Growing up in an orphanage

“My name is Karina. I ended up in an orphanage when my mother passed away. Previously, I had a good image of the orphanage and never thought that they could treat children badly there, up to assault ...

I watched, argued with the teachers, stood up for my rights and the rights of other children, and, to my surprise, I managed to introduce some minor changes.

After graduation, I visited different orphanages and noticed that different orphanages had different rules and these made my mood. Children from one orphanage can go outside, but in another, the staff tried to protect children from the outside world as much as possible. Children were not even allowed to visit their biological parents to avoid secondary trauma. However, this will determine how children will integrate into society in the future.  

In orphanages, all children are different, although they grow up and are brought up in the same conditions. Everyone chooses their path, their personal growth, and what they want to do. There were different courses in my orphanage: cooking, hairdressing, nail art courses, make-up, etc. It was also possible to choose a foreign language. But such courses are not available in all orphanages.

A key challenge is that children do not know how to apply their skills after leaving orphanages. They do not know how to work, earn a living, make friends, and live independently. They don't even understand the value of money. Social workers help children to settle in the house and find work, but children do not know how to manage their income. They can spend all the money in one day and then think about how to live for the rest of the month. They starve. In my case, I knew how to survive after leaving the institution, since I worked to feed my mother before I got in there.

I would like the children to be ready for life outside of the institution before they leave it so that they do not get hurt, confused, commit a crime, and get in trouble. It is important to introduce them to the outside world and its difficulties step by step.

Nowadays, orphanages are closing. Children are being placed in biological and foster families. The government divides the huge orphanage into pieces and changes the system. However, before placing children in families, parents need to be taught on right communication with the child. They must understand what can hurt or make a child with a lot of traumas happy. The family must first be morally prepared to be able to pass on their upbringing to the child without hurting or insulting his values. This must be done carefully since most children are difficult to re-educate, but with a good attitude towards a child, you can gain his respect for yourself and pass on your behavior model to him.

Children growing up in family care and children graduating from orphanages have a different mindset. Children from orphanages are lonely, they lack love and affection, not only from relatives but also from the people around them. They are offended because their family does not visit them. Children in institutions do not need financial support. They have everything, but they still want to eat an apple from the hands of their family. Children in the orphanages are hungry for parental love”.

A UNICEF child protection assessment lists the main reasons for the placement of children into residential care poverty, family problems, migration, and divorce. Child development research shows that children who spend their lives in institutions have a hard time adjusting to independent living and socialization. It is a time of extra challenges, anxiety, and fear. They are often not prepared for life after care. They have not been taught basic skills such as how to shop, cook, or manage money. They are not aware of where and how to seek support and access services, and they seldom can rely on a family support system. Therefore, to ensure a safe move to the new childcare system, it is important to strengthen family support and reintegration services as well as alternative family and community-based care beforehand. 

UNICEF in Uzbekistan supports the Government in developing the Child Care Reform Strategy 2022-2030, and advocates for the development of better support for children leaving care.