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The Russian Orphan Lighthouse Project

A New Beginning for Russian Orphanages

By Linda Pliagas

American Lisa Smith was in Russia when she was called to action. It was 1989, when Smith first came face to face with the seedy, underlying decay of urban life in the former Soviet Union.

“You would see girls, as young as 12, prostituting themselves on the street corner,” she reveals.

Although Smith lived on a nice street in Moscow, she says that she saw this happening night after night. “After you see this for months and months, it sort of gets to you. I was sick and repulsed, and I said to myself, ‘Somebody has to do something about this.’”

But what could one young woman do? How could Smith help end the cycle of child prostitution?

Smith, a devout Christian who in 1989 started her own specialty travel agency focusing on Russian homestay travel, says she sought divine guidance before going to bed at night. It was then that she got the idea of facilitating the adoptions of Russian children by Americans.

“There are 700,000 kids living in Russian orphanages,” says Smith. Most of the children who end up there do so as a result of parents losing custody due to neglect. One of Russia’s biggest social ills is the large number of people who abuse the product made famous by this great nation: Vodka. But rampant alcohol abuse is not Russia’s only problem, a high level of unemployment also exists. Couple those issues with a powerful underground mafia and a corrupt police force and the result is hundreds and thousands of children living in peril.

The first group of 28 orphans arrived to the United States in 1997. Since then, the Lighthouse Project has facilitated the adoptions of over 300 children throughout the nation.

Smith began The Russian Orphan Lighthouse Project in 1997 along with Valerie Thompson and Larisa Filatova. Thompson is an adoptive parent of eight Russian orphans and lives in Midland, Michigan. Filatova is a Russian citizen who now lives in the U.S. and manages the logistics of growing the Lighthouse Project in different cities.

The Lighthouse Project arranges thirty to forty adoptions per year. Prospective parents meet the children when Smith and her associates bring a group of children directly from the orphanages of the Soviet Union to attend a “Vacation Bible School.”

Through the program, the orphans live with host families who are interested in adopting them. The children participate in fun-filled activities such as going to the zoo and also not so enjoyable tasks like visiting a dental office. Smith says that many of the children have root canals and other crucial treatments that would otherwise not be possible if it were not for the doctors who donate their services to the project.

The cost to host a child is $600; this fee helps offset the costs of travel for the children. The cost of adoption is $45,000. Smith is quick to mention that financial resources are available for those interested in adopting. (For information, please visit: http://www.lhproject.com/financial.html)

“We’ve had people from the entire economic spectrum adopt, from people living in trailers to multimillionaires. To us it doesn’t matter how much money they have,” admits Smith, “We just want a nurturing home for the kids.”

Smith makes quarterly visits to Russia, she is currently working with ten orphanages. Choosing which children will visit the United States for possible placement is often heart wrenching. “I’m practically attacked when I go into the orphanages. The kids are banging on the doors, yelling ‘Help me! Help me!’”

The Lighthouse Project has had great success placing orphans with parents of homeschoolers. If you are interested in hosting a child’s visit or in adopting a Russian orphanage, please contact the Lighthouse Project.

For more information, please contact: info@lhproject.com
Or call the Lighthouse Project Director: 415-382-1550
To contact the Lighthouse Project Field Coordinator, Becky DeNooy,
please call 616-245-3216

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