In Russia, remarkable work is under way in this residential community where looked after children are educated and supported to allow them to reach their true potential. The Kitezh Children's Community was founded 10 years ago by Dr Dmitry Morozov. It is a village community of supported foster families providing education to university entry or vocational training courses. Plans are now advanced for the construction of a second community closer to Moscow We are grateful to Masha Pichugina, Marina Maximova, Liza Hollingshead and David Dean for this enlightening account.

David is the consultant assisting Kitezh in its move towards becoming a
therapeutic community .The founder of Raddery School in Scotland and its Principal from 1978 to 1995, David served for a period as vice chairman of The Charterhouse Group and now works to promote effective therapeutic environments in Russia, Romania and Africa.

Why is it that the communal way of life is in a very strong position to offer the best conditions for the creation of a developing, holistic, educational and healing environment? Why has it been impossible successfully to create such an environment in the vast majority of our children’s homes?

As our civilisation develops, popular perceptions shift, and there is a change in the generally accepted view about how best to bring up children. The new era, mercifully, does not require us to churn out bland, law-abiding citizens, who are simply component parts of a society based on the once necessary disciplines required for a mass production society and a stifling ideological construct. When we, in our community, Kitezh, are engaged in providing a child with an education, a family upbringing and therapeutic treatment, our ultimate aim is to allow them to discover their true calling, to facilitate the process of self-realisation within a rapidly developing civilisation. A micro social system such as we have here based on a communal way of life requires a young person consciously to make decisions about what is right and what is wrong.

Notwithstanding our status as a residential community we have a duty to our children to relate realistically with the wider community for even in the Russia of today our children still have to learn to survive!

Having outlived their traditional function, children's homes have now fallen out of favour in many countries. It is only in our country, Russia, that, with a misdirected persistence, we continue to place all children who have been left without parental care in state institutions.

Moreover, it is illegal to separate siblings, and therefore everyone is treated in exactly the same way. No distinction is made between those who have talent and those who are simply incapable of development or between those who have already turned to crime and substance abuse and those who love to read. The system does not treat people as individuals!

But if the care system for homeless children in Russia were to be based entirely on fostering and adoption, could the foster or adoptive family take the place of the children's home, and would it be equipped to cope with all the challenges involved? Our experience of working with foster families in the Kaluzhskaya Region shows that this form of care has its own shortcomings. Functioning in isolation, without the support of a developed social structure, the foster family cannot cope with all the problems that arise. Too much depends on 'external factors', such as the environment in which the family live, the school which the children attend, the friends which the children make locally, and indeed the extent to which the foster parents understand basic psychology.

If a child is to start to come to terms with having been abandoned, there is a need not only for an appropriately skilled psychologist (of which there are not nearly enough in Russia), but also for foster parents who can demonstrate a capacity for the task and have themselves received special training in aspects of psychology. It is already well known that the development of a well-rounded individual is a complex, multifaceted process. Whether we like it or not, the child will in a free and largely unpredictable manner draw information and indeed his whole life experience from his environment.

When a child is growing up he is influenced by a million unpredictable environmental factors that often defy rational analysis.

For there to be a happy outcome, an abandoned child or 'orphan' in our terminology, must be provided with a positive holistic world that can stimulate his unimpeded development in accordance with his instincts. It must provide for his effective rehabilitation and adaptation, and ultimately accelerate the pace of development so that the child can 'catch up'. It is this holistic world that can provide the starting point for therapeutic treatment and the foundation on which the more positive and constructive components of personality can form allowing the development of a child's ability to reason, to question, to appreciate, to work and to love.

It goes without saying that the work required goes beyond that which can be accomplished by a family alone. As children draw the information that either confirms or refutes their new experience from all possible sources, it is imperative to co-ordinate professionally the efforts of the family, teachers, medics and in fact everyone who has contact with the orphan child. This is why we believe that a therapeutic community offers by far the best solution to the problem of housing, educating and nurturing
orphan children.

As International Associate members of the Charterhouse Group of Therapeutic Communities we at Kitezh appreciate the value of this community of communities by which we have been embraced. We will, of course, develop our programmes within the context of our own culture and, at the same time, welcome constructive thinking from other practitioners and forums.

The main objective of Kitezh is to help children establish a new view of the world that is based on goodness and reason.

How Children are Chosen for Kitezh
The following is an extract from Guide for Foster Families by Kitezh founder Dmitry Morozov, published in Russia in October 2004

The orphanages provide children with the basics of food, clothing and shelter but they do nothing to motivate them to study or develop themselves. The most disadvantaged children in an ordinary orphanage are those who are bright and intelligent but who have no opportunity to realise their potential through this system.

They are not encouraged in their schoolwork and are often stigmatised at school because they come from an orphanage. Once a child turns 18, the orphanage is no longer responsible for, nor interested in, the children, and they are cast out into the world with no real possibility for further education or skills training.

Kitezh aims to select children who can most benefit from living there.
The criteria for selecting children for Kitezh are: 1) do they want to
come and b) are they eager to study?

Kitezh staff liaise with local social workers about which orphanages to visit and find out from the staff which children would benefit most from coming to Kitezh. Over the years Kitezh has developed good relationships with the administrators of local orphanages although some are reluctant to release children from their institutions into foster family care for financial reasons.

A member of staff trained in Art and Play Therapy goes to the orphanages to meet the children in a preliminary assessment. She asks them to draw pictures that reveal information about their inner world, their ability to relate, and the level of attachment that they had to their parents when they were very young.

Then arrangements are made for selected children to visit Kitezh for a few weeks to give them the opportunity to find out what it means to live in the community. When a child asks to stay in Kitezh, the choice of family depends on which adults the child forms an attachment to, which families have space and the ages of the other children in the family. It is not a good idea to have children of the same age with the same needs in one family. If their legal documentation allows them to be released into foster care, they may do so. To acquire permission from living relatives and even a birth certificate can take a long time. Kitezh also runs annual summer camps for groups of children from local orphanages and some of these children ask to stay.

Integration and Therapeutic Development process:
The daily schedule is structured and very full which helps the children integrate into community life. They have no time to be bored or to revert to their previous bad habits. The children have lessons in school until lunchtime, at two o'clock. Then there is an hour of work in the community (chopping wood, helping in the kitchen etc), followed by homework, play rehearsals, children's meetings and other activities. Half an hour before bedtime there is family time for tea and sharing. Some evenings the children watch films or cartoons that demonstrate positive values. Every Saturday night there is a disco that goes on long after most adults can stay awake!

Much time is spent in rehearsals for plays. There are many celebrations that provide great opportunities to put on theatrical performances. But these are not just entertainments as they have a therapeutic purpose. The children learn to express themselves creatively in a co-operative situation and the applause and approval they receive builds confidence and self-esteem. We have observed significant changes in children as a result of playing major roles in productions such as Jesus Christ Superstar, My Fair Lady, and Romeo and Juliet.

Community Structures that support the therapeutic process:
The Pedagogic Council: made up of teachers, psychologists and mentors who meet daily to discuss education issues. It may have the same function as one part of the weekly Community Meeting or the Awareness Meetings by bringing in a child who has misbehaved in some way to discuss the problem with him or her and to devise a form of compensation for the misdemeanour. Punishment is a concept that we try to avoid. A foster parent may also attend to discuss a problem with a particular child and together solutions are devised.

The Small Council: Three older children are elected by the other children to form the 'Small Council'. They are responsible for organising practical activities for all the children including managing homework time, community work and social activities.

The Community Meeting: every Sunday night all children and adults meet for one hour. The pattern of the meeting is based on the original work of the family therapist, Virginia Satir which was developed at Raddery School in Scotland over 17 years and under the direction of David Dean to provide an appropriate format for their weekly Community Meetings. Here, as at Raddery, following ordinary community notices, the children and adults together set the agenda and raise issues that concern them. Everyone is free to comment and a resolution is reached with common agreement. This is followed by a round of hopes and expectations and closes with a round of appreciations.

The Game: "I create my own world"
An interesting and demanding therapeutic 'Game' has been developed at
Kitezh that involves all children. The Game provides a structure for the integration of new children and at the same time a motivating force for all children for self-evaluation to improve their behaviour and levels of achievement. Although no child is compelled to join the Game, they all want to because it is important for them to be a part of everything and to belong.

The Game is guided by the older teenagers and young adult teachers who are known as Custodians. The children divide into different levels according to their level of responsibility within the group. They wear different coloured badges to indicate their level. Each level has specific themes to work on and the children set their own goals within each level. All newcomers start out as 'babies' or 'Pupsiky'. Once they have achieved some simple aims such as being well behaved in their family or studying well, they are promoted to 'Pupil'. Here the aims are more stringent: truthfulness and sincerity, to create beauty and harmony, be willing to listen to criticism and change their behaviour for the better, to develop gratitude and patience. The next stage is 'Mentor' where they take this role to a younger child. The final stage is 'Custodian' where they
become caretakers of the spirit and values of Kitezh. If a child seriously errs he or she may revert to 'Pupsik' and start all over again.

Small groups of foster parents and their children meet with their Custodian weekly. There each child makes specific goals for him or herself that can be achieved in 1-2 weeks, and discusses their progress with their current goal. The parents may comment and together they decide whether the child is ready to progress to a new goal and a new level. On the wall in each family home are charts where the children mark up their own progress every day. Some parents also set goals and mark up their progress.

Goals
may range from a commitment to listen to mother, to interact more with
others or not to smoke cigarettes.

When the Small Group agrees that a child has achieved his or her goals for the first level, the Pedagogical Council is consulted. If all teachers agree, then it is announced at the weekly Community Meeting and the child receives a round of applause from everyone and a new badge. It is a special achievement.

The Awareness Meeting: The children also meet together for an Awareness Meeting twice a week. These meetings complement the weekly Community Meeting. One of the three elected members of the Small Council leads the meeting and Mentors and Custodians attend. Each child is invited to share what has happened that day or that week, what was interesting and successful. It is also a time to discuss difficulties in the open. Then they give appreciations to those who have done well. This group is beneficial for the children because it gives them a structure and a place where they can support each other.

What happens when someone behaves badly? The children manage it themselves in the group. A problem for one member becomes a problem for the group. For example, one day the blackboard had been slashed. Masha Pichugina, 17, and the head of the Small Council, announced this at the next Awareness Meeting. She said, "Somebody destroyed the blackboard. This is a pity because it cost a lot of money. It is also a pity because it is our blackboard and we use it all the time. If someone is responsible will
they say?"

Two boys admitted to it.
"Why did you do that?" asked Masha.
"I was so angry." One of them explained. "I wanted to go to town and I wasn't allowed. I wanted to destroy something." "How do you feel about it now?"
"I understand it was stupid."
"Next time you are angry, what will you do? They might need help with this everyone. Make some suggestions."

Instead of shaming and blaming, the children try to think of constructive ways to channel this kind of energy. Nevertheless, it is understood that the boys did destroy something valuable and they must make compensation. For example, instead of the usual one hour of work on the farm, which we all do, they should work four hours for a couple of days. Better still, the child in question may offer to undertake an appropriate compensation for his misdemeanour. In this way they are encouraged to take responsibility for their actions.

Mentors' meetings each week discuss with Mentors, Custodians and teachers how best to respond to the behaviour of the children: who needs appreciation, and who needs more effective management. Appreciation is most important: recognition for all successes, however small, must be acknowledged. This encourages the children to continue to succeed.

This complex, time-consuming yet valuable structure provides support for the children to learn how to strengthen their will and develop positive behaviour patterns; it provides support for the foster parents in that they are not alone in their work to rehabilitate their children; and it reinforces the day by day concentration on therapeutic education for all
children. It also demands of the adults that they, too, are engaged in the process of inner development as they support their children to grow and change. Without a community structure for the foster families it is difficult to imagine how this could be achieved.

kitezh@kaluga.ru
Much support for Kitezh is now coming from both Russians and ex-patriots in Moscow and from the Ecologia Trust in Scotland which over several years has sought funding for professional training and development costs: info@ecologia.org.uk