Our Russian Facilitators and Translators

It goes without saying that we have had a lot of assistance throughout the course of the 19 months we have been in this process. Our agencies in the United States have been critically important in making this happen. It truly is a journey and the baton gets passed to Russian citizens to see us through to the finish. Up until our first trip we had no idea who was helping us in Russia. This post is intended to share with you the people who are very instrumental in making this happen.

The woman standing in this photo is Svetlana Batsula. She is the head of the agency that is facilitating our trips in Russia. She has lots of governmental connections which you would have to exploit to make these adoptions happen. With so many twists and turns in the regulations and procedures in Russia, you need someone who can navigate through all that.

Seated in the picture is Ella? I believe that's her name. She is a translator who worked with one of the other families.


This is Violetta, our translator for this trip. She is a lot of fun. You know she has tons of stories to tell from the "glory days", but she's tight lipped about most of them. She was in the courtroom with us last Thursday.


This is Irina. She is responsible for taking our American paperwork and turning it into Russian paperwork. Our entire dossier had to be translated into Russian and submitted into the Russian system. That's Irina's job.


From left to right, Irina, Tatiana, Violetta. Antoine is in the foreground. Tatiana was our translator and guide on our first trip. Violetta was Lori and Antoine's first trip guide. Since so many families were in town the same week for court, it made sense for us to use Violetta for the second and third trips since Lori, Antoine, and us we would be visiting the same orphanage. Tatiana worked for a couple from Michigan on trip #2.

Our driver for the first trip was named Vladimir. I dubbed him Volga-Vlad because he wore a jacket that said "I'm a Volga Man" and of course that was the type of car he drove. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of him. If we bump into him on the next trip, I'll be sure to try to get one.

The Vladimir shown here I have nick-named "Van Vlad". He was our driver on the second trip, and will drive us on the third. It is important to have a reliable driver and both Vladimir's fit the bill.


I don't remember exactly what is going on here, but I believe Van-Vlad has forgotten he was born in the USSR and not Nazi Germany. Seig Heil!!!