Happy Leap Day!

Some fun photos taken during our trip in September!
The children enjoyed making and taking these "action shots".
Thought these would be appropriate to post today. =)

Teeth

$50 Still Needed to Repair Lyosha's Tooth*

$30 has been donated so far to help repair Lyosha's tooth. (Thank you, Renia Edwards!) $50 more is still needed to cover the total cost of repairing his tooth. If you are able to zoom in on this photo, you can see that his one front tooth is noticeably chipped. Orphanages do not have funds available for such repairs. You may donate via the PayPal button to the right, if you would like to help Lyosha.

* (29 Feb 2008 )Update: Thanks to Catherine Nielsen who has donated the remaining $50; Lyosha's tooth will soon be repaired!

Daily Needs: Combs and Toothbrushes

These are combs and toothbrushes in one of the girls' rooms.
These are items that are always needed at the orphanages.

Other Siblings

Other Siblings

Though there are many siblings sets that are separated---living in different orphanages several kilometers apart---that is not always the case. Above are photos of siblings (from three different orphanages) who are happy to be living in the same orphanage as their brothers or sisters.

A few of these children used to participte in the monthly Siblings Reunion. However, that is no longer necessary, because they are now living in the same orphanage and can spend time together every day. Many of these sibling sets are not "complete" as there are additional siblings who have "aged out" of the orphanage, or who live at one of the other school orphanages, or are very young and in the baby house. For now, Antares is only able to sponsor reunions between siblings living in the Regional Orphanage and Poludinskiy Orphanage.

We are thankful for the sponsors who help make the monthly Siblings Reunions possible--so that some children may experience this for a few hours each month.

Siblings Reunion

November 30, 2007 Siblings Reunion

Older siblings residing at the Regional Orphanage traveled to Poludino to visit their younger siblings who live there in the preschool orphanage. Antares Foundation sponsors provide the funds to make these reunions possible. The above photos show how much this time together means! Most of the photos reflect expressions of joy and happiness. However, there is one that shows disappointment this month. Vanya, the older boy, sitting in the chair with one of his younger brothers, was sad and disappointed to learn that their other brother was ill and he would not be able to see him.

All of the children must have been extremeley disappointed that there were no Siblings Reunions in December or January due to quarantines.

Special thanks to Catherine Nielsen who was the sponsor of the November Siblings Reunion!

Poludino Birthday Parties

January Birthdays

December Birthdays

Here are the photos of December 2007 and January 2008 Poludino Birthday Parties!

Sorry about the quality of some of the photos. We still posted them--because we could not bear the thought of leaving out any of the children.

Thank you Judy Perlstein, sponsor of the Poludino Birthday Party Project!

SEARCHING......

Laura and Apryl are Looking for Help!

How can YOU make a difference in 2008?

REFLECTIONS written December 31, 2007

This is the day to look back and reflect on the events of the year.
For Antares, 2007 was a stellar year.

Several more children now have personal sponsors:

These are only a few

Outings to the park, movie theatre, and Doner Cafe continued:

The Siblings' Reunion Project was begun. This is a sweet program which reunites siblings who due to their ages reside in separate orphanages. Several sets of siblings are reunited each month. In some cases, until the reunions, the siblings had been separated for years.

A whole year of birthdays was celebrated at the preschool orphanage in Poludino thanks to the Poludino Birthday Party Project. Every child there (unless they were moved in after their birthday) celebrated their special day--the day they turn a year older--with cake, treats, a present, and party. For many, this was their first birthday party ever!

Antares Foundation continued its other projects and programs at Poludino, the Regional Orphanage, and the Orphanage for the Disabled. We extended our help to include other orphanages in the North Kazakhstan Region, in Sokolovka, Shoptykol, and Aiyrtauskiy.

A private school in the US, had a fundraising project and raised enough money to provide new sports equipment (including treadmills, trampolines, basketballs, volleyballs, etc...as well as scales for weighing the children) for two of the school orphanages. The children and staff were thrilled to have some indoor activities to do during the long winter months.

In September, we (Laura and Apryl) traveled to Kazakhstan. We visited the Regional Orphanage, the Children's Village, Poludinskiy Orphanage, the Orphanage for the Disabled, the Baby House, Sokolovka Orphanage, and Shoptykol Orphanage. Donations were made to each orphanage. (From diapers, to medical supplies, to washing machines, a tv, dvds and Karaoke machines...and more.) Spending time with the children was the best part of our trip! We were also able to witness a siblings' reunion and birthday parties. These were incredibly sweet and touching events! It was quite evident how much these mean to the children. Another exciting outcome was that while there, Antares Foundation received permission to start a medical program to help children of the North Kazakhstan Region. The first child arrived in the US in November 5th, and returned to Kazakhstan on December 31st. The second child traveled to Omsk, Russia in November and was examined by a specialist there. We are very excited about the potential of the medical program.

New therapy equipment, as well as arts and crafts materials were provided to the Orphanage for the Disabled.

In November, Boris visited the Aiyrtauskiy Orphanage (another school orphanage for older children in the North Kazakhstan Region, about 4.5 hours away from Petropavlovsk.) Donations were taken there, and we hope to continue helping there.

In dealing with all the paperwork and details for the medical program, the printing of the annual artswork calendar was delayed. The 2008 calendars are beautiful and we still have many left to sell! These are available for purchase at a reduced rate of $7.00. Please contact us at Antares.Foundation@yahoo.com to order.

We are extremely thankful and grateful to the many sponsors and donors that make our programs possible! In addition to the special projects, we saw first hand how much sponsorship means to the children. It is more than the material items that are sent to them. Yes, they are appreciative of those items and that is a tangible way for them to know that someone cares for them. It makes them feel special and means so much to them to know that someone cares! It was exciting for us to see that all of the sponsored children knew their sponsors by name! They were more excited about showing us photos of their sponsors--than what their sponsors sent!

Yes, 2007 was a year of growth, and with that we also experienced some "growing pains", from website problems, to e-mail problems, to time management problems (not enough hours in the day to accomplish all we would like to do!) and more. Yet, we have made a difference! There is still the potential for more growth--as there are more children who do NOT have sponsors, than ones who do. In order to grow we will need more help! We will be doing some restructuring in 2008. If you would like to help or become more involved, please e-mail us at our new e-mail address: Antares.Foundation@yahoo.com If we have not responded to a previous e-mail, please forgive us, and contact us again via e-mail or phone.

Antares HOPE for 2008:

That you will join us as we grow and continue Helping Orphans and Providing Encouragement to the children in the orphanages in the North Kazakhstan Region!