Family to Every Child

We have already spoken about the very complicated life circumstances that Misha found himself in, and how specialists have been working with him and his family. This is already the third year the boy has been living in an orphanage, but he dreams about living with his mom. Recently there was a court case to decide whether Misha would stay in the institution or go back home.

Over the past six months, our specialists have been working with Misha’s mom, Nadezhda*. During this time, she has started to work and has even visited her son in the orphanage. But she still hadn’t been able to open up emotionally, in order to understand the root cause of the problem. However, just a few days before the trial, a specialist managed to develop a deep personal connection with Nadezhda and get a glimpse of what is hiding behind that facade of outward calm.

It turns out that the mother of several children is still struggling with the tragic death of her own parents and has not allowed herself to openly deal with this emotional trauma, which, as is well known, always makes such feelings worse. Nadezhda blames herself for the death of her parents, and conversations about her mother and father, with whom she spent a carefree and happy childhood, cause her to break down in tears. Of course, when one has such deep and unhealed wounds, it is difficult to build proper relationships with one’s own children. However, after working on these psychological traumas, Nadezhda started to have more confidence in her abilities.

On the day of the hearing, everyone was visibly nervous: both Misha, who looked as if he wanted to hug his mom, and Nadezhda, who finally understood how she could change her life. The court issued the most favorable decision in such a case: a temporary restriction of parental rights. After the judgment, Nadezhda explained to her son that, right now, she had to work on her problems and really get back on her feet, and that he needed to wait for her in the orphanage. Misha took the court ruling and his mom’s words in stride. He only started to cry when he told her that he loved her and wanted time to fly by as quickly as possible.

In the photo on the left: Misha right after the court ruling, somewhat bewildered. In the photo on the right: the boy smiling happily. This means that this vital sense of childhood and joy is still alive in Misha.