Orphan Train Project - Historic Roundhouse

Over the past several months, the Rotary Club of Middleton Area Sunrise (Wisconsin) has generously donated to the orphanage at Yakoruda, Bulgaria. The effort was pushed, to a great extent, by the generosity of Club members Russ Andolina and David Fink. The Club's donation was enhanced by a contribution from Madisonian Andy Burish. In all, the Rotarians of Middleton Area Sunrise donated $1400 and Burish added $233.77 (Actually, as was reflected in an earlier "Whistle Stops" entry, Burish contributed $5000 to the Orphan Train Project, which was spread over several orphanages in several countries).

Orphan Train Intermediary Francine Sullivan coordinated the Yakoruda assistance for the contributors, an activity that took many hours. The work of an intermediary involves translating from one language to another, receiving money, purchasing desired items, accounting for each dollar, obtaining receipts, taking pictures, sending out letters of thanks and otherwise reporting to the donors. Like all intermediaries, Francine is a volunteer. After receiving the donations, Francine and her volunteer friends, from the American University in Blagoevgrad, purchased new shoes (82 pairs), meat, mattresses, pillows, sheets and pillowcases, sending receipts and pictures to the donors. Apparently, local Rotarians helped out as well. Francine submitted the pictures shown below.

Letter From Francine
April 16, 2002

Dear David, Russ, Dianne (Larson-Club Treasurer), Andy and the Rotarians of the Middleton Area Sunrise Club,

The first page is the math showing how your money was spent. The rest of the pages are the bills, the acknowledgement of receipts by the orphanage and the thank you letter. There are also some photos for you to keep.

I was very happy to work with you on this, as part of the Orphan Train Project. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. I know these kids really appreciate what you did for them.

God bless you for it!

-Francine

P.S. When we went to check on the new mattresses, etc…they showed us their four new computers (hooked up for games). They were donated by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. It was good to see that others are also helping to improve things for the kids.

Letter From Children of Yakoruda Orphanage

To: The Rotary club of Middleton Area Sunrise
The Rotary Club of Blagoevgrad

Andy Burish

We would like to express our thanks for the humanitarian aid we received. In these hard times we are living in, it is a real comfort to know that someone is thinking of us--of our present and our future.

As a sign of gratitude we will show even greater effort in both study and work, so that we become worthy citizens of our beloved country, the Republic of Bulgaria.

Once again, thank you from the bottoms of our hearts.

From the students at the Orphanage "Asen Zlatarev", town of Iakoruda

SLATINO STORY AND THE CURT AND MARY BRAUN FAMILY CHARITIES

Last year, the Orphan Train Project presented at the Kiwanis Club of Richland Center, Wisconsin. Present in the audience were two friends, i.e. Joel and Lisa Rewald, who committed their family to making life a little better for a group of orphans at a place called "Home for Bringing Up Children Lacking Parental Care," otherwise known as "Nikola Lonkov Vaptzarov," in Slatino, Bulgaria.

A short while later, Lisa's father died, and the family decided to dedicate their efforts to the remembered lives of Lisa's parents, Curt and Mary Braun. Donations started with memorials given at the time of Curt's funeral by Aunt Leone Held and others.

Read the correspondence, from Orphan Train Intermediary Francine Sullivan, and see the pictures. Not shown are the four letters of thanks from Director K. Gaidarova, who expressed his appreciation for items brought to the home at various times. You will quickly realize the impact a small group of people can have on the lives of children in a far away place. In many ways, it is the story of all the organizations that assist their particular orphanage. You will also see demonstrated the importance of a good intermediary, in this case Francine Sullivan, who interacts with her Orphan Train conductor organization and gets the needed results. The Orphan Train Project salutes the Rewalds, the Curt and Mary Braun Family Charities and Francine Sullivan and her family for their dedication to children.

RECEIPTS SENT

April 15,2002

Francine Sullivan submitted receipts for the donations made by the Braun Family Charities (in leva)

- Boiler Replacement (1000 leva)
- First batch of textbooks (915 leva)
- Second batch of textbooks (1540 leva)
- Third batch of textbooks (439.62 leva)
- Two kinds of cheese (439.63)
- Soccer balls (6.90 leva)
- Badminton sets (4.80 leva)
- Fire hose, new nozzle and exit signs (378.00 leva)
- More cheese (134.70 leva)

TOTAL 4557.52 LEVA OR $2071.60 (US) {Exchange rate was 2.2}.

GRATEFUL INTERMEDIARY ACKNOWLEDGES RESPONSE TO PLEA

January 20, 2002

Dear Ed, and Lisa and Joel, and Leone:

January greetings to all of you! I hope you are all staying warm and busy and make it quickly through this sometimes bleak time of year.

Now, for the news: Three new boilers have been installed at the Slatino orphanage. We went there recently to check on this, and took a few pictures. It will still take some time for the air bubbles in the pipes and ice to thaw to work all the kinks out of the system, but the radiators are working now, and are gradually getting warmer, so this is progress! With the rest of your very generous donations, we have bought all the children textbooks of all the various subjects taught there, including French lessons by a French teacher. My husband, who is a professor, said the paperback thin textbooks are actually very cheap compared to what textbooks normally cost in the states, so we bought half the textbooks, and next week will pick up the other half the textbook order and deliver it! This will use up all of the donation, I'm estimating.

The kids were very happy when we went there, and the director and one of the school teachers said for us to tell you all "thank you very much!!!" for doing this for these kids.

I will be in touch with paperwork hopefully some time this month. The kids will be able to start school on time this coming Monday with the rest of the kids in Bulgaria, so that is also good. Please let me know if you have any questions. I am also working on a donation for Yakarouda's orphans right now, just so you know. Hope this finds you well, and God bless you for your kindness.

Best regards, Francine Sullivan

A HOLIDAY PLEA FOR HELP

December 23, 2001

Dear Joel and Lisa,

Sorry to bother you during the height of the holidays, but we really need your help. We went to the Slatino orphanage yesterday and talked to the director about the heating situation. There is extremely little heat in the orphanage right now. The orphanage has long open corridors and large spartan rooms that are very cold. More than half the kids are sick. They wear their winter coats and hats inside the orphanage, and I have no idea how they must bathe.

We were lucky to be there on a day when a group of Christian Bulgarians were there to help out during a Christmas party they were having in the orphanage. One man named Vladdie spoke good English and was able to translate the proceedings.

This is what is going on with their heating: Only one of three boilers is working right now, and just barely at that. They took us to the boiler room and showed us the boilers. Unfortunately, I don't know about boilers, but I did really believe them that there are serious problems in the system and the system needs to be replaced. They have tried to have a technician come in and just fix it, but he said that the whole system needs to be replaced. The director did say that the actual radiators in the orphanage are still functional. We agreed to help them with their heating problem and will present them with 1000 leva this Thursday as a down payment to have the work begin. They will then receive 2000 more leva from us as the system is being installed. One other charity the director told us is chipping in 1000 leva also. So, I am asking you if you could please send the money you mentioned in your e mail to Ed Fink or to Cory Recknor, the treasurer of the (Madison West Towne - Middleton) Rotary Club so we can get some heat for these children. To be exact, we need $830.00 in addition to your generous initial donation of $600.00 (The conversion of leva to the dollar is 2.1). You said your Father was a good man and loved children. Believe me, these kids were very happy to see us there on your father's behalf yesterday. I'm sorry to ask you get this money to us so soon, but these kids are freezing as we wait.

Thank you for following through on this, and God Bless you and I wish you a Merry Christmas! I'll be waiting to hear from you or Ed or Cory.

Thank you,

Francine

Slatino Child With Firehose & nozzle

Slatino Kids

Soccer at Slatino

More Soccer at Slatino

ROTARY CLUB OF MARSHFIELD SUNRISE THANKED BY IVAN KIULEV

The Rotary Club of Marshfield Sunrise of Marshfield, Wisconsin presented a Christmas gift to the children at their orphanage known as "Ivan Kiulev" or "Ivan Kyulev" (spelling depends on the decision of the translator, who must translate from a Cyrillic alphabet). Orphan Train Intermediary sent a several letters, receipts and a picture. Some of the correspondence follows:

December 3, 2001

Dear Ed and Rick, (Please, could you share this message with everybody who helped?) {Editor's Note: Rick is Rick Mueller of the Marshfield Sunrise Rotary Club and Ed is Ed Fink, Orphan Train Project Director)

I just wanted to let you know that we made a trip down to Gotse Delchev this past weekend and delivered the donation made by your club.

The trip took about 1hr. 45 min. through snowy mountains and alongside the river. We didn't have trouble finding the orphanage thanks to the waiter and his girlfriend, who after our lunch, drew us a little map.

The caretaker of the orphanage was there to greet us, and he quickly called up the director who came right away. We were a little early for our 2:30 appointment with him, but he didn't seem to mind. We managed to tell him we had brought your donation with us, and that we would need from him a receipt of donation to send back to you. He said he would get it in the mail to us as soon as he could. He couldn't do it on the spot because he needed the signatures of several other staff workers who weren't there over the weekend. Then, he took us on a quick tour of the orphanage. It was a spartan place, but it wasn't cold inside, and things seemed generally tidy. Still, I sure wouldn't want to be living there. The few kids that were there over the weekend were cheerful, despite having to stay there. (Some of the kids get to go to their parent's houses just for the weekend.).

Then, we all went to our old Isuzu car and started unloading things. With your club's generous donation, we were able to buy a lot of food and dry goods, such as cheese, butter, lentils, dry beans, rice, sugar, flour, oil, ground pork meat, laundry detergent, soap, toilet paper, feminine hygiene products, and a candy bar for each kid.

The director was very appreciative of your efforts and seemed genuinely pleased to be receiving all these things. Even some of the kids seemed really appreciative that somewhere, somebody cared about them and were trying to help them out.

I took some pictures which I will try to send with all the receipts and documentation sometime in January when things slow down a little. Hope you are all staying toasty warm and busy this holiday season. Hats off to all of you who made this donation possible!!!

God bless you for it, and I wish you a Merry Christmas!

Francine Sullivan

December 3, 2001

To the People of the Rotary Club of Marshfield, Wisconsin, USA

I thank you for your humanitarian help to the children from the orphanage. In such hard times, we are extremely happy to know that someone thinks of the children who are in unequal social position - without parents or abandoned by their parents.

With the help of sponsors we try and little by little manage to improve the conditions and make them closer to a real home for the children admitted to the orphanage. As a mark of gratitude, the children promised to work and study even harder.

We send our best wishes and regards to Francine and Steve Sullivan who personally delivered the donation, and filled the children with joy.

Once again, on behalf of the children of the orphanage, thank you very much for the charity and sponsorship. We wish you all health, happiness, and success in life.

Director K. Endrev

Story submitted 6/6/02

BLESSED SACRAMENT SCHOOL THANKED FOR ASSISTING PETER DIMITROV ORPHANAGE IN PARVOMAI, BULGARIA

Before Christmas last year, the Children of Blessed Sacrament School in Madison, Wisconsin made a gift of $400 to help the children at Peter Dimitrov Orphanage in Parvomai, Bulgaria. Once the money was received in Bulgaria, Orphan Train Intermediary Francine Sullivan purchased and assembled the gifts. Her November report details the trip. Then, as we ask all Intermediaries to do, she sent a final report. Included with it was a letter from the director and some pictures. Maryann Slater is the principal of Blessed Sacrament School and Dorothy Krueger is a parishioner and the coordinator of this donation.

Dear Ed, Maryann, Dorothy and all of you who helped to make this donation to the Parvomei orphans possible:

Today my family and I and my friend Maria and her family drove down to Parvomei in two cars. It was a nice fall day here and the sun was shining. We made it to Parvomei orphanage in the early afternoon and there we met one of the assistants and the cook. (The director had the day off, so we didn't get to meet him.) We had brought with us your generous donation of new tennis shoes and boots for the kids. After a tour of the facility, we tried the shoes on some of the kids. Not all the kids were there, because on weekends some of them get to visit their parents for a short while. The kids that were there were happy to see us, and appreciative of the new shoes they were getting. I took several pictures and hope to send them to you when they're ready.

The orphanage there is very spartan. Each kid gets only one bed sheet and one blanket. There are about 3 or 4 kids sleeping to a small room. One room had a picture of Santa Claus's face hanging up on the wall. Maybe that picture gives those kids hope. There were very few decorations of any kind to be found there. The bathrooms weren't so clean because in that region of Bulgaria they ration water during the day, and only have running water in the sinks and toilets early mornings and nights.

My 6 yr. old son gave out one candy bar to each kid. I noticed one kid took about a half an hour to eat his candy bar because he was savoring each precious bite of it. In the yard they have 2 seesaws that are in good shape, but they have a swingset frame with no swings on it. The assistant also mentioned that they wished for some board games for the kids to play. (If you would want to get them some, I would have to buy them here to make sure they are written in Bulgarian.)

Anyway, we delivered the shoes and some laundry detergent and a small artificial Christmas tree and lights that had been my Mother's, and said our good byes and headed home. I think I can safely say that they really appreciated your donations and were happy to have us there. Please remember these kids in your prayers. They need some hope of a better future.

Personally, I would like to say thank you to all of you too, because I really enjoy this work, which is giving my life some meaning. Hope you are all well and God bless you for helping these kids!

Francine Sullivan

THANK YOU LETTER FROM THE CHILDREN OF PARVOMAI

Dear Mrs. Slater,

We thank you from all our heart for the wonderful present. It made us very happy. This gesture of charity made us feel that there are still people in the world who care for the children in our social condition.

You made us feel that we are part of the big family of children all over the world.

We wish you health and happiness.

Thank you!

Boys of Parvomei

Children of Parvomei Enjoy Candy Bars

Little Girl of Parvomei

Trying On New Shoes

ROTARY CLUB OF MONROE WITH HELP FROM MARK POTTS HELPS SHOUMEN

The following letter and pictures were received from Orphan Train Intermediary Mark Potts. Mark, a Peace Corps Volunteer from Michigan, helped the Rotary Club of Monroe , Wisconsin by spending their donation, sending a report on his purchases and the pictures shown below. The Monroe Club's donation of $250 was used to purchase sheets and blanket covers for the orphanage at Shoumen, Bulgaria. We previously reported on this donation in Whistle Stops last October. This is Mark's final report as Intermediary for the Shoumen Orphanage. The Peace Corps has assigned Mark to new duties in another city. The Orphan Train Project is grateful to Mark and thanks him for his service to children.

May 21, 2002

Dear Friends,

I would like to take this chance to pass along the good news that on May 10th, 92 sets of sheets and blanket covers were donated to the Shoumen orphanage. I have sent the enclosed pictures of your donation,the beds they will be used on and some of the orphans.

Unfortunately, my time in Shoumen has come to an end. I will be reassigned and no longer able to facilitate this relationship. Please contact Tzvetan Spassov at (e-mail address deleted for article) to continue the relationship with the Shoumen orphans. Tzvetan is a member of the Shoumen Rotaract Club, knows excellent English and is a good person to work with in continuing this relationship.

I am happy that I could play a part in starting this relationship and hope that it will not be the end. If you have any problems opening the zip file, would like any further information regarding this donation or have any other questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. I wish you all the best and hope that our paths may cross again in one way or another.

Best regards,

Mark

Children of Shoumen Receive Gifts from Rotary Club of Monroe


			Mark Potts with Shoumen Staff

ORPHAN TRAIN PROJECT HOSTS GUATEMALAN NUNS

For approximately four weeks, in January and February of 2001, Sisters Berta Julian, Guadalupe Revilla (Georgina) and Gloria Leon were guests of the Orphan Train Project's sponsoring organization, the Rotary Club of Madison West Towne-Middleton (Wisconsin), and Mooseheart (the famed child city in Illinois). The three women are directors of different homes for abused girls, at least two of which, sponsored by a Guatemalan organization known as Fundaninas. The purpose of the trip was to give the nuns training at Mooseheart in Illinois, followed by child related experiences in and around Madison, Wisconsin. The opportunity for training was made available to the Orphan Train Project by Mooseheart, at no cost to the participants. For Mooseheart, it was an opportunity to reach out to other children in need. For those associated with the effort in Illinois and Wisconsin, it was a chance to learn about Guatemala. Two key individuals in making the Mooseheart training happen were Beth Littrell and Scott Hartman. Beth was responsible for coordinating and conducting the actual training at the Mooseheart campus.

The experience at Mooseheart was particularly beneficial and we have received reports that the Mooseheart approach is being replicated in Guatemala. Over and over again, the nuns told Orphan Train leaders how much they learned at Mooseheart and how grateful they were for the opportunity. Everyone involved is appreciative of Mooseheart's hospitality. This is the second time Mooseheart trained foreign visitors for the Orphan Train Project. Last summer, they hosted Dimiter Krumov and Mitko Nenkov from Bulgaria.

One of the problems presented to the hosts was that none of the participants spoke English. While at Mooseheart, we had the able assistance of two volunteers. Claudia Villanueva, a native of Chile, was on board from the beginning. Claudia translated the Mooseheart textbook into Spanish and spent two weeks with the nuns at Mooseheart. Ken Childs, a past president of the Rotary Club of Viroqua (and a frequent visitor to Peru), served as the other translator at Mooseheart for the entire three weeks. After the team arrived in Madison, Claudia served as principal translator for another twelve days, and was assisted at various times by several bilingual helpers. We are extremely grateful to Claudia and Ken and sincerely appreciative of everyone else who helped with translations and in making the experience a success.

The Mooseheart experience and training, as well as a side trip to Hope Meadows, is detailed below in an article written by Ken Childs. In Madison, the Sisters visited several Orphan Train conductors including St. Maria Goretti School, the Dodgeville Kiwanis Club, Ridgeway Elementary School, the Wisconsin Youth Company, the Rotary Club of Lake Mills, the Rotary Club of Oregon and the Rotary Club of Madison West Towne-Middleton. The team met with a member of the Madison Jaycees and toured Madison with her. Among the places visited, while in Wisconsin, were Centro Guadalupe (a training and meeting place for newly arrived Hispanics in Madison), the Capitol in Madison, historic State Street in Madison's downtown, a meeting of Girl Neighborhood Power at the Atwood Community Center, Serenity House, OASIS (both Serenity House and Oasis assist girls who have experienced abuse), Green Valley Industries (a program that employees the handicapped), Meritor Hospital's Inpatient Child & Adolescent Psychiatric Unit, St. Coletta's (a facility for the mentally handicapped), etc. The nuns were dinner guests in several Rotary homes, and even took time to go to a University of Wisconsin Women's basketball game. At many of the places visited, the Sisters had an opportunity to speak, leaving everyone with a positive impression of Guatemalan culture.

Reactions After the Visit:

To Ed Fink

Orphan Train Project

We, Sisters Gloria and Georgina are so thankful for all the work and sacrifice that our stay in Illinois and Wisconsin has implied.

May God be as generous as you have been in helping our homes. We have learned a lot about life experiences, new ideas for doing our job, and we also admire all the people who do their job with so much enthusiasm. We are glad to meet people who work for the welfare of others. Thank you.

H. Berta

To Ed Fink

From Isabel de Bosch (President of Fundaninas in Guatemala)

Isabel wrote a letter in which she expressed her gratitude for the experiences afforded the Sisters. She said: "We know the three Sisters will come with many new thoughts in their minds to do with the girls, and to treat them in several new ways. …The homes are going to work more successfully. Now we have to spend a lot of time with them to program all they have on their minds. GOD BLESS YOU AND ALL THE PEOPLE WHO (MADE) THIS EXPERIENCE A BIG (SUCCESS). I think … the Sisters …are not going to forget….Thanks a lot".

Isabel

To: Ed Fink
From: Dana Mannen (Orphan Train Intermediary in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala, working with La Divina Providencia, i.e.Sister Berta's Home)

"I've just finished a 3 hour meeting with Berta. Again, she can not express her gratefulness for the opportunity that you and the fellowships offered her. Yesterday, she had a meeting with the "Hospicio" directors. She explained to them that they must work as a team within the Home's work plan…I know from the Sisters…that Berta has also united the crew there as well."

Dana

A few days before, Dana wrote the following:

"I can tell you that she (Berta) was overwhelmed by your hospitality. She has already started implementing what she learned in Mooseheart. All staff and girls are behind her ideas 100%. She told me the first thing to implement was the demerit point system…At Mooseheart and every home and school they visited has some type of demerit format and Berta with her own eyes saw the results. With this new understanding she feels the discipline problems will become a minimum, not the center of everyday. The next major change she spoke of was trying to contain the age groups. She learned in Mooseheart that in order to have success they must try to have age groups separated. You can not share with or teach a 10 year old in the same manner that you would a 16 year old. According to Berta, your program has an 80% success rate and the home here has a 30% success rate. These were the main topics of our discussion today. Her eyes are wide open and she is enthusiastic for the future. She is in the process of writing down her experience for you and ask that you are a little patient with her. I am just as excited as she is and wanted to update ASAP…."

Dana

Beth Littrell, Claudia Villanueva, Georgina, Berta and Gloria at Mooseheart	Outdoor play at Mooseheart with Berta and Gloria	In Class with Beth Littrell: (L to R Gloria, Beth, Georgina, Claudia and Berta)	Gloria and Berta at Women's Residence at Mooseheart (where they stayed while training
Sisters with Kentucky House Girls and their Family Teachers	Sisters enjoy dinner with the girls at one of Mooseheart residences	Visiting Mooseheart athletes at home with Family Teacher	A Mooseheart residence for children
Mooseheart Training Class	Berta Enjoying the Snow	Otto Cordero, Claudia Villanueva, Berta, Georgina and Gloria with Kiwanis banner	St. Benedict Monastery (Home In Madison)
Chapel at Mooseheart	At Meriter Hospital: Mary Swita of Meriter Hospital with OT Chairman Ed Fink, Claudia, Gloria and Georgina	Claudia helps Berta tell Ridgeway Students about Guatemala	Bucky Badger Meets Sisters Georgina and Gloria with translator Erika Lopez
Dinner at Nancy and Ed Young's	At Centro Guadalupe ( L to R Ed, Berta, Romy Schluter, Georgina, Gloria and Rotarian Susan Titus	Ed & Diane Fink, Sisters Gloria, Georgina and Berta with Rotary Pres. Stuart Herro	Gift from LaDivina Providencia
Meeting with Barbara Eheart, founder of Hope Meadows

EXPERIENCES OF AN ORPHAN TRAIN TRANSLATOR AT MOOSEHEART AND HOPE MEADOWS

By Rotarian Ken Childs

The following is a brief description of Mooseheart where I spent two weeks as a translator for 3 Guatemalan sisters. The sisters attended school for Family teachers at Mooseheart.

MOOSEHEART: A HOME TO HELP CHILDREN.

Mooseheart is a residential childcare facility owned by Moose International. Located on 1,200 acres campus 38 miles west of Chicago, the Child City is a family type home for children and teens from infancy thought high school.

Dedicated in July 1913 by the Moose fraternal organization, Mooseheart cares for children whose families are unable, for various reasons, to care for them. Some have lost both parents, while others come from environments that are simply not conducive to healthy growth and development.

Children live in one of thirty residences designed like a spacious single-family residence. Each is home for six to twelve children. The heart of the program is Family teachers- two to six family teachers per home-providing a consistent, systematic method of care, with emphasis on social skills development -- skills that are essential in later life.

Mooseheart-the facility.

Mooseheart is a closed- fenced in two square mile compound. It is like a small city. There is an accredited school system from Kindergarten through high school, there is a dental and health facility, a security system, a shuttle bus to local towns, an ice cream shop for the children, a gift shop , a post office, a physical fitness center, and a church serving both Catholic and Protestants.

Mooseheart-the family homes.

The family homes at Mooseheart contain 6 to 10 children and two or three family teachers. All live in the homes. Each child has a semi private bedroom and bathroom. The heart of the Mooseheart program is the Family Teachers. They are responsibile for being the adult models for the children, performing as parent in terms of providing support and building confidence and teaching social skills.

Mooseheart-the program.

The Mooseheart program consists of the Family Teacher teaching social skills on a daily basis. Each social skill has a number of specific steps that are always repeated each time the social skills are taught.

Examples of social skills include:

1. How to follow instructions.

a. Look at the person.
b. Say "OK"
c. Do the task immediately.
d. Check back later. 2. How to accept "No" for an answer.
a. Look at the person.
b. Say Ok.
c. No arguing, whining or pouting.
d. If you don't agree understand why, calmly ask for a reason.
e. If you disagree or have a compliment, bring it up later. 3. Other social skills.
a. How to apologize
b. How to introduce yourself.
c. How to volunteer.
d. How to give a compliment.
e. How to accept a compliment.
f. How to negotiate.
g. Dealing with rejection.
h. How to disagree appropriately.

Effective praise. All social skill teaching starts and ends with praise.

1. Initial praise.
2. Describe inappropriate behavior
3. Rationale
4. Request of acknowledgement
5. Positive consequence.
6. Practice teaching.
7. Feedback.
8. General praise.

Mooseheart-the point system of teaching social skills.

All student behavior is rewarded with either positive or negative points. Each student has a point card that he/she always carries. For evey social action the student writes on his/her card the social skills, the specific behavior and the number of points earned: Positive or negative. Students with 10,000 or more points per day earn privileges, e.g. as one hour of TV watching at a certain time of day, playing games on the computer for one hour, talking on the telephone for 10 minutes, going outside in the yard for an hour, going to the ice cream shop, etc. All information on the point cards are reviewed and initialed when the social action occurs. The point cards are reviewed daily and filed with Mooseheart administrators. All the information is entered into the computers to evaluate both the children and the Family Teacher. It is recommended that Family Teachers have 15 to 18 teen interactions per day per child. As the students learn certain basic social skills they are given more advanced social skills to learn and consequently receive more privileges. Students are always subject to receiving points throughout the day, including time in school, time on the way home from school and any actions observed and reported by other adults and students.

Child benefits.

The care of all children is paid for by the Mooseheart organization. The average cost per student is $30,000 per year. Each student receives free medical and dental services. There is an on site psychologist if needed.

Students who graduate with a 2.00 point average receive a two year scholarship. Students who graduate with a 3.00 or better receive a four year scholarship.

Mooseheart represents a tremendous opportunity for many children who would otherwise have little or no chances in life. Many neglected children who without a Mooseheart program would repeat the failures that have characterized the early years of their lives.

HOPE MEADOWS: A VISIT TO A COMMUNITY HOME FOR FOSTER CHILDREN.

While we were at Mooseheart we made a Saturday trip to "Hope Meadows," located about 125 miles south of Chicago.

Hope Meadows is a special facility for foster children. Children are there because their parents, for various reasons are not available or unfit to raise their own children.

The development of Hope Meadows.

In 1993 Brenda Eheart received a one million dollar grant from the Federal Government. With the money they purchased 82 housing units no longer used by the US Air Force. The homes are located in Rantoul, Illinois. Some of houses are rented to senior citizens for $350 or less per month. The senior citizens live in three-bedroom spacious apartments. The senior citizens are required to work at least 6 hours per week with the children. They read to the children, help with homework, help the children develop reading skills, serve as baby sitters, mentors, crossing guards, playground monitors, library workers, and computer helpers. They are the children's grandparents.

Families for foster children.

The foster children live with families consisting of one or two parents. generally with biological children of their own. The parents may have 3 or 4 children of their own. The goal of each family is to make the children socially adoptable. Many of the foster children are adopted by the families they live with. Single parents may have a maximum of 3 foster children. Couples may have as many as 4 foster children.

One of the family parents may work outside of the home. However, one parent must stay at home and be a fulltime parent. The stay at home parent receives $!9,500 annually to help with the cost of the foster children. . The families do not pay any rent for their homes. They do not receive any additional money to support the foster children in their homes.

Ongoing counseling for Hope families is offered by an on-site professional counseling staff who advise parents as they need the special day to day assistance for themselves and for the children.

Diversity a key element.

Diversity is a key element in the success of "Hope Meadows" community. They want kids from different places, different ages, races and legal status. With a real mix of biological, adopted and foster kids at Hope Meadows, there is no stigma attached to being a foster child. They are just neighborhood kids.

The program at "Hope Meadows" is a program that offers a home based family environment program complete with the love of grandparents. Hope Meadows offers a special program with lots of family structure to children who are generally not adoptable. It is program based on a child being supported by an entire community.

ST. JEROME SCHOOL AND COLUMBUS ROTARIANS HELP KOSOVO KIDS

In January, we reported in the Whistle Stops page of the web site that the children of St. Jrerome School, in Columbus, Wisconsin, and the Rotary Club of Columbus combined to present $3600 to the children of "St. St. Kiril and Metodii," an orphanage/school in Kosovo Village of the Vidin District. What follows is a a letter of thanks sent by the Director to Russ Frederick of the Rotary Club, who coordinated the wiring of funds.

March 20, 2002

Dear Mr. Frederick,

Thank you from the deepest hear about your generosity and support of our school.

As you have approved we spent $400 from the $3600 donation in school supplies. Bought notebooks, textbooks, pens and cassette recorder are needed and were given to children just on time.

We enclose the receipts and factures for all expenses and other documents as student's lists with names and ages of children who received your gifts and pictures. The enclosed pictures show shopping process and the occasion day atmosphere when as a Director of Kosovo school, by the name of Rotary Club of Columbus and St. Jerome school, I gave so needed supplies to students.

Further to the sent list of needs we would like to ask about your permission to spend the rest of donation as follows:

1. School equipment-buying of 3 different kinds of projectors, needed for learning process $500.
2. Water heater- 500 liters - $450.
3. Sports equipment - $500.
4. Training suits/clothes/-60 children per 20 leva a piece - $545/ in exchange rate 2.20 leva per $1/.
5. Small wardrobes for sleeping rooms - $500.
6. 60 pair of shoes - about $600.
7. Food for 4 months - $500.

All students and Pedagogy staff from "St.St.Kiril and Metodii" at Kosovo Village of Vidin District are sending to you greetings of the heart. Thank you very much again.

With respect and sincerely thanks,

Mincho Petrov
Kosovo Director,
Vidin, Bulgaria.

(Editor's Note: We believe the request for additional expendatures was approved) 4/10/02

Martenitzas - Bulgarian Artwork	At Our Desks	Happy Recipient	Children drawings for 3 March - the National Holiday of Bulgaria
New Materials for School	Kosovo Children	Waiting for Gifts	Singing a Song
Receivng Gifts

ORPHAN TRAIN INTERMEDIARY MITKO NENKOV AND OVCHA MOGILA DIRECTOR REPORT TO ROTARY CLUB OF OREGON, WISCONSIN

Dear Gail and Al, (editor's note: Gail and Al Brown are contacts at the Rotary Club of Oregon, Wisconsin for the orphanage at Ovcha Mogila and the Intermediary Dr. Mitko Nenkov)

Here are several pictures attached enlightening life of the children from
your orphanage after your Christmas donation. Also here pasted you will
find a message from the Deputy Director, Nikola Yordanov who took the
position of Director soon after Dimitar resignation. They have full
trust each other, but Dimitar (editior's note: former orphanage director Dimitar Krumov)….is going to study veterinary medicine in California.
Here is the message of the new director pasted:

Mitko

Hello Dear friends from Oregon Rotary club,

Several months went after Helen Baldwin from Madison Breakfast Rotary
club visited our School and Orphanage and she was regarded as your
representative too. I want to share with you the greatest gratitude of
all of our children deprived of parents care, gratitude to all your
members for what you have done to ensure two TV sets together with video
and also the CD audio set. Thank you for helping us to realize their
dream just in the Christmas Eve and now they are capable to watch color
TV and to listen to their favorite music.

It is winter here at our side, there is much snow and the best thing is
that we have well functioning heating system both for our school building
and dormitory building again with your help - well repaired burner of
the boiler.

This school year 2001/2002 demonstrates increased interest of the new
students to agricultural subjects studied. That is because we took the
decision to satisfy this interest and even encourage it. Rabbits we have
with your help are expected to breed - you may see a picture named
Rabbits - children give them much care and love.

Cattlebreeding also is developing with satisfactory temps - we have now 6
cows and they are expected to get doubled in number. All this activity
is in the name of our children to ensure them enough food - meat, milk
and milk products. For the period of 2001/2002 our farm will give 2 tons
of cows milk, 1000 kg port, 600 kg beef. The orchard we have started to prune with your machine saw is also expected to give good harvest.

Another of our initiatives is to help to children - orphans who finished the school
and are jobless to get a position in our farm. The purpose is to give
them an extension to live in our dormitory at least for 1 or 2 years
being under pedagogical control while they will be workers in our farm.
In spite this will be absolutely not easy task and initiative we will
treat it as a first rank task. Last year the first of our students
graduate was appointed on such a position. Being a round orphan he
appreciated this as a chance to apply his skills and knowledge - he
finished a specialty of cattle breeding.

The staff and students all we say our hartly thank you for your help and
noble initiative to make children's life easy, better and more
beautiful.

Let God bless all of you.

Nikola Yordanov,
Director.

Puppets - An exhibition of colored ceramic figures - Sofia with participation of our children	Your gifts: Color TV in the Dormitory club. Second TV set is not visible. It is on Girls floor common room	Christmas Eve - Children receive presents donated by Rotary Club of Oregon (WI) and Dimitar Krumov
Rabbits donated by Rotary Club of Oregon (expected to breed this spring)	Calendar - done by the students

LETTER OF THANKS FROM POLLY REYNA, OUTGOING INTERMEDIARY IN GUATEMALA, TO ALL THOSE CONDUCTORS WHO HELPED HER ALONG THE WAY

Polly Reyna, our Orphan Train Intermediary for children's homes at Quetzaltanango and Mazatenango, is returning to her home in the States, after many years in Guatemala. Polly has been an inspiration to all of us who worked with her. We will miss her wise counsel and tireless efforts on behalf of children. The Orphan Train Project hopes to continue working with Polly here in the States. What follows is a letter Polly sent prior to her departure, thanking all of you who have been helpful at to the girls of La Divina Providencia at Quetzaltenango

January 18, 2002

Mr. Ed Fink
Orphan Train Project-Chairman
Rotary Club of Madison West Towne-Middleton
Madison, WI 5717

Dear Ed,

Enclosed please find photos of the Christmas Party, the going away party that the volunteers gave for me, the girls in their new sports sets and a photo and receipts for the new pots, pans and silverware for the girls. They were so excited to get the new items, that we advanced the money that we are expecting from Ridgeway that we had earmarked for these items. (Editor's note: money was sent).

We volunteers really enjoyed organizing and giving the Christmas Party and want to thank all of our Rotary Orphan Train Conductors: Ridgeway Elementary School, Madison Jaycees, Kiwanis (of Dodgeville), our special friends Tracey Anton, Michael Schwarzmann and Heidi Baumgartner who became our dear friends by way of association with the Rotary Orphan Train Conductors.

Sister Berta, Emma, Maria del Carmen, Irma and Rosario and the girls of La Divina Providencia (Quetzaltenango) loved the pizza party and visit from Santa and want to thank the Orphan Train Conductors for making this possible by all their hard work throughout the year.

Gerda (volunteer from Holland), Dana (new English-speaking representative) and I want to thank all of our special friends for making it possible to buy the sports sets for the girls. Today, January 18, was the first day of school that the girls could wear whatever they wanted to wear. They all chose to wear their new sports outfits!!!! Gerda, Dana and I presented the sports suits at a backyard party at Gerda's house. The girls were so excited to put them on that they ran around to the side of the house and changed into them and came out jumping and cheering with excitement.

Again, thank you all who participate in the Rotary Orphan Train Project. I can tell you first-hand that what you are doing for children all over the world is changing the lives of these children in a very positive way. Your contributions of hard work and enthusiasm to earn money for the very valuable project will continue to sow positive benefits throughout the lives of these children.

Because of last minute time constraints this letter is short, but will write more later.

Regards,

Polly Reyna

Arriving for the Christmas Pizza Party
More Girls Arrive for Pizza Party
OT Intermediary Dana Mannen takes party pictures

Santa dances with the girls
Dana Mannen with Sarai, Marisol and Olga
Hermana Berta says "Finally, here comes the pizza!"

Girls and staff say goodbye to OT Intermediary Polly Reyna
New "International Friendship Club" sports sets
New Cookware from Ridgeway Elementary to La Divina Providencia

GABROVO HELPED BY GOOGINS AND MADISON SOUTH

Recently, the Rotary Club of Madison South and Googins and Company (Financial Planners) combined in a $1000 donation to the orphanage at Gabrovo, Bulgaria (See also Whistle Stops of 8/22/01). The purpose of the donation was to purchase flooring, electrical outlets and paint. Peace Corps Volunteer, and Orphan Train Intermediary, Michelle Alexander made the initial plans for refurbishment. After Michelle's tour was completed, the project was then led by Paul McConnell and Antoaneta Yankabakova of the YMCA, in cooperation with Orphanage Director Peter Ivanov. Paul and Antoaneta sent pictures and wrote the following letter to Louise Googins, President of Googins and Company, and the Rotary Club of Madison South:

Warmest greetings!

We would like to express to you our heartfelt condolences in the wake of the terrorist attacks on America. Our thoughts and sympathies are sent to you and our prayers for the families and communities.

The refurbishment work of the orphanage is nearly completed, and the walls and floor linoleum give the building a nice color. Today, we fitted electric sockets and last week hung picture boards for the rooms. Please find enclosed a thank you letter from the Orphanage Director, Peter Ivanov, and receipts of materials purchased, as well as photographs of the work that has taken place. Please thank the generous members of Madison South Rotary Club for us.

I also include copies of the Annual Report of the YMCA Gabrovo's work in the orphanage for you and your members to read. You are most welcome o look at our website: http://ymca.edasat.com.

We hope that our partnership will grow and that this coming year will continue to build upon the successes already.

Yours sincerely,
Paul McConnell                                                  Antoaneta Yankabakova
One year placement                                           Executive Director
Romford YMCA, England                                 YMCA Gabrovo

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE YMCA GABROVO'S WORK IN THE ORPHANAGE

It has been a very successful but frustrating year working with the Gabrovo orphanage.

In October (2000), we were pleased and honored to welcome Ed Fink, the Chairman of the "Orphan Train Project" and another two people (Jeannine Desautels and Glenn Koepp) visiting the YMCA and the orphanage. Their visit was a great opportunity for them to see the cooker and clothes dryer that was bought last year, being used and working well in the orphanage. Our partnering Rotary Club "Madison South," has generously donated further money this year to carry out refurbishment work including the fitting of electricity points and floor linoleum, and money towards the purchasing of paint and picture and drawing boards. It was wonderful that a team from the Orphan Train Project last June (2001) gave eye tests to all the children of the orphanage where we work and to the babies in the baby orphanage.

In September (2000) Paul McConnell arrived from Romford YMCA, England and has worked developing the relations between the orphanage and YMCA Gabrovo for a year.
He has led the team that has visited the orphanage each week to play games with the children, develop the partnership with the orphanage children and staff and assess further needs. Paul bought a parachute in England, which was great for games with the children in camps and the orphanage work.

The children received winter shoes before Christmas, which they so desperately needed to survive the bitterly cold winter and thick snow. All the children received Christmas presents, thanks to donors from England. Michelle (Alexander) and Paul enjoyed buying the various Christmas presents for the children, which they then received from Vasko, dressed as "Santa Clause." During the year each child has received a birthday present, when it has been his or her birthday. It was sad at first to know that some of the children didn't know when their birthday was.

In April, YMCA volunteers took the children on an exciting day trip visiting Etara, a historical museum village, Skolski Monastery, children's concert and a restaurant. The children had a very exciting and enjoyable day, and the volunteers worked hard keeping control whilst having a fun time with the children. The children will remember this day for the rest of their lives!

YMCA Gabrovo met with the orphange staff and completed a needs analysis, which produced very productive and useful results. The results of the needs analysis are as follows:

Broken windows to be replaced.
More food for the children.
Cleaning materials.
Children's own wash-kit (Winant fund).
Towels for each child (Winant fund).
Wardrobes in the children's bedrooms.
School note books (10 for each child).
Plastic slippers for the shower (Winant fund)
Cutlery.
Walls to be painted.
Summer shoes.
Children's underwear
Carpets.
Underwear
Oil for the heating.
Vacuum cleaner.
TV for the play-room (Paul will donate his, when he leaves).
New floors to be laid.
Toaster.
New doors to prevent draughts

Unfortunately, the grant of money we applied for from the Winant fund, wasn't successful, so there remains a need for the children to own their very own wash-kit and towel.

In September 2000, there were 42 children in the orphanage, and now there are 40. Some children have left either because of adoption to families in USA or to live with their parents in Bulgaria. The orphanage has welcomed new children during the year too.

During the last month, refurbishment work has been carried out in the orphanage, which involved the staff and older children in the orphanage painting, and YMCA volunteers laying floor linoleum. The children have said how delighted they have been with the way their home now looks.

Below are the items bough during this past year, and the donors who YMCA Gabrovo would like to thank for them.

ITEM DONOR
Winter Shoes ………………………………………… ..........People from Romford, England
Birthday Presents……………………………………… ........Squirrels Heath School, England
Electricity Points………………………………………. .........Madison South Rotary Club
Windows……………………………………………….. .........People from Romford, England
Christmas Presents………………………………………......People from Romford, England
Summer Shoes………………………………………….........Teresa and Halib, USA
Toothbrushes……………………………………………. .......Michelle's friend
Paint for the walls in the corridor, bedrooms,
TV room and stairs………………………………………......Teresa and Halib & Madison South Rotary Club
Linoleum for the floor of 8 bedrooms and TV room……......Madison South Rotary Club
Picture boards for 8 bedrooms and another two boards
For the TV room…………………………………………... ...Madison South Rotary Club
Soft toys……………………………………………………....Office 1 Superstore and Redditch YMCA
Expenses for day trip………………………………………...Redditch YMCA, England

The Future:

YMCA Gabrovo will continue to work with the orphanage to further build relationships with the children and staff. We are very grateful to the support from Madison South Rotary Club and Googins and Company for their active interest in the well being of the children. It is so important to improve the children's living conditions, in order for them to feel valued and loved and to know that people in other countries care about them. We would like to thank our other donors during this past year too. We are excited about the forthcoming year and will do our best to meet the needs of the orphange, but we also recognize that this can only be achieved with the cooperation of the orphange itself.

Paul McConnell

YMCA Gabrovo
September 2001

Children of Gabrovo paint their home

Dorm room with new paint and flooring

YMCA Volunteers Nusha and George prepare to lay down linoleum donated by Madisonians

Petar, Russi and Tsanko outside Gabrovo Orphanage

Eating fruit from tree: Rooman, Zhelasko, Paula, Velizara and Kilrilka

Gabrovo Group