2015
12/01/2015 The New Year - the New Studio
Our additional venue at the address Delegatskaya 14, ground floor, has started to operate since January 2015. Now most classes with children will be held there. The new studio is light and spacious, there are several rooms for our various art activities.
Playing games at the New Year party
In the end of December we held a New Year party for children and adults, as well as for local residents, at Delegatskaya. And in January groups of children started to attend art classes there.
We express sincere gratitude to the Tverskoy municipality for the new venue, long-term friendship and support.
02/02/2015 Drawing with Sberstrakh
On Sunday, 1st of February, Maria’s Children volunteers and artists took part in an event at “Sberbank Strakhovanie (Insurance)”, by the invitation of our good old friend Hannes Chopra. The event was held for the company’s staff members and their children and it was a great pleasure for us to tell everyone about our studio, paint a huge collective picture and arrange a charity fair. We had a really good time and we would be happy to strengthen our friendship and meet more often. What concerns the raised 40 000 Roubles, they will be used for organization of our winter camp.
Thank you, friends!
10/02/2015 Story about Indonesia
On 4th April our new volunteer Elena Korchagina told our elder students an exciting story about her journey to Indonesia, its geography, culture, traditions. Everyone had a chance to play a traditional Indonesian musical instrument and also to cook and try a national dish “krupchak”. In the end, Elena gave all the students gifts from the Indonesian Embassy. Thank you very much for such an interesting story that broadens our knowledge about the world, diversity of cultures and people’s ways of life on our common planet!
25/02/2015 Winter camp in Sorochany
From 17 to 24 February our winter camp took place for children from the Family care assistance center SPUTNIK (former Orphanage №4), and children’s home №28, orphanage graduates and volunteers.
The children mastered snowboard, skiies,
cooking,
the art of ceramics and felting,
played board-games.
In the week-end we performed “The Three Pigs” play based on the famous fairy-tale and adapted by Alexander Kolmanovskiy.
Tatiana Toulchinskaya visited us with a mini-lecture on the Seven Wonders of the World
and, of course, we celebrated Maslennitsa and enjoyed pancakes.
We are grateful to organizers of all the New Year fairs and to all those who donated to our Art Center. All the funds raised at these fairs were invested in this winter camp. We express our gratitude to “Gruzovichkoff” company for the free transportation of the camp equipment, Crazy Panda company – for granted helmets for snowboarding and mountain skiing, Dixy Supermarket chain with their programme “Caring neighbours” – for financial help.
Our huge THANK YOU to our dear volunteers: Alexander Kolmanovskiy, Liuda Lycheva, Masha Tatieva, Serezha Shuldikov, Nadya Varaksina, Valentina Mironova, Tatiana Tulchinskaya, Pasha Avdoshin, Aleksei Zhdamirov, Pasha Novichkov, Oleg Fogel, Andrei Morozov, Andrei Nikitaev, Vanya Antonov.
Personal and special Thank You to wonderful Zhenia Kuznetsov who taught our kids to ride snowboard and, of course, to our Chief-cook Verochka.
We are grateful to our dear tutors Nina Vasilievna Lisitsyna and Alexander Petrovich Dmitriev for their care and assistance!
27/02/2015 Bedrooms for Princesses
In the last two weeks we decorated walls in three bedrooms for girls at the Filimonki childrens’ home “Solnyshko” (Moscow region). By the girls’ demand, the bedrooms were colored in a tender romantic style, with princesses, princes, castles, rainbows and fluffy clouds.
We thank our artists Nyusya Mitina, Natasha Pushkina, Lesha Golubkin and our volunteers Zhenia Soc, Nastya Frieva, Pavel Drozdov and Magomed Gadzhiev for help!
12/03/2015 Beno has Gone
Dear children and adults, we grieve, our dear friend Beno Stepanyan has died. For many-many years Beno was like a family member to Maria’s Children. We got to know each other thanks to his daughters Mari, Sona and Erica when one day they invited him and their mother Katya to see the studio. Then he became our driver. Children adored Beno. He collected them from their boarding schools and drove them to the studio, to the camps and other interesting places. In his car he always kept a red clown’s nose “for whatever it may be worth”. For many teenage boys he served an example of manliness, dignity and responsibility though he did it very unobtrusively and with humour.We knew his big and friendly family and always felt so much love, care and heart warmth in their attitude to each other and to us, and the way they were overcoming difficulties inspired us very much. We highly treasured this friendship. Even when Beno stopped working at the studio, he never forgot us and the children. Wirth a big pleasure he always joined us at the “Ship of our Hopes” or at the camp and cooked such a delicious barbeque! When Beno fell ill, he nevertheless came to the last summer camp and treated the kids with melons…
Our dear friend Beno, we will never forget you, thank you for sharing your life and your love with us. Thank you for the happiness to know and be friends with your beloved daughters Mari, Sona and Erica and their mother Katya who resemble you with their kindness and care. We will always love you and cherish your memory!
2007
2012
More photos you can find here
29/03/2015 Study Tour to Israel with Beslan Teachers
On 20-29 March staff members, volunteers of PELICAN and teachers of the School №1 of Beslan travelled to Israel. This journey was a continuation of the “Programme of professional development and psychological support of teachers of Beslan”. In the framework of the programme we visited school and kindergarten “Nisuii Secondary School” (Hillel street, 1) where we got acquainted with experience of work with the special needs children. We were also glad to meet Maria’s Children old friends - “Susan’s House” – a center for assistance to youth in difficult circumstances.
Really unforgettable was sightseeing tour around Jerusalem and visit of its historical and holy places – Temple of the Holy Sepulcre, Garden of Gethsemane, Zion Mountain, Coptic church, Hasmonean tunnel.
30/03/2015 Exhibition at Meridian
Our students from psychoneurological institution №16 took part in an exhibition of special needs people’s art “Merry colors of spring”, organized by our social teacher Alla Tyagunova. The exhibition ran at the “Meridian” cultural center.
The young people watched the works of other participants, listened to the concert, got the well-deserved diplomas and took memorable pictures near their masterpieces.
Most of the visitors marked out the felted composition “Spring” – a collective work implemented during the studio classes, as well as ceramic art pieces by unseeing Andrey Saveliev that he prepared specially for this exhibition.
Twins Andrey and Vanya Savelyevs
We thank everyone who helped to arrange this wonderful event!
31/03/2015 Fair at Alstrom
On 31 of March Maria’s Children Center took part in an Easter fair at Alstrom company (office in Kulakov lane). We raised 23 750 Roubles and want to express our huge gratitude to all the kind-hearted and welcoming staff members who donated us the funds, as well as to attentive and caring organizers of the fair. All the raised money will be used for the summer camp for children-orphans that will run in July 2015.
06/04/2015 We visited Planetarium
On 6 April, on the threshold of the Day of Cosmonautics, a group of orphanage graduates went to the Big Planetarium of Moscow. There they listened to a lecture about history and scientific work of Planetarium, watched a film “Stars about love” about the origin of constellations according to the Greek myths.
We are grateful to all the staff and administration of the Planetarium and the center of popularization of scientific knowledge for such an opportunity! Social teachers of the Charitable fund PELICAN, working with the orphanage graduates, decided to organize regular visits to Moscow museums, so there will be more new journeys and discoveries ahead!
11/04/2015 Trip to Beslan
On 5-10 April our team volunteered at the school №1 in Beslan again. It was already our NINTH trip to our beloved students and teachers! Volunteers (up to 30 people!) came not only from Moscow but also from afar: Chip, Steven, Naomi and Donna – from the USA, Pablo and Martha – from Spain, Ginevra and Italo – from Italy, and for many it was not the first time in Beslan.
Painting on the walls in the gym
At school all the children were offered master-classes on painting and mosaic, clowning and juggling, contemporary dances, games and masks,
book-making and photography,
T-shirt decorating and ebru.
We also continued wall-painting in the school gym and, as a cherry on the top of a cake, these days were crowned with an amateur concert in which the students showed what they had learnt during master classes as well as their own performances.
As usual, we also visited children in the orphanage in Vladikavkaz. A bit later a film about this trip will be available.
We heartily thank Nadezhda Gurieva, Elena Ganieva and all the school administration for such a warm welcome, and UTair avia-company for discounts.
Thank you, our dear staff members and volunteers: Naomi Shafer, Stephen Stearns, Rodney Daly (Chip), Marta Alonso, Pablo Reboleiro, Italo Bertolasi, Ginevra Sanguigno, Donna Kaminski, Vika Kotsoeva, Artur Bondar, Oksana Yushko, Alina, Olya and Anya Eliseev, Nadya Varaksina, Lesha Stroev, Lesha Golubkin, Galya Petrova, Yulia Klechina, Anya Smetanina, Zhanna Novikova, Yasin Omar, Stepan Tarasov, Serezha Shuldikov, Andrei Morozov, Kristina Cherenkova, Kristina Deeva, Pavel Belyakov!
12/04/2013 Fairy Tales in Nazarievo
This week-end, 10-12 April, our traditional training with students from the Sevenoaks school took place in “Nazarievo” recreation center near Moscow. 27 English students, 14 children from the Family care assistance center SPUTNIK, as well as our staff members and volunteers, took part in this event.
In order to communicate more free-and –easy we played lots of Maria’s Children favourite games (thanks to Lesha Golubkin, Anya Eliseeva and Seven Sterns!)
“Bobodi-bop-bop-bop”
The picture below shows one of our favourite games “Samurais” with incredible number of players.
An artist Yulia Ostashkins held a master-class on ebru. It is an ancient art of making a “marble paper” that we discovered not so long ago and now shared it with our English friends.
On Saturday, after dinner, we had a grandiose “Theatre from wheels” – so called improvised performances. This time there were six groups, each of them prepared and showed us different fairy tales – Russian and English, folk and authors.
Fairy tale “Little Grey Star”
Tale about chicken Fip
Fairy tale “A Star”
Fairy tale about a brown hare
Legend about the Pied Piper of Hamelin
Fairy tale “The Butcher and Elves”
In the evening we had a heart-warming bilingual concert, sang Russian and English songs under accompaniment of wonderful musicians Alexander Shishov (Moscow), Steven Sterns (USA) and Pablo Reboleiro (Spain), meanwhile George from Britain and Lesha Golubkin entertained us with pop hits.
The Sunday morning, that coincided with the Orthodox Easter, brought our kids one more adventure. The English guests hid about seven hundred (!) chocolate eggs and rabbits in the recreation center’s park and our children proceeded with a Hunt for Chocolate Eggs. It is a traditional Easter game in England, and most of our kids took part in it for the first time.
Moreover, we swam in a basin, played a game “Crocodile” and had one more ebru class (this time with psychologist Galina Petrova).
We spent these days great and were really happy to be together with our English peers, learning something new each day.
We are grateful to John Drury, to all our guests from Great Britain and other countries, and to “Nazarievo” recreation center for wonderful service.
14/04/2015 “A Spry Clew” Rolled Along to Us
On 14 April puppet theatre “ A Spry Clew” from private New Humanitary School visited our studio on Delegatskaya street.
Participants of this theatre are also children, they crafted these wonderful puppet-cats by their own hands and presented a “Singing Cats’ Show” to the kids who came to our art classes from the Center for family adoption assistance “Raduga”. While the stage was being assembled, no one sat idly but drew pictures, made their home-tasks with tutors, and the little guests molded from clay with enthusiasm.
Then we watched the puppet performance with great interest and after that there was a traditional tea-party.
It was the first guest performance of “A Spry Clew”, and for us - a lucky opportunity to make friends with these wonderful people!
17/04/2015 The Studio’s Birthday
On 17 April 1997, eighteen years ago, Maria Eliseeva, Ilya Segalovich, their friends and relatives gave birth to “Maria’s Children” studio as an organization. Sure, you remember the story of how this name appeared? Ilya and children invented it in a train)). Ever since each year, on the 17th of April we celebrate our birthday! This is a feast for all our children and adults, volunteers and staff members! We commemorated our “majority age” in this homely, but much widened over the past year, circle. As usual, Rosinter was warmly welcoming us - this time in one of its’ “Il Patio” cafes near Preobrazhenskaya Ploshchad metro station. Our huge THANK YOU to Rostislav Ordovsky and his team!
The guests came with presents. Children from orphanage №7 bestow us their picture
Residents of psychoneurological institution №16 hand us over their masterpiece fulfilled in ebru technique
In the beginning children and young people presented an amateur concert, everyone wanted to play in presence of their friends as the mood was cheerful, reception was warm and applause was thunderous… which is not surprising because it was our graduates – Lesha Golubkin, Vanya Antonov, Lesha Zhdamirov and Lyuda Lycheva who hosted this show.
Performance by orphanage №7
Treats from “Rosinter”, like on a magic table-cloth,
cake with an edible copy of ourpicture “Milk rivers, jelly banks” from our deeply-loved Oleg Fogel, and chocolate fountain reinvigorated our forces and spirits.
After the children returned to their orphanages, they sent us SMS telling that it was an excellent feast and that they dream ofcelebrating and meeting every day like this!
We express huge gratitude to our friends and relatives, to all those involved in our activity, those helping our children and graduates and, first of all – to our children for being so loving and lively, creative and beautiful!
What a joy it is to be together!
You can find more photos by Alexey Yuzapolskiy here
18/04/2015 A Visit to Dinosaurs
This Saturday, 18 April, we went to Paleontological museum with a group of graduates and inmates of the former orphanage №4 (now – Family care assistance center “SPUTNIK”). There we saw ancient fossil animals – dinosaurs and mammoths.
Natalia Sidorova,
Social teacher, PELICAN Charitable Foundation:
The children were impressed and we were really lucky with such a guide! Valery managed to stir interest in the children’s minds, was very attentive and sensitive to their moods and reactions. We are very grateful to the museum for the opportunity to plunge into the world of these majestic giants!!!
21/04/2015 We Visited Mosfilm
On 21 April a group of our graduates went on an excursion to “Mosfilm” - the biggest and most well-known film production company in the USSR and Russia. The most of favourite films of our mothers and fathers, grandmas and grandpas, as well as films of our childhood were shot there.
The young people had an opportunity to see the decorations, costumes and stage props from many familiar movies, models of airplanes, garage of vintage cars and horse-carriages (near each showpiece there was a list of films where it was engaged). On numerous photos one could see the process of film production. It was interesting to peep into the backstage cuisine!
Vika is a big admirer of old films, especially of “12 chairs”.
We express sincere gratitude to the director of museum and excursion bureau of the Cinema concern “Mosfilm” Elena Morozova and to the museum administrator Anastasia Arteeva.
25/04/2015 A Clean-up Day at Two Studios
On 25 April we had a general clean-up at our both studios. We are very grateful to all those who came to help us! Here is a brief on–the–spot report.
From the studio at Delegatskaya street,
Irina Dermicheva,
program coordinator:
— A sunlight is shining brightly through the clean windows and there are no more heaps in the corners!
Volunteers Stanislav and Mikhail
The volunteers not only participated in the clean-up but also painted walls in one of the rooms.
Children from the Family care assistance center “SPUTNIK”
Beyond that, on the same day the regular art classes with children from the Family care assistance center “SPUTNIK” took place. We made batik postcards for veterans, felted May- flowers for a collective woolen picture, shaped from clay and colored ceramic items and even colored fabric in ebru technique. The classes ended in traditional tea-party at which we congratulated a boy Sasha with his birthday. To tell the truth, “the man of the moment” was shy to have his picture taken.
Theatre begins from a coat-hanger and basement at Dmitrovsky lane — from stairs
From the studio at Dmitrovsky lane:
Anna Drozdova,
programmes coordinator of the Charitable Foundation “Pelican”:
Many volunteers came that day, so we managed not only to wash all the windows, put everything in order but also equipped two working places with computers. Such a necessity appeared long ago because most of our graduates study in colleges, night classes and they often have to search information in the internet, however not all of them have a computer at home. Moreover, some graduates study programming with volunteer-tutors and they have to do home tasks.
Social teacher Natalia and volunteer Lesha
After several hours of strenuous work all the volunteers had a delicious dinner cooked by Yulia Isaeva and Irina Blinova, for which we say a huge THANK YOU!
28/04/2015 Crafting from Glass
On 28 April the first (we hope, not the last) master-class on making bijous from glass. We express big gratitude to our volunteer Yulia Podkolzina for the brilliant idea! The students mastered the new material and instruments with genuine enthusiasm – it is so inspiring to feel like a real artist and create beautiful things with your own hands!
Here are our first chef-d'oeuvres:
Photo by Dmitry Ponomarev. See more photos here
29/04/2015 Museum of Forecasts
On 29 April a group of our elder students went on an exhibition to the Moscow Museum of Contemporary Art on Petrovka street. We have a long friendship with this museum – once it even hosted our annual exhibition. “The Museum of forecasts” exhibition was timed to the museum’s 15th jubilee, it displayed various show-pieces united with the idea of forecasting, from traditional Japanese cookies with prophecies to works of well-known artists in different genres – painting, sculptures, installation, video.
The unusual and sometimes provocative works of contemporary artists surprised our young people and sparked hot discussions. We think that familiarization with the contemporary art broadens their imagination and motivates them to self-expression.
We express gratitude to the museum’s administration and to Maria from the excursion bureau!
01/05/2015 Journey to England
How far that little candle throws his beams!
So shines a good deed in a naughty world.
The Merchant of Venice
April 2015. Maria’s Children Art Center, the former orphanage №4 (now Family care assistance center “Sputnik”) and the Filimonki children’s home-orphanage “Solnyshko” visited England again to participate in the annual William Shakespeare’s Anniversary Celebrations in the poet’s native Stratford-upon-Avon.
Before that we spent three unforgettable days in London in the company of Maria’s Childrenpermanent donors Olga Makharinskaya, Karina Baldry and their friends who generousely showed us most famous historic places and museums.
During these several days we managed to visit incredible number of places of interest and, of course, many times we rode the London’s famous red double-deckers and explored the subway. Our acquaintance with the city started with the Museaum of London, then we proceeded with the St’ Paul’s Cathedral, the Big Ben, the London Millenium Footbridge, the Westminster Bridge, Hyde Park, the National Gallery, the Natural History Museum, the British Museum, Tate Modern, Trafalgar Square, walked around the Buckinham Palace, along the Thames embankment. In the end the children had an opportunity to get a bird’s eye view of London from the huge London Eye observation wheel.
We express personal gratitude to Konstantin Pinaev who showed us London from an unusual angle and familiarized us with the street art of modern young artist such as Stik.
Feeling happy and satisfied, we head off to Stratford-upon-Avon where Minty, the landlady, lodged our friendly and cheerful company at her Church Farm Barns - a cozy hotel in an old English country style -, and where our changeless guide, translator and friend Pasha Novichkov was waiting for us with his friend and assistant Masha Orlova.
During 5 days that left before celebration of the Shakespeare’s 451st Birthday our restless team actively familiarize themselves with the local culture and history, admired the picturesque nature, which altogether undoubtedly nurtured the poet’s talent.
First we visited the ancient Warwick Castle where the children had a dress rehearsal of the mini-performance they had prepared long before in Moscow specially for the Shakespeare’s festival.
The Royal Shakespeare’s Theatre (from its viewing platform one can observe the entire city), Anne Hathaway’s (Shakespeare’s wife) house, the Nash’s House (where the poet was born), Mary Arden’s Farm (a real farm of the XVIth century that belonged to Sakespeare’s grandmother and grandfather) – all that we were lucky to see with our own eyes which helped us better understand the spirit of that époque and prepare ourselves to the official celebrations.
Next we visited Yanush and his bird’s farm where he showed us such predatory birds as owls, hawks etc.. The owl Talia was a real “star” – she winged its way through the air, posed a little bit in front of us and even allowed us to touch its feathers!
We also sailed on a boat along the very same river Avon. We thank the captain Fiona and her team for such an unforgettable journey! The children were very excited because for many of them it was the first boat trip in the life.
Beyond that we visited the King Edward VI School where Shakespeare’s used to study, sat at ancient desks, at one of which the poet probably was sitting and grinding away at his books, met with the school’s archivist and, of course, with the Principle Perry Mills who gave our children neck-ties and badges – the pupil’s distinctive emblems – as a gift.
After that our children played football with the King Edward VI School team and… the friendship won!
In the meantime the Shakespeare’s festival approached.
In the center of Stratford there was held a ceremony of raising flags of countries-participants in the Shakespeare’s Anniversary Celebrations. The festive parade, in which we participated as one of Russia’s representatives, stretched out along the central streets and ended up in the Holy Trinity Church, where Shakespeare was buried, with a flower-laying ceremony, after which costumed performances in different spots of the city began.
Our children appeared in characters of Hamlet, Lady Macbeth, Romeo and Juliette, Othello and Dezdemona, young Shakespeare and his muse…
On our last day in Stratford-upon-Avon we visited the Charlecote Park with Maria’s Children old friend Rostislav Ordovsky-Tanaevsky Blanco and his wife Tatiana, who treated us to delicious English sandwiches on a beautiful lawn. What a fabulous end of the journey to England!
On the next day we had to leave, and one of the Shakespeare’s festival organisers, Marion, came to say “good-bye” to our children. Thank you, dear Marion!
See you next year!
06/05/2015 Pots for Honey
Today at the studio on Delegatskaya street the young people from psychoneurological institution №11 mastered a new technology – casting of slurry into plaster shapes.
Teacher Mikhail Tukmachev instructs the beginning masters
The casting technique is used to produce most of the factory ceramics so we worked as real professionals.
The students cast a big number of pots, now we will be waiting with impatience for the next lesson to decorate them.
All those wishing can join us at the ceramics classes and other art activities.
Collective composition “Greeting-card for a Veteran”
08/05/2015 Our Pictures at the Municipal Exhibition
An exhibition “To Live and to Remember”, dedicated to the 70th anniversary of victory in the Great Patriotic War, is taking place at the Tverskoy Municipality. Maria’s Children are participating in it along with other organizations of the district. We thank the Municipality for such an opportunity!
09/05/2015 We Celebrate the Victory Day
On the eve of the Victory Day many people came to the Eternal Flame at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Together with the delegation of the Tverskoy district the young people from “Maria’s Children Art Center” and “Charitable Fund “Pelican” laid flowers to the Eternal Flame in the Alexandrovsky garden andto the Marshall Zhukov’s monument.
On the 9th of May the children from the Family care assistance center “Sputnik” and volunteers went to the Miusskaya square where they listened to the gala-concert “Vivat, Victory!”, organized by the Tverskoy municipality in tribute of the 70th anniversary of victory in the Great Patriotic War. At thefestival one could join a floristry master-class, play checks, chess, take part in pneumo-attractions, sports competitions and admire life-size puppets.
As a tradition, the children were treated to a delicious buckwheat and tea with smoke from a mobile field kitchen!
We congratulate all the participants of the war (alas, so little of them have remained!), all the homefront workers, former prisoners of the concentration camps, middle-aged now “children of the war” and everyone who went through and suffered these hard years. We wish you health and peace, our dear veterans!
This collective picture “Greeting-card for a Veteran” was created at the studio by our children:
On the dock before sailing off
17/05/2015 Ship of Our Hopes
As soon as it becomes warmer outside and the snow melts, our children start asking: “When are we going to sail on a ship?” For 18 years we have been celebrating the end of the academic school year with the feast “A ship of our hopes”, so all our children and adults like it very much and always look forward to it. It is usually a day spent on the lap of nature, in the company of friends, full of surprises and tasty food. Even a cold snap didn’t stop us this year, and rain, as if by magic, made a pause during our sail.
So on the 17 of May, Sunday, 150 children and adults went aboard a ship and pulled anchor to the Bay of Joy. Surprises began already at the river-boat station where the famous doctor-clown Patch Adams from the USA joined us.He is a very big and old friend of ours, usually he visits us with his international clown team in November but this year we were lucky to meet Patch on board a ship as well!
Maria and Patch, dance on a deck.
On the way to the bay we drew details for the future big collective picture – a ship, seagulls, river – everything that was drifting behind the window. And, of course, we refreshed ourselves with sandwiches.
Meanwhile, volunteers and staff members of “Maria’s Children” and “Pelican” were already waiting for us at the Bay of Joy.
They prepared an excitinggame “In Search of Treasures” for the children.
After the kids divided into teams, they ran around the forest where different fairy-tale characters met them at the “stations” and offered various challenging tasks.
Indian Chief “Eagle’s Eye” and an “accuracy trial”.
To collect notes and not to be caught into a web!
The teams unanimously fulfilled tasks, received the desired award in the form of bracelets and when they got through all the routes, they found a map of the Treasure Island and, finally – a trunk full of chocolate eggs.
An old pirate’s map
Meanwhile, a team of grill-masters cooked a delicious barbeque, and the tired and happy children got down to dinner.
Here they are, our heroic breadwinners!
On the way back there was a concert in which all those wishing could take par.
Moreover, our graduates together with social teachers from the “Pelican” Fund prepared a very funny fairy-tale “Buzzy-Wuzzy Busy Fly” Updated” and showed it to the children.
Buzzy-Wuzzy Busy Fly and her guests.
Cockroaches complain about their hard life.
And on a quay we traditionally released balloons with our wishes into the sky. Let all the children’s wishes come true!
We express gratitude to the Crazy Panda Company for its financial help, as well as to the supermarket chain “Dixi” with its programme “Caring neighbours”. We thank the Bay of Joy for the free space for picnic. Thank you, all our dear volunteers – those who grilled shashlik, prepared and held the Game, drew with the children, played and sang for them, blew balloons and just joined us on this long and wonderful day.
Let all the dreams come true!
Photo by Artur Bondar and Oksana Yushko.
A picture by Vitya Vasiliev “Firework above Moscow”
19/05/2015 Our pictures on an exhibition at the Prefecture of the Central Administrative District
On the 19th of May opening of the exhibition-contest of children’s art, dedicated to the 70th Jubilee of Victory in the Great Patriotic War, took place at the Prefecture of the Central Administrative District. Not only art collectives from Moscow, but also from hero-cities Tula, Smolensk, Kerch, Sevastopol, Brest sent their works to this exhibition. Two pictures by Maria’s Children Art Center’s students were awarded diplomas.
We are grateful to the organizer of the exhibition-contest “Hero-cities of Russia”- Charitable Fund “Blagodar”, in the person of Natalia Vladimirovna Kazak, for the invitation to take part in such a significant event.
19/05/2015 Making Collages
This week at the studio on Delegatskaya street our children made collages from magazine clips under the guidance of arts teacher Anna Andreeva. This is an easy and available method of making an unusual picture because all you need for that is old magazines, paper, glue, a few ideas and a little inspiration.
So you are welcome to look at the animal portrait gallery that we have in result!
Igor and his kangaroo
19/05/2015 Moscow from a Double-decker
On the 18th of May a group of graduates and social teachers ofCharitable Fund “Pelican” went on a sightseeing tour around Moscow on a double-decker. Panoramic view from the upper deck of the bus helped us discover Moscow from a new, unusual perspective. The young people could observe the Red Square, the most known Moskva-river embankments, the New Arbat and other favourite places, so everyone enjoyed the journey very much! We thank the City Sightseeing Moscow company for the wonderful excursion!
24/05/2015 Day of Slavic Writing and Culture
On 24 May Russia celebrated a Day of Slavic writing and culture. It’s the third year at a run thatstaff members, volunteers and children from Maria’s Children Art Center and Charitable Fund “Pelican” take part in these celebrations andattend a large-scale singing event with participation of professional and amateur choirs on the Red Square. This year the organizers arranged a telebridge across the whole country. On big monitors one could watch how this day is celebrated in other Russian cities.
We really enjoyed singing together old and contemporary people’s favourite Russian songs along with the huge united choir!
27/05/2015 Boat-tour along Moskva-River
On the 27th of May a group of our graduates sailed on a snow-white “Radisson Royal Flotilla” yacht. The young people attending the Charitable foundation “Pelican”, set off from the quay near hotel “Ukraine”. We admired views of Moscow, took pictures of each other, enjoyed a fair sunny morning after which we were treated to a delicious dinner!
We thank the director of the “Radisson Royal Flotilla” Sergey Alikovich Iliev for such an unforgettable present to our young people, director of department of service and operator management Anna Myrzak as well as waiters Sergey Kucherov and Alexandra Trapeznikova.
29/05/2015 Fair at “Krylatskie Holmy” Business-center
On the 29th of May we participated in a fair at the “Krylatskie Holmy” Business-center organized by the Charity Fund “United Way”. We managed to raise 16 150 Roubles and these funds will be used for our summer camp for children-orphans.
We thank “United Way”, personally Indira Mukhamedova and all those who donated to us!
30/05/2015 Art-picnic with Ossetian Pies
On the 30th of May a grandiose art-picnic took place at Maria’s cottage.Among our dear guests there were children from the Family care assistance center “Sputnik” and orphanage №7. The weather was wonderful and the children enjoyed sun, grass, football and outdoor games at full extent.
Vasilisa on a trampoline
During the master-classes the children could choose from a variety of activities – mould from clay using a potter’s wheel or without it,
Zukhra and volunteer Larisa
make adornments from glass and mozaic, weave mandalas and sing songs under a forte-piano accompaniment.
Kolya traverses a piece of glass on a machine-tool.
Moreover, we baked Ossetian pies.
Vova masters technology of preparation of pies.
Especially for this occasion our old Beslan friends came – Ira Gurieva, Saneta Sabanova and Vika Kotsoeva (Ira and Saneta currently live in Moscow but Vika specially arrived from St.Petersburg!), as well as handy-women Svetlana and Olga – thank you very much!
An experienced team prepared barbeque and grilled vegetables.
Our graduates presented a play “A Turnip Updated” , which they had rehearsed at the studio before, to the children (organisers of the performance – Oleg Fogel and Galya Petrova), there were so many laughter and applauses!
The rain frightened everyone a little bit but ended very soon,and in return a rainbow appeared. We are very grateful to everyone who helped to make this day happy and unforgettable!
11/06/2015 Culinary Master-class
On the 11th of June we hosted wonderful guests at our studio – volunteers from a friendly company. They held an exciting culinary master-class for the kids from children’s home №7 during which they prepared as much as three dishes!
The first one was an Italian dessert panna cotta which was cooked under the guidance of professional cook Liubov. She told the children everything about the contents of this exquisite delicacy, they whipped, mixed ingredients themselves, boiled the blend on the stove and poured it into jelly-glasses.
While our panna cotta congealed in the fridge, we set about to adorn wafers for which the guests brought topping, food colorants and candied fruit. Our children, as real artists, began to create oeuvres of culinary art, everyone doing it in one ‘s own way - brightly and originally.
The third task was preparation of canapés, also not ordinary ones but in the form of mushrooms, ladybirds, ships.. The volunteers helped and prompted, and during the mutual creative culinary process they told the children about different exotic dishes and products they’ve never tried before, proposed riddles.
The master-class ended in gala-degustation of everything that was cooked in that morning by us. Everything was so delicious! Everyone had so many pleasant feelings and impressions!
We express our huge gratitude to our new friends, the children were really enthused! We hope it is only a beginning of a long cooperation.
12/06/2015 Arts Camp at the Studio on Delegatskaya Street
On 1-11 June an arts camp for children wholive in the neighborhood but hadn’t yet left for summer holidays took place at the studio on Delegatskaya street. All together 18 children aged 4-16 attended our art classes, though it is difficult to fix the age bracket because sometimes mothers, grandmothers and nannies joined their children and created together with them.
At the arts camp children tried themselves in different kinds of arts and crafts:
Painted on paper and water (Ebru technique),
molded from clay,
wove tapestry,
felted from wool,
made dreamcatchers,
mastered soap-boiling,
created collages,
made sweetie-paper dolls
and also built a very beautiful house and a car from carton boxes!
In breaks we played table-top games, had tea and even arranged a small disco!
We thank all the children and their parents, we were very glad to get acquainted with them andhope that they will also come to our studio in the new school year.
Our dear volunteers Tina Deeva, Yulia Aseeva, Lesha Zhdamirov, thank you very much for your help!
19/06/2015 We Went to the Zoo
Our children received a wonderful present from the UNEP (United Nations Environmental Programme) –excursions to the Moscow Zoo.
A group of young people from psychoneurological institution №11 went there on Thursday and children from children’s orphanage №7 had an excursion on Friday. Most of them went to the zoo for the first time!
The guide Anastasiia Kadetova told the children about animals and birds, about their habits and what they eat, how they are looked after at the zoo and how they live in their natural habitats in an exciting and simple manner.
The kids asked Anastasiia many questions, sometimes very unusual, such as: “When is the tigress’sbirthday and what would she prefer as a present?”
The young visitors were charmed by giraffe Samson, he walked along the fence as if demonstrating itself before the public.
We really liked funny and playful macaques who were jumping from branch to branch; elephants were showeringthemselves with sand, musk buffalos were chewing hay, the snow leopard was hiding in a cavern so we could hardly see it.
A noble peacock
A marmot is looking at us with curiosity, and we are looking at it.
As it happens, flamingos are fed with carrots and beet-root in order to maintain their pink coloration!
Real, not fairy-tale, wolves
We express our huge gratitude to UNEP for such a wonderful present, Ekaterina Tegina for the organization of the visit to the zoo and the guide Anastasiia for giving her attention to our children.
23/06/2015 The Memory Watch
Volunteers from Maria’s Children Art Center, Charitable Fund PELICAN and representatives of other youth organisations of the Tverskoy district of Moscowtook part in the Memory Watch, action “Eternal Flame – 2015”, dedicated to the Day of memory and sorrow – day of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War.
On the Sunday evening we came to the library named after Anton Chekhov on Strastnoy Boulevard, where in a cozy hall we listened to poems, pre-war songs and watched pairs reeling in a dance. It was a similar peaceful summer day, when the terrible war that claimed lives of millions of people started 74 years ago. After the concert we walked through Tverskaya street to the Manege square and, at midnight, laid flowers and memorial candles to the Eternal Fire, together with other participants from the Central Administrative District.
Then we sat on buses and rode to the Theatre of the Russian Army where we watched a performance-concert, after which at 4 AM a minute’s silence took place on the Suvorovskaya square near the theatre.
At dawn, white pigeons and balloons of the Russian flag colors flew up in the sky.
In the end we had a farewell breakfast from a field-kitchen.
30/07/2015 Summer Camp “Our Family”
On 15-29 July our traditional, much-loved summer camp “Our Family” took place in Sorochany resort, Moscow region. This time there were altogether 28 children: from the Moscow orphanage №28 and the Filimonki orphanage. There were also 4 young people from psychoneurological institutions, children of our staff members and volunteers, volunteers from Moscow, Beslan, USA and many of our graduates as well.
The life in the camp was full of events, get-togethers, games and laughter from morning to evening.
In mornings, as usual, we held master-classes
Mozaic and pape-art,
Molding from clay and colouring candle holders,
Clown’s games and funny pictures from pompons,
Wind chimes and afro-bunches,
Songs under accompaniment of guitar and noise orchestra,
Painting a collective picture and making beads from polymer clay,
Dances and glass painting,
Painting en plein-air,
Colouring boxesand shooting films – the choice was so wide that it made you dizzy, but during the camp the children had an opportunity to try themselves in various art areas.
All the children and adults lived in small houses, each of them belonging to one of four families: Elephants, Zebras, Lions and Giraffes. The life in the camp started from family breakfasts in houses and after lunch continued in the specific style and spirit of particular family.
Each family shot films, played games,
Learnt cooking,
Picked mushrooms, went for a walk and got sun-tan,
Drew and did poker work,
Sang and listened to the music,
Paid visits to each other, arranged thematic breakfasts and dinners, watched movies.
A dinner and a Mad Haircuts Party inspired us very much and gave us some new creative ideas.
In one of evenings we arranged a relaxing massage session for the children and with aroma oil, music and candles this evening became really magic.
The concert gave an opportunity to all the “stars” of our camp to perform.
During the Ossetian Evening our Beslan friends acquainted us with Ossetian songs, poems and dances.
This time our Theatre from Wheels presented the fairy-tale “Magic Ring” in which all the children and adults participated.
Our volunteer Vanya arranged the game “Parachute” for everyone.
In one of the last days there was also a big game in which all the children were engaged –
for several hours they ran through various stations,
fulfilled tricky tasks in order to save our cooks Vera and Galya hijacked by Dragon Gorynych.
Finally the dragon gave in and released the cooks in exchange for the promise that we feed him with a delicious dinner as well.
For the three times the whole camp enjoyed the delicious barbeque cooked by our volunteers from Beslan.We thank Rostislav Ordovsky-Tanaevsky Blanko, “The Chicken Factory” and personally the director Yuri Alexandrovich Kanishchev for the meat for barbeque! Thank you, friends!
Interestingly, we tried the Ossetian pies even in two versions – the Beslan version (from Albina, Marina and Vika) and the Moscow version (from Natasha Chopra, her relatives and friends).
The camp days rushed too fast, and we were very sad to part. We are looking forward to meet again at our studios and workshops at Maria’s country house. We will recall joyful and sad moments, look through pictures and videos and prepare for the next summer.
We thank the Charitable Fund “Dar” and personally Julya Veshnikova, DLA Piper Company and all those who donated to us at the summer charitable fairs.
We express our huge THANK YOU to all our wonderful volunteers, responsible and kind, sensitive and creative, attentive and enthusiastic – it is thanks to you that the children felt so happy all this time.
Thank you, Oksana Yushko, Arthur Bondar, Vika Kotsoeva, Andy Emeritz, Andrey Morozov, Anya Eliseeva, Sasha Shishov,Maria Eliseeva, Debbie Sears, Stepan Tarasov, Noah Lapuk, Anna Drozdova, Serezha Shuldikov, Lesha Stroev, Vitya Kotsoev, Timur Ganiev, Masha Tatieva, Alina Eliseeva, Korney Bruskov, Oleg Fogel, Natasha Chopra, Natasha Khassanova, Galya Petrova, Olya Eliseeva, Martin Akhmetov, Anna Smetanina, Misha Gomelev, Kambolat Baev, Vanya Antonov, Ira Rokotnina, Ira Gurieva, Natasha Sidorova, Olga Sidorova, Khetag Khutiev, Liza Loseva, Gayane Oganesyan, Tamara Krapivina, Mila Gomeleva, Tina Deeva, Lesha Zhdamirov, David Arsagov, Arina Tebieva, Batik Kokov, Asya Segalovich, Nadya Varaksina, Vika Ermilova, Nina Maksovna Buylova, Valentin Ilyich Segalovich, Natasha Pushkina, Anna Andreeva, Larisa Shvyndina, Vika Naboka, Sona Stepanyan, Aleksei Markov, Yaroslav Agafonnikov, Yulia Podkolzina, Valeria Duzhnikova, Justin and Alla Lifflander, Andrey Nikitaev, Alyona Loson, Elena and Anya Kharitonovy.
Special THANK YOU to our inimitable cooks Vera and Galya and their assistants Yulia and Kristina, everything was VERYdelicious!!!
Thank you, our dear staff members of orphanages, we felt like one family with you!
And a warm THANK YOU to all the children, noisy and spontaneous, shy and persistent, helpful and open, so different and so wonderful!
31/07/2015 A Walk in Yekaterininsky Park
On 30 July we went for a walk around the Yekaterininsky Park – a significant site of garden art of XVIII – XIX centuries. We admired old majestic trees, recalled their names, watched ducks swimming in the pool. The children were impressed by a huge willow of more then 200 years old, and we managed to put our arms around it standing together!
22/08/2015 Painting en Plein Air
The August at Maria’s Children Art Center was rich in plein airs in the most admirable places of Moscow. We were painting at the Tsaritsyno park, the Kolomenskoye museum-reserve and at the Main Botanic Garden with the group of children from the orphanage№7. We also visited the Darwin museum together with our art teachers and drew animals there. The children got lots of impressions and produced wonderful pictures.
06/09/2015 The Kind Moscow
On the 6thof September, the Town Day, we took part in the Charitable fair in the framework of “The Kind Moscow” festival and raised 13050 Roubles.
We are grateful to the festival organizers and all those who donated. Thank you, our dear volunteers Tatiana Tarabrina and Julia Aseeva for your help!
11/09/2015 Oh, Apples!
Our teacher of ceramics Mikhail Tukmachev got a huge crop of apples and generousely shared it with us. Thanks to this occasion, a “charlotte season” began at both studios.Our children and graduates learn to bake and then eat these delicious apple pies with great pleasure. We express gratitude to Mikhail and all our cooks, and will be happy to have any surplus from your dachas’ gardens.
11/09/2015 Children’s Day in Yandex
On 11 September the Children’s Day took place in Yandex. It is the third time that it is celebrated on the eve of Ilya Segalovich’s Birthday. Ilya is one of founders of Yandex as well as Maria’s Children Art Center and Pelican Charitable Fund. Children from six orphanages and many graduates came to Yandex as guests that day.
The children divided into groups and moved from one room to another, in each of them Yandex staff members told the young visitors about Yandex-services that residents of our big city use in their everyday life, about modern technologies and their work in Yandex.
We tried ourselves as designers,
learnt how to search in the Internet and how to find a route on the map,
saved our photos on Yandex Disc and peeped into the future, now looking fantastic but very user-friendly, with helpful intellectual computer programmes for all of life’s emergencies. With this purpose Yandex develops, in particular, speech technologies.
Then the elder children went on excursion around the Yandex building, after which everyone was treated to a delicious dinner.
The evening ended in singing songs under the accompaniment of guitar. Thank you very much, our dear and much-loved Yandex, thank you to all the staff for so much joy and exciting discoveries on that wonderful day!
15/09/2015 Georgian Week
On 14-20 September the Georgian Week took place at the youth studio on Dmitrovsky lane. The young people listened to stories about this hospitable and beautiful country and, of course, cooked and tried Georgian dishes.
Our volunteer Nino Suladze taught us to cook khinkali with cheese.
Our friends – photographers Arthur Bondar and Oksana Yushko - told us about their exciting trip to Georgia,showed photos and treated us to phali (a special spinach paste) with white bread, khachapuri – a national cheese pie and churchkhella – a dessert from nuts and thick grape juice.
We also plan to watch a Georgian comedy “The most quick ones in the world” by Georgy Mataradze.
We express huge gratitude to all those who introduces our young people to the cultures of different countries.
23/09/2015 Maria’s Children Day at the Boutique of Joy
This Wednesday, on the 23rd of September, Maria’s Children Day takes place from 11AM to 9 PM. The boutique’s address is: Maly Sukharevsky lane 7, metro station Tsvetnoy Boulevard.
All the funds raised from sale of usual boutique’s goods (unique pieces of clothes, footwear, accessories etc) will go to Maria’s Children bank account and will be used for development of the “Daily classes” programme. From our part we will bring our pictures, ceramics, thermomugs, linen bags, handmade accessories and many other nice things made by our students. Come for handsels and just for a chat!
01/10/2015 Apples to Elders
The 1st of October is an International Day of Older Persons. Our young students from the Family Care Assistance Center “Raduga” prepared lovely presents – felted apples - to veterans of war and labor who came to their Center that day. The apples appeared to be so beautiful! We hope, the “Raduga” guests liked our heartwarming gifts.
08/10/2015 Children from Spaso-Talitsa at Maria’s Children Art Center
Today we welcomed our old friends – children from Spaso-Talitsy children’s home, Kirovsk oblast - at our studio on Delegatskaya street. They came to Moscow for holidays and, by tradition, attended our classes.
We were looking forward to this meeting. Several years ago our graduates and volunteers not once went to Spaso-Talitsy, and it is so heartwarming that they still remember us there! Graduates, who came from our old studio on Dmitrovsky lane on this occasion, helped us a lot: they baked apple cakes, showed the children around the new office and the rooms, drew and molded from clay together. On the spot we arranged an improvised exhibition and after that gave the children funny lambs-backpacks as farewell gifts. In their turn, the little guests handed us in handicrafts, specially prepared by them for “Maria’s Children”.
Julia Klechina, Natasha Scherbenkova, and Igor Grigoryev, thanks a lot for your help!
22/10/2015 Week of Armenia
In September a Georgian week passed at our studio on Dmitrovsky lane, now it is the time for a week of Armenia.
We began our acquaintance with the culture of Armenia with watching funny Armenian cartoons (“Wow, a talking Fish!”, “Who will tell a Fairy Tale?”, “A Dog and a Cat”). Next, we plan to familiarize ourselves with chef d’oevres of Armenian art and architecture.
Our favourite way to approach other cultures is to cook and try national dishes.
On Wednesday we cooked “hohob” – a dish of Armenian quisine from chicken with spices and pomegranate, - and salad “Yerevan” (you have to put fresh vegetables in layers and cover with special dressing).
Everything appeared to be so delicious!
On Thursday and Friday we expect volunteers who will cook with our children and tell them about their trips to Armenia. Some of them went there with Patch Adams and his clown-team visiting hospitals and children’s houses. Besides, this journey inspired us to paint a collective picture “Clowns in Armenia” which will be finished very soon.
Until the end of this week and in the beginning of the next we will continue our Armenian culinary master-classes, so you are welcome!
12/11/2015 Draw Me a Fairy Land
On 11-19 November our annual exhibition at the Central house of artists took place. This time it was called “Draw me a Fairy Land”. Over 200 works of our students – children from orphanages, orphanage graduates and residents of psychoneurological institutions – were displayed at the exhibition. The works were implemented in such techniques as painting, graphics, ceramic sculpture, patchwork, felting, tapestry, batic, collage.
Collective picture “An Autumn Walk”.
On 12 November the exhibition’s opening ceremony took place. It gathered together all the children from all the orphanages we cooperate with, as well as our graduates, volunteers, friends and an international clown-team headed by famous Patch Adams.
Ceramic masks
The young artists proudly showed their works to the guests, while the clowns played and chatted with the children.
The children presented a colorful concert in which they sang and danced,
Performance by Filimonki orphanage
and the orphanage graduates, attending the “Pelican” studio, demonstrated a play by Anton Chekhov “Fat and Thin”.
An episode from Chekhov
In the end of the evening everyone could join a buffet dinner with delicious treats from Rosinter and drinks from Coca-Cola and Fruit Life Juice.
We also express our cordial gratitude to Crazy Panda Company for sponsoring the rent of the exhibition hall and Charitable Fund “Planeta Dobra” for buying frames for the pictures.
14/11/2015 Charity Ball
On 14 November the annual Charity ball of Maria’s Children Art Center and Charitable Fund “Pelican” took place at the Lotte Hotel. The evening’s programme included gourmet dinner, charity loud and silent auctions of Maria’s Children students’ works, lottery, souvenir fair, dances.
This time our guests donated us over 13 millions Roubles! We cordially thank all those who have been supporting and continues to support the orphaned children and orphanage graduates, young people from psychoneurological institutions and children with special needs.
As soon as the guests stepped into the ball area they found themselves in the Rainbow Kingdom with houses on clouds created by our children and artists. Everyone could also join a master-class on “air-castles”.
Art-teachers told the guests about the children and their works.
All those wishing could also take an old-style picture in a vintage photo-studio.
Before the gala-dinner the children from the Filimonki orphanage acted out a short pantomime based on Shakespeare’s plays (it was a performance they presented last spring on the Shakespeare’s festival in England).
We express gratitude to Sberbank, Baring Vostok Capital Partners and YPO for the generous sponsorship.
We are grateful to Lotte Hotel for hospitality, high quality service and a prize for a charity lottery.
Coca-Cola company for drinks
Russian Wine House Abrau Durso for their gift of champagne, Rosinter Corporation - for lunch boxes for our staff members and volunteers, and for a lottery prize.
Thank you:
Victoria Koenigsberg, Justin Lifflander, Natasha and Hannes Chopra, Sona Stepanyan for inestimable organizational and financial contribution.
Patch Adams – for holding the Loud charitable auction,
Peter Yanovich and Martin Akhmetov for the arrangement of the Silent charitable auction,
Translator Dmitry Sinitsyn for his high professionalism,
Alexander Shishov, the host of the evening.
We also thank:
Agrocultural Tourist Complex “Bogdarnya”, design-studio “Pagedown”, Egon Zender company, Yandex, “Katerina” hotel chain, Bancatering company, as well as Evgenia Levkova, Oksana Yushko and Artur Bondar for the charitable lottery prizes.
VIA “Soyuz” for the uplifting music.
Vera Aksyonova, Evgeny Ilatovsky, Dasha Kamenskaya, Evgenia Gurianova, Korney Bruskov for the decoration of the ball room and a fairytale atmosphere they managed to create.
Photo-atelier “Shipr” for discounts and brilliant work.
Mobile Stands company for the free loan of the press-wall board.
Daulet Zhanaidarov for the video support, and Gennady Semin, Sergey Hristoliubov, Petr Kolchin, Oksana Yushko, Artur Bondar for photographing the event.
Please see more photos here.
29/11/2015 Journey to Bogdarnya
On 27-29 November we went to Agrocultural tourist complex “Bogdarnya” in Vladimirskaya oblast with a group of children from Filimonki orphanage, as well as orphanage graduates and volunteers from the Pelican Fund.
Both children and adults enjoyed horse-riding,
watched and stroked animals during the excursion around the Petting Zoo,
Practiced archery,
Baked traditional “skylarks” and then tasted them,
Sledged down the hill,
sang songs under the accompaniment of accordion, went treasure hunting, had their pictures taken in historic costumes.
The guests lived in a guest house which used to be an old village school with black-boards on the walls, wooden floors with homespun mats. It was exciting and interesting! All the kids look forward to go to “Bogdarnya” again.
For more photos clickhere
02/12/2015 Performance “Taras Bulba” at Our Studio
Today we welcomed actors from Teatr.doc with the performance “Taras Bulba”. This is an interactive event based on Nikolay Gogol’s famous novel in the framework of the Russian literature popularization programme “Chef d’oeuvres of classics for school students”. Children from orphanage No. 31 watched the play and even participated in it.
We thank actors Alexey Bogachuk and Mikhail Skachkov for their inspiration and enthusiasm, for the high spirits and new experience.What is also important, many children expressed a wish to read this book!
07/12/2015 Aquarium as a Gift
Not so long ago we got acquainted with new friends from Aqua Logo company which produces and sells aquariums and everything that you usually see in aquariums. Our graduates from the “Pelican” fund have already been on an excursion around one of its sites, and today Aqua Logo staff members Zhanna Gudukina and Liza Fursenko visited our studio on Delegatskaya street.
They told the children from the Family care assistance center “Raduga” the history of aquarium, explained how to look after fish and what kind of food is the best for their health.
Together with the children Zhanna and Liza equipped a small fish tank according to all the rules of aquarium science, now it will stand at our studio and gladden everyone’s eyes.
After that the children and the guests drew pictures about the life of fish.
Thank you, Zhanna and Liza for your present and for such an interesting story! We always welcome people who are willing to share their knowledge with our children, broaden their horizon and give them new experience.
13/12/2015 Dushevny Bazaar
On 13 December the 6th annual Dushevny Bazaar – Moscow’s largest Christmas fair – took place. This time Maria’s Children raised 95 430 Roubles which will be used to cover the expenses connected with the upcoming winter camp for children-orphans and orphanage graduates.
Altogether 74 charitable organizations participated in the fair, the total sum raised - 7 567 698 Roubles 83 kopecks!
The Bazaar’s theme was “Travel around the world”, so the guests could learn about different forms of charity work and make a wonderful journey around different countries and continents. The feast was opened by Head Father Frost from Veliky Ustyug. Fortunately, he spent the whole day with us and all those wishing could get acquainted with him.
Guests of all ages could join various master-classes on arts, sports, culinary etc., which were held pauselessly throughout the day.
In order to better imagine the life of people with special needs, one had an opportunity to touch Braille script books, handle a wheelchair.
Charitable organizations helping animals brought their fosterlings, so all those wishing could stroke them.
It was crowded, noisy, joyful and interesting. Everyone could also get a free medical consultation, listen to lectures, jump a trampoline, find New Year and Christmas presents for all the nearest and dearest.
We cordially thank the Dushevny Bazaar organizers for their enormous work, attention,
enthusiasm and unflagging energy.
Thank you, our dear volunteers – Yulyaka, Lesha, Misha, Masha and Andrey for your help!
16/12/2015 Christmas at Kolomenskoe
On 16 December children from orphanage #31 and young people from psychoneurological institution #16 attended a festival “Rozhdestvo (Christmas) at Kolomenskoe”. We express our huge gratitude to Valentina Mironova and her friends for arrangements and financial contribution.
Valentina Mironova,
volunteer and organizer of the event:
The visitors sat comfortably by the fir-tree and the Christmas crib inside the ancient meadery and listened to the narration about the birth of Christ and to the history of old Russian Christmas celebration traditions.
From the Moskva-river bank we watched the most beautifulviews of Kolomenskoe.After being dressed in carol-singers’ costumes children found themselves in the thick of the Christmas performance: they played traditional games and sang songs so cheerfully!
Also there was a festive dinner with pancakes, red bilberry jam and hot tea.
In the guestbook we wrote: “Wonderful!” – this is exactly the word reflecting the mood and joy of the event! Moreover, each participant was given a toy-monkey (the Symbol of the Year 2016) and some sweets asNew Year presents.
27/12/2015 A Fairy Land on the Walls of Children’s Hospital
On 21-27 December “Maria’s Children” and “Pelican” art teachers, staff members and volunteers made wonderful paintings on the walls of the children’s orthopedic department of the Russia’s Ministry of Labour clinic. Series of paintings “A Fairy Land” brightened up the walls of the department’s recreation hall.
Artists Zhenya Guryanova, Vika Basina, Olga Eliseeva, Natasha Pushkina, Dasha Kamenskaya and her little son Sashenka created a colourful world full of rainbows, clouds, flowers, grass and fantastic creatures.
Dmitry Ponomarev, Irina Blinova, Viktoria Ermilova, Mikhail Mamedov, Anna Drozdova and Anna Smetanina assisted them.
Agrafena, Kristina, Nikita and other little patients also added their details to the “Fairy Land”. They were so carried away by the opportunity to draw on the hospital’s walls that one could hardly tear them away from colours and brushes.We express our big gratitude to the Georgian family: mother, daughter and father Mamuka.
We appreciate Elena Volodina from the Charitable Fund “Dima’s Dream” for the organizational help and brushes!
Thank you to everyone! We did it all together!
28/12/2015 A Tale about the Snow King
On the 27th of December children from neighborhood, families with children recovering from oncologic diseases, our graduates and volunteers from the Charitable Fund “Pelican” met the New Year at the studio on Delegatskaya street with an unusual performance.
Everyone was familiar with the tale “The Snow Queen”. We only had to outline roles. It didn’t take long to find actors to play the parts of Kai, Gerda and Grandma but no one was eager to play the Snow Queen. Suddenly a boy named Gosha, who came to the studio for the first time, suggested: “I can be the Snow King!”.
It was the first unexpected turn of the plot. Then we decided that instead of the Reindeer (according to Andersen) - Little Hare and Little Dragon will help Gerda rescue Kai. Gerda’s friends followed her all the way long, and in the end the Little Dragon melted cold pieces of ice, evil splinters of the false mirror and Kai’s heart with his hot breath.
Readiness of the performance participants for unexpected suggestions and improvisation is one of the unique features of the “theatre from wheels”. Judging by applauses of spectators – parents, brothers, sisters – everyone appreciated sincere and emotional acting. After the performance we had a tea-party. All of a sudden Father Frost and Snowmaiden came in with a bagful of presents, eager to listen to songs and rhymes.
There was also time for drawing.. Vasilisa and Masha drew New Year pictures to congratulate both their friends and the studio.
Thanks to stage directors Galya, Yaroslav and their assistants – Dima, Yulia, Lesha, Ira and Magomed!
For more photos please click here.
30/12/2015 Outcomes of New Year Fairs
In November-December we took part in numerous charity fairs, the sums raised are as follows:
17 November – The Anglo-American School – 19 400 Rubles.
20 November – Alstrom Company– 4 750 Rub.
6 December – The Center for Curative Pedagogics – 27 500 Rub.
9-10 December – Rushydro Company– 17 700 Rub.
9-10 December – Ernst & Young – 22 650 Rub.
11 December – Business Center “Krylatskie Holmy” – 22 200 Rub.
13 December – Dushevny Bazar – 95 430 Rub.
14 December – Severstal Company – 8000 Rub.
15 December – Business Center “Dukat Place” – 15 825 Rub.
16 December – Rosbank – 83 550 Rub.
17-18 December - Business Center “Moskva-City” 20 025 Rub.
18 December – Megafon – 15 000 Rub.
21 December – City Tower – 15 700 Rub.
22 December - Business Center “Citydel” – 20 600 Rub.
22 December – DLA Piper – 21 400 Rub.
23 December – Beeline – 12 400 Rub.
24 December – Parexel Company– 58 200 Rub.
In total we raised 480 330 Rubles!
All these funds will be used to cover accomodation and meals for the participants of the winter camp which takes place in February. Thank you to all those who supported us! Thank you to organizers of fairs, to the Charitable Fund “United Way” and the Partnership of the charitable organizations “All Together”.
