REM Award Honorees (2012) — Kenneth Green (Kotlas Connection)
When Dr. Kenneth Green retired from his practice as an anesthesiologist in the late 1990’s, he volunteered to teach English in Russia. In 2004 he traveled to Izhevsk where he taught classes for high-school students and young adults for one month. He returned there to teach again in 2005 and 2006.
In 2006, the Kotlas – Waterville Area Sister City Connection conceived the idea of bringing a group of medical professionals from Kotlas to visit hospitals in the Waterville area. The exchange was financed by money raised from the local medical community, the local hospitals, and the Waterville Rotary Club. The Kotlas Connection asked Ken, as a retired local doctor with Russian ties, to help raise funds and contact local physicians to obtain their help in creating a program for the visit. Ken and his wife, Eva, served as hosts for Dr. Alexander Menshakov of the Kotlas Diagnostic Clinic during that visit, and they remain friends today. Ken joined the Executive Committee of the Connection after the delegation left, and the Green house quickly became a magnet for visitors from Kotlas, first official delegates and later anyone from Kotlas who wanted a welcoming place to stay in Waterville.
Ken went back to Russia in 2008, this time to Kotlas to teach English at Lyceum #3. On his return to Waterville, he had an idea to improve communications between the sister cities. He thought it would be desirable for a student from Kotlas to come to Waterville to study at the college level for a year. He approached Fran Day at Thomas College. After consideration, the college agreed to accept a student for the coming school year. At this time the Connection threw its support behind Ken’s project, and Lena Feodorova became the first Kotlas post-graduate student to spend a year in Waterville. She has been followed by two Kotlas teachers, who both studied and taught while at Thomas.
Last year Ken traveled to Archangel as a guest of the Kotlas delegation to the State Duma. There he again taught English in schools for a month. It goes without saying that Ken knows the Archangel Oblast as well, if not better, then most of the Connection members.
For his continued involvement in the Kotlas Connection and the many hours he has spent furthering its ideals, the Kotlas Connection is proud to name Ken Green as its recipient of the REM Volunteer Award for 2012.
The Kotlas Connection was saddened by the death of Ken Green in June 2013 due to a malignant brain tumor.
To learn more about the Kotlas Connection, please visit its website.