Transformation: Friday's Child Arrives without a Suitcase

The Crisis of Family

Felix Dzerzhinsky, founder of the KGB, created the Soviet system of state orphanages (internats) that provided a loyal source of cannon fodder for the Red Army during WWII. With the dissolution of the Soviet Union, these orphanages were left in a vacuum. The children are often under-developed intellectually and socially, with little hope of advancement or employment after they leave.

Many of the children were taken from their family due to parental alcohol or drug abuse. Others are orphans of Ukraine’s burgeoning AIDS epidemic, and often the HIV virus is passed from mother to child in the womb. It is all too easy to fall prey to a circle of crime, drugs, prostitution and prison.

All is not lost though. For some, adoption and fostering is beginning to become an accepted alternative, and social services and other charities increasingly provide assistance to try to keep families together and out of the orphanages.

Sponsored by Everychild Ukraine

An Orthodox priest and his wife have created what virtually amounts to a family orphanage. The family consists of two of their own children (7 and 3) and two adult children. In 2006 the Kolod family also took on four children from a crisis family. They have built their own house, are largely self-sufficient with their own cows, and refused state subsidies such as family allowance.
  
“'We have enough toys. Just the same as children in families have. The problem is that the personnel in these foundations have limited time and resources and cannot play with every single child, and help each one in their intellectual development.'”
   
“'An institutional environment is quite different from real life. The personnel wear white gowns and work to a regulated timetable, and therefore don’t show the children a style of behaviour that they can imitate… The children suffer from insufficient contact with people. The staff work in shifts, which doesn’t give the children a chance to develop a stable relationship with one person.'”
     
  
   
  
Svetlana came from a multi-children family and worked as a milkmaid. When she became pregnant, her cohabitant wouldn’t acknowledge his fatherhood so she went to Kiev to look for work. She settled in the “Lakomka” sweet factory and rented a flat. When she gave birth to her daughter she returned to her parents, but it was completely impossible to live in the house. Her sisters and father were all alcoholics, and conditions at home were wretched, so she left for the Mother and Baby Home.
     
  
To provide at least a temporary respite and a place of sanctuary from domestic abuse, a network of “Mother and Baby” homes are being created where mothers can stay with their child for up to two years, but few single mothers are yet aware of their existence.
   
  
Many mothers are forced to take their children away from families because of Ukraine’s rampant alcohol and drug abuse. Single mothers, like multi-children families, face the conflicting priorities of looking after their children while trying to support them financially.
     
  
   
  
     
  
   
  
Katya’s mother died from drug abuse. Katya’s aunt, Maria, formally adopted her and Katya now lives with her cousins. Maria herself suffered from domestic abuse at the hands of her husband but the family was relieved from this burden when he was sent away to serve a prison sentence.Maria is now working at a children’s nursery school.
     
  
   
  
Natalya grew up in an orphanage. She came and lived without registering her place of residence (required by law), without an identity card and with nowhere to live. social services helped her to receive her identity card, and she is now officially registered in the region. Fortunately for Natalya, relations with the natural father of the child worked out.