Children's Home #1

This video is an interview with the Director of one children's home I visit.  It's one of the most well-connected (and funded) and well-run homes in the city, and many of the children there have parents or family members; some of whom take the kids out from time to time.  However, the director isn't lying about two things:  one, they do a pretty good job preparing the kids for work (most of the 16-year olds are already working part-time after school), running a well-disciplined but generally relaxed and hands-off home environment.  Two, (and while this is pretty indicative of Kyrgyz schools in general), many of the students do have a lot of problems in school, and neither their grade nor their age are indicative of where they are education-wise.  I come once a week and do English classes with some of girls (they asked), and I've been trying to do guitar and piano with a couple others.  You can see a handful of them in this video, many of them were probably at work while this was happening:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkOntHoIPno

I have mixed feelings about this work and this home.  It's a model home.  The director is a political sort, and knows how to get things for the kids.  She made me quite uncomfortable the one time I met her, and at least one local lady I met told me that the director wasn't interested in her volunteering if she wasn't going to donate money.  Many volunteers and funds have gone into this home; and it shows.  The staff are experienced, organized, and balanced, creating a relaxed, generally unchaotic atmosphere at the place.  At the same time, there are many homes that don't have this kind of support, and maybe I should be going to those places?  Also, if you're looking to transform children's lives, family-style homes are far superior, and public schools are the least helpful option.  One of the girls complained to me today that all her new classmates at school are smoking and not very nice.  :(  However, all told, regular visits over the past 7 months have made me a favorite visitor, and I deeply believe in working from a place of relationship.  Even the little ones get really excited to see me, which is funny because I have never said anything beyond hello and hi-fives to them.  Anyway, writing this note and going to the orphanage today totally wrecked my chances of getting my classes for tomorrow planned today.  :/  But I thought this was worth sharing.