How Russia's foster children are saving dying villages Foster children have become a lifeline for rural Russian communities facing a slow death from unemployment and precipitous population decline, followed by closures of schools and clinics.\\nIn the Brodi village school, there are 36 pupils, including 13 foster children. In areas of chronic unemployment like Novgorod, the rural region between Moscow and Saint Petersburg where Brodi is located, the compensation that comes with fostering a child is considerable, at nearly 6,000 rubles a month ($93, 85 euros). IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES