT 84603; telephone: 801-356-0577, and website, http://torussiawithlove.org. For more information about Tanner’s work, or to purchase handmade cards, contact him on e-mail at choomabalotna@hotmail.com (Choomabalotna is Tanner’s Russian nickname).