The social village project „Pribaikalskij Istok“ is located just under 40 km from Irkutsk. Around 15 residents live here together with their caregivers. In workshops, pottery, weaving carpets and building wooden toys are produced. While a lot of effort is put into supplying heating fuel in the winter, the summer months are particularly busy with work in the fields, which supply the facility with food. In addition, there is daily work with the animals.
Istok is pioneering. As the first facility in Russia comparable to a Western camp facility but is run by locals, the founders have embarked on a difficult path. Many difficulties are presented to the young facility, yet the initiators persevere.
The special needs school „Pribaikalskij Talisman“, founded back in 1992, allows around 30 children to learn school subjects according to adapted curricula. Previously, children with disabilities were simply kept at home by their parents, with no chance of participating in public life. It was only Talisman that showed that dignified treatment of those in need of spiritual care is possible.
Since 2000, school leavers have had the opportunity to relocate their primary residence to the village of Istok. Today, 15 adults requiring pastoral care live in the village, which serves as a model for the whole of Russia. The village is financed through a combination of self-funding, state funds, and a significant portion of Western grants.
Since spring 2005, there has been a dedicated workshop for birch bark containers in Istok. This gives the village the chance to take a big step towards self-financing and thus become more independent and self-reliant from Western supporters, but above all from the state.
The workshop was built by Jakob Steigerwald and Tim Mergelsberg, founders of sagaan, in the winter of 2004/05. The two friends invested half a year of their free time in the workshop, which had to meet socio-therapeutic requirements just as much as guaranteeing the ability to produce a large quantity of high-quality products. Since March 2005, the workshop has been able to carry out its regular duties.
Take a look at the production in Istok too! Here you'll find a
Image gallery on work in the birch workshop (2005)
Photo gallery on the construction of the birch workshop
Sagaen om brandkatastrofen i Istok
We are sharing the appeal for donations from the support group and asking for your help!
Donations
Friends of the Educational Movement Rudolf Steiner Association.
Weinmeisterstr. 16, 10178 Berlin, Tel: 030-61702633
Post Office Giro Stuttgart
BLZ 600 100 70
Account No. 39800 704
Keyword ISTOK 6362
To the homepage of the Talisman-Istok Supporters' Circle
Current reports from Istok
sagaan-Impulse for Work with Disabled People and Inclusion in Russia, 9 November 2014
Istok – The Source of the Sagaan Impulse,
Branded in Social Village Project Istok – sagaan asks for donations,
Report on the visit to the workshop for disabled people in Istok,