“Offering help for the first time is very scary.” Stories of volunteers helping children

Every year there are more and more volunteers in our latitudes (just don’t confuse enthusiastic altruists with people who receive a percentage from defrauding gullible citizens!). But the imagination of most average citizens still portrays a volunteer as a mysterious eccentric who gives his free time, strength and finances for the benefit of some unknown and illusory pompous goals.

But it is well known that in the psychology of every person there is a need to be needed and useful by someone. What else with the same convincingness helps to realize this need in our cruel world, if not volunteer movements? In addition, no matter how eccentric others may consider the volunteer, you inevitably begin to feel involuntary respect for such a bright and upwardly striving person, right? And the most vivid examples when people discovered hidden talents or abilities - exactly from the stories of volunteers. After all, people who need your help don’t care how many friends you have, who you work for, Everyday life or how old are you.

I'm sorry, but I won't sit down and cry

Musician Alina Kuznetsova Once upon a time, back in childhood, I decided for myself that I would definitely help all, all people. Alina's family was dysfunctional - her parents drank, and her daughter had every chance of growing up as a nervous, withdrawn, troubled teenager. But the fragile girl turned out to be stronger than the circumstances and even helped her parents overcome alcohol addiction– regular trips to church with the whole family. There would have been a happy ending here, but for Alina this was just the beginning: she began visiting orphanages and gradually establishing cooperation with charitable foundations.

Now the girl’s field of activity is focused on mountain hikes with boarding school students and children from low-income families, as well as trips with other musicians to psychoneurological boarding schools for adults. There Alina and her friends not only organize impromptu concerts, but also teach helpless adults to play the guitar and flute. " When I look at these people, I want to live. I feel an overabundance of myself, so to speak. Of course, I feel sorry for physically unhealthy people and orphans, but I won’t sit down and cry over them, it just motivates me to do something specific for them"- the girl admits.

I miss summer without children

Manager Yura Vdovtsov I found myself in volunteering about 7 years ago. Over time, Yura’s natural organizational talents rallied around him the youth core of the Angels volunteer organization, which he has been leading for 5 years. Over the years, the youth team has grown from 15 to 60 participants. Volunteer “angels” have already presented master classes, game quests, and costumed fairy-tale performances in boarding schools and orphanages more than two hundred times. Yura also managed to “lure” dozens of popular Ukrainian and Ukrainian people to various boarding schools. Russian show business, convincing many (through managers) to try themselves as a volunteer and get to know orphans. What is most curious about this story: over the years of its existence, the Angels have never found permanent sponsors. But this hardly prevents them from doing what they love. Now Yura occasionally tries to remember her life before she started volunteering, but it doesn’t work: “ When children from boarding schools go on vacation in the summer, we have a forced vacation, and after two weeks I begin to feel depressed and bored».

I am a mother, so I will definitely find an approach to other children

Young mother in maternity leave Yulia Svetashova could not limit herself to caring only for her baby - she felt that her strength was enough for the world of other children who were not lucky enough to have a mother in this life: “I also had Hard childhood, so I know what it's like. And now I’m also a mother, so I know exactly how to approach other children. I think we need to change our lives better side on our own, without pinning hopes on officials-wizards who will come and restore order.” Yulia’s most creative idea was the creation of a puppet theater for orphanages, which now attracts sold-out crowds of young spectators.

I'll come only if they learn how to do push-ups

Workout artist Kostya Lysenko decided to follow his native sports path - to train orphanage kids and promote healthy image life among teenagers from boarding schools who early learn to smoke and drink alcohol. The methods of Kostya and his comrades in the street workout team Street Athletic Group are simple and masculine, but very effective: “We show tricks on the horizontal bars, do warm-ups with them - in general, we demonstrate how cool and honorable it really is to be in good athletic shape, which is not compatible with bad habits. Every time we are asked to come again. We promise to come only if they prove to us that they have quit smoking/started doing exercises/learned to do push-ups. When we come again, they intercept us at the door and ask us to see what they have learned during our absence.”

Volunteer? Everyday thing

IN Western countries Volunteering has long ceased to be something special or out of the ordinary. There, many residents perceive this quite routinely - as something taken for granted. Go out this weekend to help the Red Cross? Take part in a charity auction or even help organize one? If this happens in their life and not every week, then it’s still stable and regular. And it is not at all dictated by a peculiarity of mentality - by the force of many years of habit!

In general, sociologists are inclined to believe that soon people will understand the harm of the consumer attitude towards the world and life and will begin to pay more and more attention to communicating and helping each other. Interest in volunteering may also increase on this wave.

We hope that a similar future awaits the CIS countries, but so far our compatriots have little idea of ​​how volunteer work works and the meaning of volunteer work.

The most common myths

1. Charity is the lot of wives of oligarchs who have nowhere to put their money and nothing to do

If you started reading the article from this paragraph, and not from the beginning, then you missed the stories ordinary people(the same as you and me) who do not see the connection between financial situation and volunteer activities. Who doesn't have financial problems? Yes, it happens to everyone - even businessmen from the Forbes list can lose everything! But remember the golden truth: there are always those who had it worse than you.

2. Voluntary work is forced and obligatory for schoolchildren, students and some government employees

Alas, the myth that adults need to spend all their time earning money, and then investing it in elements of status (or banal wasting their lives) for some reason is not just cultivated in the CIS countries, but is generally considered the only true norm of “success” life. Although the line "partner social projects"is considered necessary for any self-respecting businessman. And almost any specialist in any field can use their skills and abilities to provide free assistance that will not take much time. For example, a lawyer can provide through some public organization free consultations once a month. A journalist can run a website or public page for a charitable organization free of charge, in the right words conveying to people the need for help.

3. To become a volunteer, you need to be a saint like Mother Teresa and agree to hardships for a good cause.

Volunteers are not only UN goodwill ambassadors who travel to African countries to look at the horrors of hunger and disease of unfortunate tribes. Any person who selflessly, without expecting any kind of gratitude, wants to help other people can be considered a volunteer. If you have an elderly neighbor whom you regularly go to buy groceries, medicines and help with housework without any extra thought, then you are already a volunteer!

Few people can actually devote their entire lives to morally difficult and often unpaid work - we all have families who also need us. Don't take on too much: Superman only exists in movies and comics, so you won't save the world. But you can do a little better. Just imagine that you have acquired a new hobby or decided to take an unusual course - volunteering can be limited in time without compromising the rest of your life. The main thing is that you enjoy your new “job”.

These children are aged from 1 month. under 3 years of age, who find themselves without parental care and have not yet been assigned to shelters and orphanages in the city and region, usually immediately end up in hospitals, where they sometimes have to stay for an indefinite period.

Let's meet the heroine of our story - this is Tatyana, a young woman of 36 years old who has been regularly visiting one of the children's hospitals in Voronezh since October 2009. She is engaged in volunteer activities in the department younger age SCCH No. 1, and also helps to identify and cover the financial needs of children that arise during their stay in the hospital.

— Tatyana, we understand that an essential condition for any activity is systematicity and regularity. How do you deal with this in your volunteer activities?

— At the very beginning, I determined for myself some days for visiting the hospital, Monday and Thursday are children’s days for me, and I simply don’t plan anything important at this time, and if something arises, I often make a choice in favor of the children, because I promised bring a banana for Vanechka, or a book for Ruslan, or dishes for Vika.

— Has anything changed in your life since you started doing this activity?

- You know, some kind of fullness has appeared, the usual way of life, if I may say so, has acquired additional meaning. For example, I had not previously thought about what needs to be done to win over a very closed and vulnerable child, but it turns out that children have needs that I manage to at least somewhat cover. They love to be carried in their arms, when they are rocked, when played with.

— Tell me, are children who refuse to be abandoned in any way different from children at home?

- Yes, with their eyes - in older children you can often see undisguised pain in them, and, paradoxically, some children after a stay in the hospital look better and behave more balanced than when they first met, when they were just brought from their parents.

— Were there any children among you who stood out to you in particular?

— I admit, I had favorites from each group of children. Mostly, for some reason, these are boys. Vanya, Vlad, my Sasha... They were subconsciously “mine” for me.

— What difficulties do you encounter along the way?

— What helped you overcome all these difficulties?

- Without a doubt, God's help. I have often wondered where I get the idea from right moment patience, understanding, restraint. Sometimes the advice of people who care about volunteering helped.

— Have there been any funny cases in your practice?

- Yes, of course, but what if I didn’t, I came once, and there was not a bedside table in the room, nor anything that was there before, just beds, at that time there were 6 children there. I see that something is really missing, and suddenly I realize that the sink has no elbow. Turns out. The kids were so naughty - they took their knee apart. Why is this not a curiosity?

Or here’s another one, the girl Vika didn’t want to eat porridge from the canteen, to which we added delicious baby food, at first I didn’t understand why she refused, and then I suggested that she try it from a jar, it turns out that she was just used to eating from a jar at home and did not accept the food on the plate. Like this…

— Tell me, what, in your opinion, are the character qualities that people who want to engage in volunteer activities should have?

I think the main thing in this is desire, the desire to give, what you can give. It is only later that you begin to understand how much you get in return. It’s hard for me to forget Vlad and Sasha, who were admitted at 3 months of age and were in the hospital for quite a long time. They learned to roll over and acquired skills characteristic of their age, and after all, you also participated in this, their victories became your victories, their needs became your needs. Now I remembered main difficulty, which I have to overcome, there is often just a burning desire to take them all, warm them up, feel sorry for them...

— Tatyana, now everyone is complaining about the lack of time, how do you manage to combine solving personal issues and serving as a volunteer?

“With God’s help, everything is possible, and it’s true, often there is not enough time for some things, and maybe they are not needed at all, I can say frankly, I have time to visit my children, and I really hope that this will last a long time.”

— What would you wish for your wards?

“And I only want to wish one thing, that they know what family and mother are.” So that there is no sadness in their eyes, so that they are hugged and pitied, understood and supported life path close people.

conducted the conversation by Irina Borodulina

Good afternoon dear friends! A landmark year for the volunteer community has begun. And I continue to compile posts on this topic. Small, because I process information in parts, “fractionally”. For what? Probably, first of all, in order to thoroughly understand this topic.

OFFICIALLY

December 6, 2017, at the “Russian Volunteer 2017” award ceremony, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared 2018 the year of the volunteer. The head of state noted that 2018 will be the year of “all citizens of the country, whose will, energy, generosity is the main strength of Russia.” In his opinion, there are more examples of civic participation and solidarity every year. Putin also emphasized that the volunteer and voluntary movement has united people of different ages and professions that strive to do good, “to be where their knowledge, experience, participation and selfless help are needed.” Also, at the end of November, the President of Russia signed a decree establishing Volunteer Day, which will be celebrated on December 5.

Minister of Education and Science Russian Federation O.Yu. Vasilyeva emphasized that the volunteer movement has great potential. - The volunteer movement today needs to formulate a socially significant order for mass training of volunteer leaders who will be able to attract creative and thoughtful people to volunteer. To do this, it is necessary to continue to cultivate an appropriate attitude towards volunteer activities, open educational centers for training volunteers, and develop and apply a competent information policy,” the Minister believes.

FOR REFERENCE

According to Rosstat, the number of volunteers in the third quarter of 2017 amounted to 1.4 million people. This is 20% more than in the same period in 2016.

Rosstat records that on average Russians spend about nine hours a month on volunteer work. Most help children, the elderly, and the disabled. Volunteers are also involved in garbage collection and landscaping in their populated areas, raising funds for charity, providing free medical or legal assistance, and helping animals.

Detailed information about the volunteer movement, competitions and projects is published on the portal of the Unified Information System “Russian Volunteers”

The word volunteer comes from the French volontaire, which in turn comes from the Latin voluntarius, and literally means "volunteer", "willing".

Volunteer (volunteer) is a person who, of his own free will, has decided to devote his time, experience, knowledge, skills and abilities to working for the public good, helping others, or conducting any event free of charge.

WHY DO YOU BECOME VOLUNTEERS?

1. Idea, reflecting the importance and principles of activity. It is the idea that determines whether a person will understand what he is doing and why, whether he will have pride, self-esteem and satisfaction from work and performance results;

2. Psychological need to be needed. The volunteer movement allows you to realize this need, to feel your need;

3. Need for communication. If a cool one is selected, funny company and it’s interesting and comfortable, you want to be around;

4. Interest. Volunteer work often involves non-standard approaches and new opportunities;

5. Entourage. Novice volunteers are more often interested in the external appeal of the movement (uniform clothing, badges, etc.) than the idea, goals or final result, especially for children and adolescents;

6. Career and self-realization. This includes the opportunity to improve your social status in career and interpersonal spheres. Sometimes the career of a psychologist or teacher begins in the volunteer movement. As a volunteer, you can make new connections and learn new things. Often, it is in the volunteer movement that certain abilities are manifested, for example, organizational ones;

7. Creative possibilities. You can express yourself in various types activities regardless of age or existing profession - journalism, teaching, management, speaking, script writing, design;

8. Leisure. Time can be spent in two ways - usefully and not. The first option is a volunteer movement;

9. Confirmation of your independence and adulthood. By becoming a volunteer and working on serious problems, people show their maturity and independence;

10. Resource opportunities. By working as volunteers, people become owners of related benefits - trips, interesting books and films, new connections, opportunities to participate in interesting events, etc.

MAIN AREAS OF VOLUNTEER ACTIVITY

Work in orphanages and shelters

Help for veterans and the elderly

Security environment and animal protection

Youth patrols

Restoration and care of military graves and monuments from the Patriotic War

Excursion activities

Participation in events and activities promoting family values, healthy lifestyle, active lifestyle, patriotism, volunteerism, etc.

MAIN TYPES

VOLUNTEER ACTIVITIES:

- Professional volunteering. Aimed at gaining work experience in the chosen specialty.

For example, future sociologists, psychologists, lawyers, medical and social workers, teachers choose the volunteer movement to acquire professional skills.

- Community Volunteering. We are very aware of the massive useful work: cleaning flower beds and parks, cleaning ponds, planting seedlings, etc. The purpose of such work is to meet new people, communicate and help society.

- Virtual volunteering. Free Internet work at home. Unlike other types of volunteering, virtual activities are not limited by time limits. Online help can be carried out 24 hours a day, on weekends and holidays, in any weather conditions.

- Family Volunteering. This is the activity of several family members (adults, children)

VOLUNTEERING IN RUSSIA

Russian history knows many examples of voluntary charitable work of people for the benefit of those in need of help. Catherine the Great and then Empress Maria Feodorovna declared themselves as benefactors.

The charitable institutions founded by the empresses served as the basis for the creation Russian system social patronage. The most important social occupation of the ladies of the court circle and wives statesmen became the patronage of charitable institutions.

Princess Maria Dondukova-Korsakova became a symbol of female charity. Her many years of selfless service in the field of charity have earned respect in all circles of society. Princess Maria Mikhailovna actively collaborated with the department of Empress Maria Feodorovna. Having received a large inheritance after the death of her grandfather, she used it for charity.

But voluntary help was not only the lot of people from high society. History has brought to us many customs, selfless support of one's neighbor by ordinary people. These include collecting donations for the construction of schools, hospitals, the construction of temples and assistance in harvesting.

The structure of the Russian Women's Mutually Charitable Society at the beginning of the century included courses on training and vocational training women, a bureau for finding places and activities for women, a council for the construction of dormitories, a legal commission. In the 70s of the 19th century, Higher Women's Courses began to operate on a voluntary basis in Moscow, Kazan, Kyiv and St. Petersburg. For my charitable activities The Russian Women's Mutually Benevolent Society received a gold medal in 1900 at the World Exhibition in Paris.

In one of the largest Moscow charitable organizations - the Society for the Care of Needy Children - volunteers were fundraisers and visited the poor. Again in Moscow in 1894, on the initiative of Moscow State University professor Vladimir Ivanovich Guerrier, the Moscow City Duma created the institution of “City Trustees for the Poor.” The duties of the trustee were entrusted with the task of studying the needs of the needy population, raising funds and providing individual assistance. Already in 1899, it was recommended to “extend the experience of Moscow to other cities.” And there were many such organizations. At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries in Russia there were 14,854 charitable institutions dealing with issues of public patronage and private charity.

The term “volunteering” in the modern sense, or even more so the term “volunteering”, was not familiar to Russia until the mid-80s of the twentieth century.

“Volunteers” were primarily people who war time without waiting for a summons military service, went to defend their homeland, so it was in the First world war, and during the Great Patriotic War. IN Soviet time- they were going to the Virgin Lands, the construction of the BAM.

The modern concept of volunteering in Russia began to take shape in the 90s, simultaneously with the emergence of various non-profit, public and charitable organizations. In the Federal Law of the Russian Federation “On charitable activities and charitable organizations”, adopted in 1995, is given legal definition volunteer: “Volunteers are citizens who carry out charitable activities in the form of free labor in the interests of the beneficiary, including in the interests of a charitable organization” .

Volunteering is an indicator of the level of civic activity, attitude towards social activities and the level of development of democracy in the country.

One of the most successful solutions to popularize the volunteer movement in Russia can be considered the implementation at the state level “Volunteer’s personal books”.

She is intended to record volunteer activities and contains information about the volunteer’s work experience, his incentives and additional training; issued by executive authorities and local government bodies of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation at the place of residence of the volunteer on the basis of his written application and personal identification number, which can be obtained by placing an electronic application on the Russian Volunteers resource.

Overall, the voluntary sector consists of hundreds of thousands of diverse associations and non-profit organizations. The availability of free time and the desire to develop, including professionally, have led many people to participate in volunteer activities.

« good people, as always there is not enough,

There is, as always, a shortage of kind people.

Kind people are not always understood

The hearts of the kind hurt more.

Kind people generously help the sick.

Kind ones - they give warmth and comfort,

The good ones walk in step with the weak ones

And no thanks are expected.”

Genrikh Akulov

(child care in hospitals and orphanages for children with disabilities):

Besides all that has been said, volunteers are a whole team. These are new interesting acquaintances who will support and share their experiences. There are psychologists here who you can turn to for help in case of some difficult situation. Various trainings and seminars are held.

Alla, project “Volunteer care”

(child care in hospitals and orphanages for children with disabilities)

At first it was scary. Come to the first meeting at the foundation, leave your phone number: what if I can’t, I’ll get disappointed, burn out, get bored, can’t cope... It was scary to go for an interview with a psychologist.

Inside there was a huge, tight bundle of doubts and fears. But it’s always like this: the most desirable thing is the most frightening. I decided to follow my desire, to go where my heart calls.

Popular

And on the first day in the hospital it was scary. Despite the fact that an experienced volunteer goes out with a newcomer and it is not necessary to perform complex medical procedures on the child right away, it was scary. It was painful and difficult.

But it was only when I started visiting children in hospital wards that I felt better over and over again. I realized how much I missed this in my life, how much these children give me, how they change my attitude towards everything that happens around me. How I become calmer, more tolerant, wiser. How the heart opens and is filled with warmth, love...

I have developed my volunteer mission for myself: the main thing is that the children smile with me and receive at least a little of the love of an adult that is so lacking, valuable and necessary for them. Your own personal adult! And the doctors do the rest brilliantly.

Anna, volunteer of the project “Close People”

(assistance to foster families who take in children with special needs)

I have been the curator of one family for 3 years now. At first, the name of the project “Close People” confused me a little, and it seemed to me that I should be something like a relative for them. Then, at the seminar, I realized that under no circumstances should I actively introduce myself into the life of the family, but should be ready to promptly respond to her request, but not impose my positions and help, even if I think that something is needed for the child do differently. This work teaches me not only to help an adoptive mother, who sometimes needs the help of the foundation and my help as a family supervisor, but also to better feel the balance in people’s relationships. And, of course, it fills my life with additional meaning.

Polina, event team volunteer

It’s difficult to say when I began to want to help people. It seems that I was born with it, and even as a child I tried to help wherever I could. As I grew older, I learned about the phenomenon of volunteering. At first I didn’t understand how to approach this matter. Then, having grown bolder, she grabbed onto absolutely everything, tried to be everywhere, transferred money, went to orphanages, sent parcels to low-income families and did a thousand other things... However, the understanding soon came that it was impossible to be on time everywhere. Now I have 2 main areas of volunteer work: conducting creative workshops at the Volunteers to Help Orphans foundation and working to support an unofficial charity movement in Dubna, Moscow Region. I am glad that my skills are useful: toys created in workshops are sold for donations at events and bring funds to the fund, my texts on Internet platforms help the volunteer movement “Good Dubna” inform people about its activities, raise funds for help, draw attention to problems.

Anna, volunteer of the “Prevention of Social Orphanhood” program

(assistance to birth families who find themselves in difficult life situations, on the verge of abandonment or removal of a child)

I joined the foundation a year and a half ago. I received the newsletter as a student of advanced training courses at the Institute of Perinatal Psychology. I was invited to join a team of psychologists involved in the prevention of newborn abandonment in maternity hospitals. Over the course of a month, we underwent training, which gave me not only new knowledge, but also the opportunity to communicate with like-minded colleagues and brought a lot of positive emotions. During my volunteer work, I went to maternity hospitals more than 10 times. During my duty, there are often calls to maternity hospitals. Perhaps this is really “mine”. Even if it is not possible to prevent the abandonment of a child, I still consider my work not in vain. After all, providing women with psychological support at such a difficult moment is already very important, and in their environment there are usually no people capable of doing this. My happiest case is my mom who turned to our fund for help on December 31st. She had nowhere to go from the maternity hospital with her newborn, and if not for the help of the foundation, she would have been forced to give up the child. On January 1st we took her to our shelter :) Now I am slowly getting involved in another species professional activity— I begin to conduct interviews with volunteers entering various programs of our foundation. I am very grateful for the opportunity given to me for professional learning, growth and development.

Maria Fedulova, project “Being Close”

(support for children in orphanages, mentoring, assistance in studying and choosing a profession)

It is very difficult to answer unequivocally why I have been devoting my free time to visiting children for six years now. Probably because children are my life, because I get from them hundreds of times more than I give, because children are our future. At the same time, I clearly imagine that my (albeit regular trips) are unlikely to radically change their lives now. But there are a couple of “buts” that force me not to give up and go to the boarding school again and again, no matter what. Relationships with children took a very long time to build, painstakingly, and only after more than three years did I finally understand that the children truly accepted me and I became close to them, became their friend. During this time, as a volunteer, I did not miss
not a single trip to visit them, and the children always greeted me warmly and joyfully, but something was missing. And then it appeared - friendship and trust appeared. And I simply cannot betray this friendship, deceive their expectations. Sometimes it happens that someone’s fleeting phrase, action or example can change their life or attitude towards certain things. And as long as there is a possibility that my - albeit not very ideal - example, advice, opinion and just my words and actions can guide them in life, I will continue traveling.

If you want to help children, but don’t know how to do it, go to the charity fund page"

Is volunteering a new phenomenon, or is it already traditional for our country? Maybe this movement was simply called differently in our country? Do only adults volunteer – or do kids too? Classic children's literature can answer these questions.

So, the word “volunteer” in translation means “volunteer”. Very soon it began to mean not those who volunteered to go to war, but those who selflessly, free of charge, do good deeds, help people or animals, and work for free for the benefit of those in need.

The first volunteer organization arose in England in 1844, it is world famous and still operates in different countries peace. This is the Young Men's Christian Association - YMCA. Its goal is to develop a healthy “body, mind and soul” grounded in the Christian faith.

In Russia in post-Soviet times, the first volunteer associations began to appear in the 2000s. Their activities are welcomed by the government. In November 2017, by Decree of the President of the Russian Federation, Volunteer Day was established - December 5. Volunteer work is not paid, but work organizers can pay volunteers for food, accommodation, travel, tools and equipment personal protection. Among the volunteers, there are managers (organize the work), assistants (not assigned to one person) and direct assistance volunteers (work constantly with a specific person).

Volunteers:

Help socially vulnerable groups of the population (orphans or street children, people with disabilities health, the elderly, etc.), including protecting their rights;

Educate people, promote a healthy lifestyle, avoid bad habits, distribute literature on these topics;

They help rescuers and doctors, for example, look for missing people, comb the area, interview people;

Organize charity concerts, festivals, theatrical performances (including events in the library);

They take care of the environment (clean green areas of garbage, improve yards and streets), and also help animals (stray animals, shelters, zoos, etc.).

Well-known actions of modern volunteers in Russia and Tyumen:

At the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Sochi, 25 thousand volunteers were involved, after which the Association of Volunteer Centers was created. Volunteers help with all major competitions.

The northernmost point of the Tyumen region, Bely Island, was also cleared of garbage by volunteers. For them, like many volunteers, this activity not only helped them test themselves, but also turned out to be a good help in their professional activities - studying the flora and fauna of the Far North.

In 2017, volunteers of the search team " White Owl» (Tyumen) 46 missing Tyumen residents, including children, were found.

Homeless animals in Tyumen are saved by the Lost Foundation.

Search engines from many regions (including ours) are looking for remains on the battlefields dead soldiers and relics from the Great Patriotic War.

In the 20th century (after 1917), children's organizations were actively involved in helping adults - their work made communist ideas and power attractive in the eyes of the people. And these were often truly noble deeds! If we open the books of A. Bogdanov or A. Rybakov (), we will read how the pioneers taught literacy to illiterate adults and supported labor initiatives (for example, subbotniks).

But the Timurites became a truly volunteer, largely informal (independent of the official authorities) organization of children in 1940 (and remain to this day).

It was no coincidence that Arkady Gaidar named his favorite heroes after his own children - Timur and Zhenya. In the story, children found themselves in their favorite bewitching atmosphere of play and mystery. So Zhenya, having arrived in the village, ends up in a mysterious attic with an amazing homemade communication and alarm system. And this is the headquarters of Timur Garayev and his friends, who secretly help the families of military personnel (then they said: Red Army soldiers) and do not allow local hooligans to let loose.

We are not a gang or a gang,
Not a bunch of daredevils.
We are a fun team
Well done pioneers!

Surprisingly, A. Gaidar was almost repressed for the story “Timur and His Team.” How is this independence of children, not sanctioned by the authorities? But, fortunately, everything worked out. The book became a favorite for many children, and its characters became an example.

The writer also could not part with the heroes, and two sequels appeared: the film scripts “The Commandant of the Snow Fortress” and “Timur’s Oath.” The story “Timur and His Team” was filmed twice – already in 1940, the second film adaptation – in 1976.

The kids wanted to imitate the heroes of their favorite book! The first Timurov detachment was created in the very city where A. Gaidar wrote his story - Klin, Moscow region. The first Timurites were 6 students from school No. 2. Since 1982, the famous Timurov headquarters “Red Horseman” worked at the school, and now it is called “Danko” and the names of the operations of this children’s organization speak for themselves - “The Veteran is Always Nearby”, “Let’s Collect Waste Paper”, “Young Soldier”, etc. The motto of the Danko headquarters is “We give our hearts to people.”

The harsh war years came. In his address to children, A. Gaidar taught them to behave in a military situation. The writer fought with the enemy and died. Just like many of his readers - very young and who have managed to grow up.

During the Great Patriotic War, Timurov’s detachments were in schools, orphanages, at the Houses of Pioneers... In the RSFSR alone there were more than 2 million Timurovites. They patronized hospitals, families of officers and soldiers, orphanages and gardens, helped harvest crops, and worked for the defense fund. After the war, the Timurites helped war and labor veterans, the elderly, and looked after the graves of fallen soldiers. Timurites also appeared in countries of Eastern Europe, and even in Vietnam.

Generally Great Patriotic War caused a surge in children's and teenagers' charitable volunteering. Children helped care for the wounded and performed concerts in hospitals. Older guys organized heating rooms in besieged Leningrad, in which they raised the strength of townspeople exhausted from cold and hunger. People came to Leningrad from Central Asia parcels with fruit, and children knitted socks and mittens for the soldiers and sent them to the front.

Tyumen writer Alexander Konstantinovich Taradankin wrote a documentary story “The Secret of YaM-5”. YAM are boxes for mines. They were made at the factory by Tyumen schoolchildren (schools No. 13, 23 and 25), on their own initiative they came to the factory and helped arm the army.

IN post-war life Russia (USSR) great importance had a search job. This is where the predecessors of today's search engines are!

Thanks to the search activities of the Timurites, many pages and biographies of A.P. were restored. Gaidar, open memorial museums writer.

Soon another children's organization announced itself. These were the “Red Pathfinders” - pioneers who collected materials about heroes (including those not known to a wide circle of people). They went on hikes to battle sites and created museums in schools. Relatives of the victims often did not know where their sisters, brothers, fathers, and grandfathers lay. The guys informed them about this. The movement was initiated in the second half of the 1960s by the Leningrad newspaper Leninskie Sparks, namely journalist Anna Lazarevna Moizhes.

These guys opened many unknown pages of the war. We found the first performers of D. Shostakovich’s “Leningrad Symphony” on August 9, 1942 in the besieged city. The burial place of the militia in Pulkovo was restored. Already today, the pathfinding organization of the 79th school in St. Petersburg “Memory of the Heart” has initiated the action “Leningrad Children”, the creation of a memorial and a park of memory at the site of the tragedy at the Lychkov crossing - where a train carrying evacuated kindergarten children was bombed in 1941 Leningrad. About the St. Petersburg trackers, about their finds - those mentioned and others - the book by Tatyana Kudryavtseva “War does not have small ones.”

How children study military events, learn about exploits and confirm the words “no one is forgotten, nothing is forgotten” is told in books such as the story from the cycle about Krosha by A. Rybakov - “The Unknown Soldier” and the story by Yuri Yakovlev “The Kingfisher” .

A little older than Vasil, Zoya and Marat was a short boy (Kingfisher), who whistled like an oriole, wearing a jacket fastened with two buttons.

It was he who parachuted behind enemy lines, blew up a bridge... And then he found out that if they didn’t find him, they would shoot the hostages - almost half the village. And he gave himself into the hands of the Nazis, who shot him... but maybe he still survived? And maybe this is the children’s own teacher, Sergei Ivanovich? The film adaptation of the story was carried out in 1972.

The Red Rangers were highly respected. Migulya and L. Oshanin wrote a song about them. And Alexandra Pakhmutova - a whole cantata.

But in late Soviet times, germs of formalism appeared in many children's voluntary organizations. The main thing for a fake would-be explorer is to become famous, to bring an exhibit to a museum... but what will happen to those for whom the last letter loved one from the front - all that remains, a priceless relic? B. Vasiliev’s story “Exhibit No...” is about this.

But let's talk about those who really deserve attention!

Any person can be a volunteer, even those who do not belong to any voluntary organization. And he can help those who cannot ask for help at all - unlike people. For example, there are many stories by Yuri Yakovlev about children who selflessly help others. But the story “Ledum” stands out among all. Why is Costa an average high school student? high school falls asleep during class?

It turns out that he walks with dogs - different ones all the time. With strangers. The owner of the setter walks with a crutch and cannot move much. There is no one to look after the boxer at all - the owners have left, and the dog lives on the balcony, and the poor thing also needs to be fed. The boy, the owner of the dachshund, is sick. And Kosta’s fourth ward dog is waiting at seashore. Waiting for the owner, who died. Here is the story of a kind, silent boy who loves animals and knows nature (for example, when wild rosemary blooms).

And with this story, the writer seems to be telling us that any of us can become a volunteer. This means that the Year of the Volunteer is truly our year with you. There is always someone nearby who is waiting for our help and needs it.

Zenkova Evgenia Nikolaevna, leading librarian
Children's Library named after Konstantin Yakovlevich Lagunov