How to help a child from an orphanage? Is it only financial assistance that matters? Altai State University students have found the answer – as part of the “Road to the Future” project, they are helping orphans and children left without parental care decide on a future profession.
The “Road to the Future” project started in May 2024, and during this time the team visited three orphanages in Barnaul, Biysk, and Pavlovsk.
"Many events are now being held for such children, but the essence of our project is to facilitate open dialogues between ordinary students and these children. They talk about themselves, their hobbies and answer the children’s questions. At the same time, we talk about how to enroll in a college or technical school,” explains the project leader, student at the Institute of Geography of Altai State University Danil Said.
Danil is implementing the “Road to the Future” project as part of his participation in the all-Russian student project “Your Move” (track “I Do”).
"One of the stages in the competition is the implementation of a social project. I thought for a long time about which idea to take, and my mentor, Artem Tarasov, advised me to take this one and helped me draw up a project card. Then, we started recruiting a team, and now we are already helping children from orphanages with all our might,” says Danil Said.
The team consists of three students from Altai State University and a student from Altai State Institute of Culture. Danil (INGEO) deals with all organizational issues, he contacts with the directorates of orphanages. Pavel Vlasov (IGN) and Anastasia Pakharukova (INGEO) promote the project in the media environment, and Alisa Aldushina (ASIC) coordinats the work of students visiting children. At the start of the project, its leaders received about 50 applications from ASU students, but only the most responsive and emphatic guys were selected for participation.
“This is not a camp where you are a counselor, these are not first-year students. Here you need to give much more strength and patience,” notes Danil Said. “The responsibility on the students visiting children is truly great, because children can be either very open or distant, even hostile.”
Before the first trips to orphanages, students from ASU received a lecture-training from Tatyana Khodus, Head of the “Mentors for Children” mentoring program for orphans in Altai Krai. During this lecture-training, the children learned how to properly communicate with orphans and consolidated their knowledge through a practice game called “upside-down.” Danil Said himself is confident that with a friendly and calm demeanor, as well as clear speech, the students can find an approach to connect with children. The students are already maintaining remote contacts with older kids and continue to answer questions that concern them.
At Barnaul Center for Assistance to Children Without Parental Care No. 2, the project participants held an intellectual game “Get to know Altai” and talked with children who are about to enter technical schools and colleges. Egor Solomatov, a participant in the “Road to the Future” project, a student at Altai State University (INGEO), shared his impressions of the trip:
"It was an educational event for the children from the orphanage. We touched upon the issues and features of admission to colleges in our city, motivated them to make their way and study well. We also played an exciting quiz game about our native Altai Krai, knowledge about which will be very useful to those who will enroll in tourism-related fields."
In Biysk and Pavlovsk, Altai State University students, as in Barnaul, told teenagers why secondary vocational education is in demand, why it gives a start in life. And for younger children, the students organized outdoor games. The plans for 2025 are to receive a grant from Rosmolodezh and continue the work of the social navigator.
"Funding will help make the trips more frequent and larger, as well as purchase gifts and essentials for children. The “Road to the Future” team hopes that the project will lead some of the participants to full-fledged mentoring for orphans. Anyone can join our project; help is always needed,” sums up Danil Said.