Day 2 began with Kathlena's orphanage. We had some concerns about Kathlena's development and conveyed these concerns to Helen our agency representative. She then set up the necessary meetings with the orphanage neurologist and speech therapist as well as Kathlena's caregiver to give us a better picture of her personality and development. The previous day we simply had so little time with her and none of it with just her, and she had been overwhelmed with 5 new people showing up all at once.Today we were able to spend much more time with Kathlena and understand her better. She is a very bright, busy and curious child. She has a sweet smile and laugh. She understands much but, due to her institutional life she verbalizes little of what she knows unless prompted by those she is familiar with. This is a very healthy sign of attachment.
She can sort colors, tell us where her nose, eyes, and mouth are as well as name many animals in picture books. She really seemed to enjoy the opportunity to look at books and answer questions. She will love home schooling and will be talking up a storm in no time. One of her favorite words is "wheight" which means "wow" in English. She tires easily but much of this is due to a lack of stimulation and exercise in the orphanage. She spends most of her time indoors and sleeps quite a bit due to the orphanage schedule. We were told that she had recently been moved (3 months ago) to a new group with older children and that her language has increased significantly since then. This was encouraging news...three older siblings should really have an impact on her verbal skills!!
We had a really lengthy morning visit with Kathlena, but we had to go as it was time for her lunch. So, we were off to see Andrew and had the opportunity to see where he sleeps and meet some of the kids in his group. Oddly enough, Andrew's group is a multi-age group; boys in one room and girls in another. We saw kids in his group who were 15-16yrs old. We got to see where he sleeps, a small bed set end to end with two other young boys as well as bunk beds that house older boys. We saw tv's, computers, and video games in his group's common area. I have to say I was surprised at this. I really did not think they would have access to computers, but Andrew said he does not get to use the computer much so it must be mainly for the older children. We also had the opportunity to meet and visit with Andrew's caretaker; a sweet lady who wore the biggest smile and reminded me of my Aunt Linda. She seems to really love the kids and was so thrilled for Andrew to have a family.
The kids in Andrew's group operate somewhat like a family; multi-ages that work together with chores, and the older children even cook the meals for the kids in their group. We saw where they eat and the little kitchen where they cook. It was hard not to notice how the other children looked at us...all old enough to know who we are and why we were there. We saw a little girl maybe 7 or 8yrs old-hard to tell she could've been 10 but small. I could not help but notice her longingly watching us. She was a sweet looking girl; I wanted so much to ask her name but did not have the chance. I am not sure I will ever forget her face...she will be the face of the many left behind in orphanages like this one who want so badly to have a family of their own. I do not even know if she is adoptable. I learned through this process that not all-not even most-are "adoptable" internationally. Orphanages full of children yet only certain kids are allowed to be adopted internationally. I am not even sure how that is determined and it seems to be inconsistent from orphanage to orphanage.
Andrew has a 6yr old sister in foster care right now but she is not adoptable by foreigners. It does not make sense to me but even though they are siblings we cannot take her too. Helen our agency rep. said that sadly the children that are given a "better" opportunity through a foster family often end up back in the orphanage by age 10 only to have missed their real window of opportunity to be adopted, as children past the age of 7 (school age in Russia) have so little a chance of being adopted.
Andrew already attends kindergarten 5 days a week from 8am-6pm. He is in a special kindergarten for children with vision problems. He walks 20mins in the snow to school each day from the orphanage and back. We are told he does very well at school. While we visited he was allowed to stay at the orphanage and not go to school so we did not get to see where he attends. Once again we were allowed to take Andrew with us so we headed off to see his sister Kathlena one last time until court.
Kathlena was brought to us again in the play room where we were able to all be together as a family. We took our family portrait by the mural that was posted previously. We were not allowed to see her on our third day...orphanage had scheduled a special day of some kind and outsiders were not allowed in the building. We were allowed to observe where she sleeps, eats, and plays-all in two rooms. Where they sleep is a room that is 10 X 15 that housed 10 tiny beds end to end. The other room where they do everything else was 15 X 20. Other than a few occasional opportunities to go outside and her visits to the various doctors this is her whole world for the past 2 1/2yrs.
She was taken back to her group and we were allowed to observe her briefly with her group then quickly asked to go as they had "things" to do. She saw us, even though we were hidden in the "kitchen" area taking pictures. She saw me and began to yell "Momma" the sweetest words she has said to me. It was quickly echoed by 10 tiny voices of her group saying "momma" too. It broke my heart to hear all the voices of those children who just want to have a "Momma" of their own.
We were allowed such a brief time to observe her; it was over so quickly and I could hardly contain my sorrow that I would not see her again for months. She seemed busy and happy so it was not so apparent to her that we would not see her for a while...I am glad for her as she is so young the wait will be easier for her I believe. I had to go back and give her one last hug and kiss that would have to last me until court...a day that cannot come too soon for us.
We leave Kathlena's orphanage and decide it is best for Helen to take Andrew back to his orphanage as it makes it harder on him to understand that he must go back when we take him to the hotel with us. We would have one last opportunity to see him again tomorrow before we must board our plane for St. Petersburg.
She can sort colors, tell us where her nose, eyes, and mouth are as well as name many animals in picture books. She really seemed to enjoy the opportunity to look at books and answer questions. She will love home schooling and will be talking up a storm in no time. One of her favorite words is "wheight" which means "wow" in English. She tires easily but much of this is due to a lack of stimulation and exercise in the orphanage. She spends most of her time indoors and sleeps quite a bit due to the orphanage schedule. We were told that she had recently been moved (3 months ago) to a new group with older children and that her language has increased significantly since then. This was encouraging news...three older siblings should really have an impact on her verbal skills!!
We had a really lengthy morning visit with Kathlena, but we had to go as it was time for her lunch. So, we were off to see Andrew and had the opportunity to see where he sleeps and meet some of the kids in his group. Oddly enough, Andrew's group is a multi-age group; boys in one room and girls in another. We saw kids in his group who were 15-16yrs old. We got to see where he sleeps, a small bed set end to end with two other young boys as well as bunk beds that house older boys. We saw tv's, computers, and video games in his group's common area. I have to say I was surprised at this. I really did not think they would have access to computers, but Andrew said he does not get to use the computer much so it must be mainly for the older children. We also had the opportunity to meet and visit with Andrew's caretaker; a sweet lady who wore the biggest smile and reminded me of my Aunt Linda. She seems to really love the kids and was so thrilled for Andrew to have a family.
The kids in Andrew's group operate somewhat like a family; multi-ages that work together with chores, and the older children even cook the meals for the kids in their group. We saw where they eat and the little kitchen where they cook. It was hard not to notice how the other children looked at us...all old enough to know who we are and why we were there. We saw a little girl maybe 7 or 8yrs old-hard to tell she could've been 10 but small. I could not help but notice her longingly watching us. She was a sweet looking girl; I wanted so much to ask her name but did not have the chance. I am not sure I will ever forget her face...she will be the face of the many left behind in orphanages like this one who want so badly to have a family of their own. I do not even know if she is adoptable. I learned through this process that not all-not even most-are "adoptable" internationally. Orphanages full of children yet only certain kids are allowed to be adopted internationally. I am not even sure how that is determined and it seems to be inconsistent from orphanage to orphanage.
Andrew has a 6yr old sister in foster care right now but she is not adoptable by foreigners. It does not make sense to me but even though they are siblings we cannot take her too. Helen our agency rep. said that sadly the children that are given a "better" opportunity through a foster family often end up back in the orphanage by age 10 only to have missed their real window of opportunity to be adopted, as children past the age of 7 (school age in Russia) have so little a chance of being adopted.
Andrew already attends kindergarten 5 days a week from 8am-6pm. He is in a special kindergarten for children with vision problems. He walks 20mins in the snow to school each day from the orphanage and back. We are told he does very well at school. While we visited he was allowed to stay at the orphanage and not go to school so we did not get to see where he attends. Once again we were allowed to take Andrew with us so we headed off to see his sister Kathlena one last time until court.
Kathlena was brought to us again in the play room where we were able to all be together as a family. We took our family portrait by the mural that was posted previously. We were not allowed to see her on our third day...orphanage had scheduled a special day of some kind and outsiders were not allowed in the building. We were allowed to observe where she sleeps, eats, and plays-all in two rooms. Where they sleep is a room that is 10 X 15 that housed 10 tiny beds end to end. The other room where they do everything else was 15 X 20. Other than a few occasional opportunities to go outside and her visits to the various doctors this is her whole world for the past 2 1/2yrs.
She was taken back to her group and we were allowed to observe her briefly with her group then quickly asked to go as they had "things" to do. She saw us, even though we were hidden in the "kitchen" area taking pictures. She saw me and began to yell "Momma" the sweetest words she has said to me. It was quickly echoed by 10 tiny voices of her group saying "momma" too. It broke my heart to hear all the voices of those children who just want to have a "Momma" of their own.
We were allowed such a brief time to observe her; it was over so quickly and I could hardly contain my sorrow that I would not see her again for months. She seemed busy and happy so it was not so apparent to her that we would not see her for a while...I am glad for her as she is so young the wait will be easier for her I believe. I had to go back and give her one last hug and kiss that would have to last me until court...a day that cannot come too soon for us.
We leave Kathlena's orphanage and decide it is best for Helen to take Andrew back to his orphanage as it makes it harder on him to understand that he must go back when we take him to the hotel with us. We would have one last opportunity to see him again tomorrow before we must board our plane for St. Petersburg.
1 comment:
How sweet to hear "Mamma" from her!
I can't believe he's in school from 8 to 6. That's a LONG day!
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