The article below appeared in the Washington Post on August 15, 1999. Officials at the Orphanage (Internat) deny the facts reported below. The Human Rights officials identified in this web site also deny the facts reported below. I found it difficult to believe these reported facts, but I do not know the truth since I was only there for 10 days. I offered the Post my photos of all of the Internat children so that there could be an accurate count (with approximate child weight, size  and age as of May 1998). Several United Methodists Church work teams from the USA visited this Orphanage since that period in 1998. Reporter LaFraniere told me by e-mail that Orphanage no. 8 had been awarded official recognition for its work and environment, but she stood by her report and sources. I trust my sources as she trusts hers. Ms. LaFraniere's article is quoted for educational purposes and for the precision of the reports.

Gulags for the Children
Russia's Orphanages Warehouse the Retarded

By Sharon LaFraniere
Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday, August 15, 1999; Page A01

"At Internat No. 8 in northern Moscow, staff psychiatrist Larisa Bogaeva compiled a list. In an institution that held at most 100 children, 16 orphans ages 4 to 15 died from January to September 1998, three child advocates familiar with the situation said.

Half of the deaths occurred when the orphanage lacked even a competent nurse, and half after an inexperienced pediatrician joined the staff, the child advocates said. No autopsies were performed. No one even recorded the children's weights. The cause of death was listed simply as "deficiencies incompatible with life."

Bogaeva was so horrified that she took her list of dead children to local officials. But Anatoly Severny, president of the Independent Association of Children's Psychologists and Psychiatrists, said no investigation was conducted."