Five women from the Vitebsk region have been awarded the Order of Motherhood
Among those who will be awarded the Order of Mother in a solemn ceremony tomorrow is Elena Izofatova, a teacher of technical drawing and art at Vitebsk Secondary School No. 10.
Students call her Elena Petrovna. Parishioners of the Church of the Resurrection of Christ, where her husband Konstantin Vasilievich, the first vice-rector of the Vitebsk Theological Seminary, serves as rector, call her "Matushka" (Mother). She is a mother to four daughters and a son. The elder daughters are students at the Belarusian State University of Physical Education and Sports: Maria is studying tourism management, and Anna is studying remedial physical education. The younger children are Olga, a schoolgirl, Nikolai, a preschooler, and Daria, who will soon be two years old.
– There is nothing unusual in our family, – noted its head, answering the question about how a large family of a priest differs from a similar secular one. – Believers build their lives and raise children, to the best of their ability, in accordance with the moral and ethical laws of Christianity. We do this unobtrusively, by our own example.
– At school, before my maternity leave, I led a class on spiritual and moral education based on Orthodox traditions. I attend church as a parishioner, and on major holidays – with the whole family. The children gladly participate in the night service on Christmas and Easter. In addition to birthdays, we also celebrate each person's name day – with a visit to the church, followed by a celebration with guests, pies, and congratulations, – Elena Petrovna joins the conversation.
A piano, a fitness machine, and paintings in the apartment indicate that the Izofatovs strive to develop their children comprehensively. The elder girls studied in an art-focused class – they draw. They have excellent grades in French. They graduated
piano. Both became members of the main squad of the national short-track speed skating team. They know how to cook, wash, sew, and embroider, meaning they are quite independent.– Olga also draws, is learning to play the flute, and chose trampoline jumping as her sport. Little Daria is already drawn to the exercise machine that we all use. And neither physical education nor music is foreign to Nikolai. His father hopes that his son will follow in his footsteps, – says Elena Petrovna.
How are parental responsibilities divided?
– The father is the head of the family, and the children know this. And I am in charge of the children, – explained the decorated mother.
– A family is strong and good where the mother is a reliable rear guard, – her husband added.
The couple is helped in raising their heirs by their pedagogical knowledge (both are graduates of the art faculty of VSU named after P. Masherov), spiritual values, and also common sense, which has always suggested that the first example for children is their parents, and the most important of life values is family.
– By copying a good example, children in a large family grow up sociable, accommodating, and at the same time able to defend their position, as well as with developed speech and a normal appetite. It is easier for them to adapt to kindergarten and school, and it is easier for educators to work with them. As they grow up, they become our helpers – they look after the younger ones, work in the garden, because winter preserves are a good help in the family economy, – continues Konstantin Vasilyevich.
The Izofatovs are grateful to the state for its assistance in paying for their apartment, and to their grandmothers and grandfathers for their help in word and deed in raising the younger generation.
– Children are our future; the way we raise them will determine what it becomes, – the head of the large family reminded of an eternal truth.
Galina Shpakovskaya. Photos by Anton STEPANTSCHEV. "Vitebskiye vesti".