Special delivery from Montana to special needs kids in Kyrgyzstan

Courtesy Photo | Anya is happy to see Third Army Soldiers visit her school, the Uventus Center, which teaches vocational skills to special needs children outside Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.  

BISHKEK, KYRGYZSTAN

05.30.2006

Courtesy Story

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BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan " Nadejda Finenko didn't see a whole building " the one with a wood shop, a shoe shop, beds, kitchen, even a computer room " when she decided to do this. She certainly didn't see that man from Montana " the one who would open his wallet and his heart without hesitation " when she decided to do this. Only one object was in her sight, plain as day, standing right in front of her when she decided to this. Her daughter was handicapped and wasn't getting the education she needed.

"When I decided to create this school, I found ten parents with the same problem as mine," Finenko explains, sitting in the office she never expected to have. "We had nobody to help us, so if we wanted to help our children, we had to create a special school for them. And we started."

Unknown to Finenko, another venture started up in the late-90's and steered itself on a happy collision course with her humble school. The State of Montana developed a partnership program with Kyrgyzstan, and these lands of fresh air and tall mountains came together in military-to-military exchanges. In 1999, the Montana National Guard sought to expand the partnership with military-to-civilian contact. They inquired about projects that needed some help, and through the U.S. Embassy in Kyrgyzstan, they were referred to Finenko's vocational school for the handicapped.

Master Sgt. Jim Carney, now retired from the Montana National Guard, remembers his first impressions of the school stowed away in the basement of an apartment complex. "It was damp, crowded. There were about 30 students, and the day we first looked at it, they had gotten a new student named Dema who had cerebral palsy. He wasn't able to dress himself, take care of himself, do anything for himself." Carney said he became a believer in the center when he saw Dema on a return visit six months later. "Dema could walk across that room. He had physical therapy for four hours a day, five days a week, and now he's totally able to take care of himself."

The center's success in less than desirable conditions spurred a commitment from the Montana National Guard to help find money for a modern center. The people of Montana answered the call with donations through the Farm in the Dell Foundation, an agency that works with handicapped children back in Montana. The new Uventus Center, "a phenomenal leap upward" in Carney's words, opened in 2005.

Carney stayed in Kyrgyzstan after retirement as a consultant for the University of Montana. Third Army Soldiers who visit the country in theater security cooperation exchanges know Carney as the man with the cell phones " he frequently hooks the troops up with all sorts of logistical support. "I like military people," said Carney, when asked about his involvement in military projects post-retirement. "I know what it's like to come into a country with no support, so I just try to help." They also know Carney as the man with the pearls " he learned to string bracelets and necklaces to raise funds for the Uventus Center. Some Soldiers take Carney up on his offer to tour the vocational school outside of the capital city Bishkek. He also invites U.S. Airmen out from nearby Ganci Air Base, who no doubt recognize the beds, wall lockers and other pieces of furniture the center claimed from Ganci's discarded items.

The Uventus students love to get visitors. They will immediately walk up to troops, shake hands and start conversations, unconcerned that their American guests might not speak any Russian. Pull out a camera and most of the children pose with the ease of supermodels. Anya, a rambunctious blonde girl whose bright lime green shirt matched her personality perfectly, recruits visitors to catch her running at full speed and twirl her around until everyone is dizzy.

"Our children are just children. They kiss each other, hug each other. They have sincere emotions," said Finenko when describing the typical Uventus student. "When they communicate with each other a long time, it helps them to feel more confident in real life. Staying together helps them," she said. Most students are like Anya, who comes to the center weekdays to create art or type on the computers " activities designed to improve her concentration, attention and motor skills. She lives with her family on nights and weekends, though some students will live at the center throughout the week and return home on weekends. Parents pay tuition, but since most of the families are poor, they find other ways to pitch in and keep the center running. Some parents work at Uventus for a small wage to keep their child enrolled. "These people are ready to put up with almost everything," said Finenko, "if only they stay with their kids."

Finenko has continued her own education since starting the center, earning degrees in nursing and psychology, and she's learned there are no universal methods of teaching handicapped children. "An individual approach is required, and everything depends on the mental faculties of each child," she said. Labor is the common bond that teaches pupils to dig deep for perseverance and determination. The students produce an ever-widening variety of goods, including doll-house furniture, toys and shoes. During the last Third Army tour of the center, the students were painting hearts they had molded from clay.

Carney hopes the industrious ways of Uventus students not only pave the way for their independence in adult life, but also leads the center to financial independence. "We hope in the next three to four years to make the school self-sufficient with products they can manufacture and sell" Carney said. Until then, Carney will string and sell his pearl bracelets, the children will make their clay hearts, and everyone involved will pitch in to keep the center open. Carney's heart is firmly on his sleeve for the Uvenus Center, its children, and Nadejda Finenko. The couple married in 2003, another thing Finanko certainly didn't see coming when she decided to do this.

"My life is so hectic, and I'm running here and there, always on the go," said Finenko, who has recently added politics to her education in an effort to address the problems of special needs children at the state level. "When I come here, I can unwind and take my mind off the daily hazards. Children love me. I see warmth and affection in their eyes."

Finenko's eyes have that warmth when she discusses the next big things at the center " holding a wedding party for the first time, organizing a Special Olympics that will bring healthy children to the center for athletic camaraderie with her students. She also loves to talk about the successes, like the 20-year-old student who couldn't read or write when he showed up at the door. "Now he has already created his own family and got a job with very decent salary. He's okay now."

Life started to become okay for many special needs kids in Kyrgyzstan when Nadejda Finenko decided to create this center for her daughter and others like her. Thanks to the people of Montana, and one retired Guardsmen in particular, the Uventus students should do much better than okay in the coming years.

• Date Taken: 05.30.2006
• Date Posted: 05.30.2006 10:39
• Story ID: 6565
• Location: BISHKEK, KG