Yana has a younger brother who is now under the care of their relatives
The girl is eighteen years old this year.
A small orphanage library is bound to have the Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe. Do you remember how the shipwrecked sailor used to count every day he spent on the island? Children in an orphanage are doing the same thing. Though all the kids I've spoken to say that the life there is all right: rooms are warm and comfortable, teachers are kind, food is tasty...
When we met for the first time, Yana has been in the boarding school for a month and six days. That was what she told me. Yana lives in the orphanage now. The girl was sitting at the table and quietly doing some crafts. She is not allowed to go to school yet — a month and six days is not long enough for the teachers to believe a child won't run away.
Yana is modest, even shy. She likes to play hide-and-seek. She used to engage in track-and-field athletics and play basketball, and she misses that now. At the orphanage the girl began dancing hip-hop. She turned out very willowy, a talented dancer, however she refused to dance at a concert — she's embarrassed.
Yana likes reading, especially fiction books. But right now the books can't help her to sort out her feelings, to express her thought. A teacher told me how the girl cried over her notebook because she was assigned a composition, and the words just seemed to scatter and refuse to form into sentences...
Yana astonished me with her wisdom, not common for a girl of her age. For example, when telling me about her younger brother, she made a passing remark about their relatives taking him under their care, but not her, because he was small, and she wasn't. Not quite. And by the way why would she, who is so grown up, need a family? Yana says it is important for intercommunication and support. There are many people around, but they all are busy, always running somewhere. And a family is a place where one can make a pause, have a heart-to-heart talk, receive a piece of advice. Do you know a lot of teenagers who are ready to listen to adults' advice? Well, Yana does. And it is crucial for her to find her guideline in this life, to understand how to express herself, where to go and why.
Maybe you will be the one to help Yana do this?
If you are interested in adopting this child or other children, please read the memo to the potential adoptive parents, guardians, and foster parents; you can also contact Children’s Affairs' service of the Zaporozhia State Administration by telephone (061) 239-01-56 and tell them the profile numbers of Yana - 0157165.
Other children who dream of finding a family
If for some reason you are currently not able to adopt (for example, you are a student and do not have a family of your own yet) you are still able to help children at a boarding school (an orphanage) with your financial support. Ways you can help include: planning and participating in excursions and trips for children; visiting a child in an orphanage; or helping purchase developmental toys, books, construction sets, and sports equipment.
