[CivilSoc] First Children's Hospice in Russia--A Seattle-St. Petersburg Story

[Moderator]

FIRST CHILDREN'S HOSPICE FOR RUSSIA - A SEATTLE ST. PETERSBURG STORY
SEATTLE, WA and ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA -- This summer, a young Russian
Orthodox priest, Father Alexander Tkachenko, has founded in St. Petersburg,
Russia the first children's hospice in the Russian Federation.  The hospice
will help solve the plight of dying children who are discharged from
hospitals but whose home conditions are very difficult.  The hospice will
provide compassionate and palliative care for these children during their
final months and a comfortable setting for them and their families.  The
story of this hospice began in Seattle.
 In 1989, the Church Council of Greater Seattle and Russian Orthodox
Metropolitan Aleksy (now Patriarch of all Russia) established an ecumenical
partnership between the churches of Leningrad and Seattle.  As one of the
many joint projects sponsored by the resulting "St. Petersburg - Seattle
Sister Churches Program," Alexander Tkachenko, a young seminarian from the
St. Petersburg Orthodox Theological Academy, attended in the summer of 1994
the course in hospital chaplaincy offered at Swedish Hospital in Seattle.
After he was ordained a priest and was assigned to a major Orthodox
cathedral in St. Petersburg, Father Alexander continued his interest in
hospital chaplaincy that began in Seattle.
 In his chaplaincy work, Father Alexander was especially touched by the
plight of children with terminal conditions in St. Petersburg.  Hospitals
often sent these children home because they believed that their situation
was psychologically unsettling to other children in the hospital or because
the cost was prohibitive to the family or the hospital.  On the other hand,
these children often lived in communal apartments where a kitchen and other
facilities are shared by several families.  Life in these crowded conditions
made a tragic situation even more difficult.  Father Alexander resolved to
assist these dying children and their families by establishing the first
children's hospice in Russia.  Through his persistent efforts, he has been
able to obtain approval for this hospice from the mayor and city council of
St. Petersburg and to obtain limited funding from certain St. Petersburg
companies.  The modest hospice begins operations this summer and will
hopefully provide a better approach to this difficult problem.
 Father Alexander Tkachenko is currently in Seattle as guest of the St.
Petersburg - Seattle Sister Churches Program.  He is accompanied by Dr. Alla
Ryazankina, the medical director for the children's hospice.  Their trip to
Seattle has been made possible by gifts from St. Mark's Cathedral, St.
Augustine's Church (Freeland), and the Church Council of Greater Seattle.
During their stay, they are learning about the pediatric hospice program
provided by Providence Hospice of Seattle.  They have met with the
palliative care team at Seattle's Children's Hospital.  They will also
travel to Vancouver BC to visit "Canuck Place," which is the only
free-standing children's hospice in North America, financed in part by the
city's hockey team.
Father Alexander speaks excellent English and is available for interviews at
any time while he is in the U.S. (until August 27th), or thereafter in St.
Petersburg.
Any party interested in supporting this important project, or in learning
more about it, is encouraged to contact either:
Peter M. Anderson
Senior Counsel, Preston Gates & Ellis LLP
(chair, visit planning committee)
petera at prestongates.com
(206) 232-4962
Fr. Nigel Taber-Hamilton
Rector, St. Augustine's Episcopal Church
(chair, St. Petersburg-Seattle Sister Churches Program)
rector at whidbey.com
(360) 929-3744