When I first started researching what happens to the kids who are brought up in the orphanages in Ukraine, one of the most depressing facts I learned was that the problem becomes generational. A young girl who was raised in the orphanage, gets out of the orphanage around age 16, gets pregnant, and sooner or later gives up on trying to be a mom, so her children end up in the orphanage as well. Most of them can’t handle being parents because they have no example to follow and have no experience themselves.
But in the transition homes, it’s a different story.
At Safe Haven, all the kids who come live in the home are Anya and Bogdon’s kids. But Anya and Bogdon have their own biological boys. Danya is seven and Pasha just turn 4 two weeks ago. Anya told us once that she regularly teaches the older boys, especially about things like hygiene, by teaching Pasha how to keep himself clean. All the kids watch as Anya and Bogdon are raising Pasha and Danya. They learn from them how to discipline, how to show love, and so much more.
You can tell that Vitya loves being Pasha’s big brother.
And being big brothers and sisters they get to taste what if will be like to be parents themselves. In fact, most of the families that are involved with Safe Haven have small children. So especially on Sunday the house is full of kids under the age of four, and everyone has to pitch in with Sunday school from time to time.
Oksana babysits all the time. At church, she immediately offers to help when one of the kids is crying. She just loves kids.
And you can tell it makes a difference.
When we visited Tanya and Slavic in Western Ukraine we saw the same thing. One of the ways their foster kids feel apart of the family is by taking care of Iliya, their two year old brother.
One of the main goals of the transition homes is to show kids what a family looks like, when they have never seen an example of a healthy family. Being loved by someone in a mother and father role is a part of that. But I think now that learning how to be a big brother or sister is just as crucial.
Ira and Danya. Ira got married last summer and they want to have kids someday. I think she’s gonna be a great mom.
One of our greatest hopes in working with transition homes is that we don’t just impact the life of the kids who live in the homes but make a change that play out for generations to come. If Ira and Roma can be good parents, then their kids will be able to follow their example, and on and on. So when I get to watch all of the kids who live with Anya and Bogdon, and see how good they are being big brothers and sisters, it gives me a lot of hope for the future generations, and reassures me that a Christ-centered transition home like Safe Haven and Tanya and Slavic’s home is a good thing.
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