How Sergei's life changed for the better
15-year-old Sergei, who found himself in an orphanage when his mother died, had to resign himself to a regular fate of a inmate of a children’s home: lonely life in an empty apartment, the feeling of abandonment and the need to start life from scratch. Who could have thought that through the orphanage, Sergei would be able to restore relations with his relatives and find his family!
In late April, Sergey P. and other children from the orphanage “Hope” in St.Petersburg together with their families went on a traditional three-day camping trip. After his mother’s death, Sergei lost touch with his relatives. However, employees of the “Child Protection” charity, with which the orphanage is affiliated, succeeded in locating the whereabouts of Sergei’s two aunts. One of them, Yulia Mikhailovna, agreed to take part in the camping trip. Having spent three days camping together with her nephew, she decided to take Sergei away from the orphanage and bring him home.
“We lost touch with Sergey a year ago. We did not know anything about him,” said Yulia Mikhailovna. “It was only during the camping trip that we came to know each other closely enough. He proved to be a very attentive and caring person. He offered me tea regularly, kept asking me if I felt cold and tried to do everything possible to make my life comfortable during the trip. I’m now doing all the paperwork and going through all the formalities required for the establishment of legal guardianship. I want Sergei to have a family.”
“Under the programme aimed at the restoration of family relations between children and their parents, we have arranged a series of camping and field trips with parents,” Tatiana Voronina, of Chairperson of “Child Protection” said. “It is very important for children who have found themselves for various reasons in an orphanage not to lose touch with their families. Sergei’s case serves as an example of the effectiveness of such simple methods as joint camping trips. Otherwise, Sergei would have left the orphanage being an absolutely lonely person”.
The project “Rehabilitation and social integration of graduates of residential state institutions, street children and their families” is implemented by the “Child Protection” charity jointly with UNICEF.
