Loving on disable children in a small town, state run orphanage.
THEIR FUTURE
Most kids in Ukraine have to leave the orphanage at 18 years of
age. A normal, healthy orphan has a rather bleak future if they don't have the
encouragement of others. Most have few life skills and a poor education, and
they are left to fend for themselves.
But for handicapped orphans, those labeled mentally disabled,
their future is miserable. At 18 they are uprooted from the only home they have
ever known, the orphanage, and sent to live in a psychological
"internat" (government run institute) or an old-age home for the rest
of their lives. They have no rights… no formal education and no understanding
of life outside the orphanage. Desperate for freedom and longing to be loved,
they are isolated from society.
Throughout their life in Ukraine, nothing for these disabled
children comes easily. The world here is not handicap accessible. The stigma
and cultural perspective remains in many people’s minds that these kids are not
kids and need to be shut away. That is what has been done, having been placed
in institutes they are not allowed to leave. The mentality of some who work in
the homes is that the children don’t have feelings because they cannot respond
or interact as a typical child. The children are not expected to live. That
changes the whole outlook on care, feeding, nurturing, health, and every aspect
of life.
But what about their hearts?
Necessities are covered by a small stipend from the local
government for families who keep their disabled children in their homes. Many
homes are single moms, and if she is at home with her disabled child, she
cannot work to put food on the table or provide a roof over her family’s head.
The government’s stipend does not begin to cover these needs. In many ways, out
of a pure lack of resources, it is easier for the family to allow the
government to provide, which means giving up their parental rights and letting
someone else take care of their children.
The government will step in and remove a disabled child from the
home if there is alcohol abuse, drug, and/or physical abuse. These addictions
often result in the child having epilepsy. This is one of the biggest problems
in the orphanage.
For all the children, no matter if their disability is physical,
mental, or both, between 18 and 19 years of age, they will be moved to an
asylum referred to as a psycho-neurological “internat” for adults or to a
facility comparable in nature to an old folk’s homes.
This is the future for these young adults.
