Family-type children's homes in Rossony and Dokshytsy will be commissioned by the end of the year
“
Can we call you Mom and Dad, because our parents abandoned us,” – this is what spouses Anna and Anatoly Kotov heard from sisters Dasha and Yulia when they took them in for upbringing. Sadly, such an awareness of being unwanted by their own parents, and at the same time a sharp lack of love and care, an unquenchable desire for a normal family and home, could be read in the eyes of every foster child who came to the Kotovs.Today, five children live with the couple: four foster children – schoolchildren Dasha, Igor, Roman, and preschooler Yulia – and their biological daughter Vera. Anna and Anatoly's eldest son has already left home and started his own family. Roman's brother, Victor, has also become independent; he works as a builder in Minsk.
Recently, parents and children celebrated a housewarming – Anna and Anatoly had the honor of becoming the hosts of the first family-type children's home in the district; a second one is still under construction in Rossony. It is noteworthy that the new housing in Klyastitsy was built with sponsorship funds. Belarusbank financed the facility as part of the
“Bat'kouski Kut” program, which it initiated and implements. Now the large family has a spacious and fully furnished five-room cottage equipped with household appliances.In their previous home, the couple admits, it was a bit cramped: the three girls shared a living room, and due to space constraints, the boys had to sleep on a bunk bed. Now, the children have their own rooms where they will live in pairs. There is still space for the eldest daughter, Vera, but it is possible that she will soon have a roommate – the parents are ready to take another foster child into the family, and this matter is being considered by the education department.
The move to the new apartment was long-awaited by everyone. The head of the family, in any free moment from work (and he doesn't have many, as he works as a tractor driver), would come to assemble furniture. Roma and Igor helped – the boys were happy to screw in screws and bolts. Meanwhile, the mother, along with the girls, prepared the garden for spring planting. They will also keep livestock, as they have always had a large farm.
They live like an ordinary family, where sons do "male" chores with their father, and daughters help their mother around the house. They also have shared activities and interests. For example, in the summer, they go camping for a few days at "golden sands" (this is what local residents nicknamed one of the picturesque lakes in the Rossony region), and in the winter, they go skiing. Or they participate in the school exhibition-fair, for which they annually create unusual costumes and dresses together from newspapers, magazines, cellophane, and other improvised materials.
Nine-year-old Roma is delighting with his sports achievements: for the second year, he has been participating in competitions from school in the district center. The boy attends a sports club and dreams of achieving success in athletics. His peer Dasha, like her mother Anya, is fond of handicrafts. Seven-year-old Igor, despite his psychophysical developmental peculiarities, has learned to play checkers so well that he can even beat Vera, who has been engaged in this intellectual sport for a long time and participates in tournaments.
It would seem that this family's life is a complete idyll. However, before achieving such results, the foster parents had to work hard. There were difficulties, especially at first, when in 2006 Anna and Anatoly took under their wing two brothers – one-year-old Roma and ten-year-old Viktor.
"There were already foster families in Klyastitsy, so we decided to follow their example. Moreover, I myself come from a large family, I always wanted more than two children to grow up in the house," recalls Anna. "Although there were doubts about whether we could cope with the role of foster parents."
Vitya turned out to be a very difficult child. He didn't understand that he needed to come home on time, that they were waiting for him and worried. Apparently, at one time he was used to being able to disappear on the street all day without anyone controlling him. We explained that this was not allowed, and he didn't like it. There were problems at school too, but gradually everything returned to normal. He heeded our advice and graduated from college in Polotsk, received the profession of an electric and gas welder, worked for a year at a farm in Krasnopolye, and got a job at a construction company in Minsk.
Then difficulties arose with Dasha's studies: she didn't want to do her homework, could barely read, and was capricious. But they caught up with her too; by the end of the year, the girl was even praised at school. Now she does her homework independently, and her mother only checks it.
There was also jealousy, not from the adoptive children towards the biological ones, but from the boys towards the girls. Roman, in particular, did not want to
"share" his mother when Dasha and Yulia clung to Anna, receiving more attention at that time.What is striking, Anna says, is that the children have no desire to communicate with their biological parents or other relatives. And they themselves are not particularly eager to see them, although they live in the same district, but they don't always find the opportunity to even call the child on their birthday. Only Roman's grandfather takes an interest in his grandson's life in the new family; he used to bring the boy treats from his pension every time. However, recently, due to health problems, he visits the Kotovs less often, but calls more frequently.
Therefore, it is not surprising that each child who came into the Kotov family called Anna by the most important word for a woman –
"Mom". The growth of trust and love of the children is shown by a box of handmade cards given to Anna. For example, at first they were signed simply "From Roma", then – "To dear Mommy. Your son Roma".The woman has found her true calling – to raise and nurture children who have been abandoned by their parents. Although she worked as a seamstress at a comprehensive reception center for many years before that, and even tried to combine the two jobs for some time, she ultimately made the choice in favor of the children.
It is especially pleasant when maternal labor is noticed and highly appreciated. Thus, in 2010, Anna Kotova was awarded the prize named after the Hero of the Soviet Union Zinaida Tusnolobova-Marchenko. And now she has also received such a significant gift as a new house.
Two more large foster families in the Vitebsk region will celebrate housewarming in the near future. By the end of 2014, it is planned to commission family-type orphanages in Rossony and Sharkovshchina, which are being built at the expense of the budget. The construction of a similar facility in the Vitebsk region (d. Mazolovo) will also continue, but already with sponsor money.
Natalia Ryzhkova, "Vitebskiye vesti"