Take a glimpse into the lives of orphans, street kids...
Abused and abandoned, all alone...
Each one has a story...
pain and abuse that they carry on their young shoulders each day.
A boy runs away from the orphanage, just to make soup for his mother.
Black rubber shoes, a few sizes too big, dusty feet, grey shorts and t-shirt, skinny body and huge kind eyes – this is our Misha. Two years ago his alcoholic mother was denied parental rights. The 12 year old boy was placed in an orphanage, 60 miles from home. Throughout these 2 years, Misha has run away 20 times from the orphanage and walked home on the highway – just to feed his mother…
Each time the police find him and return him to the orphanage. Sometimes the boy steals or tries to make some money, all for his mother. He says that he loves her very much and cannot live so far away. On the money, somehow earned, he buys groceries and takes it to his mother. To an apartment full of smoke and a mother who is always drunk.
He takes a pot, fills it with water, and peals some potatoes. Makes soup, washes the floor and dishes. Then he sits his mother at the table and helps her eat her dinner. Misha, crying, asks her not to drink anymore. His mother ignores him, just as constantly as he takes care of her.
“It’s all my fault,” the boy says. “I got into the wrong group of friends, started running away from home. That’s why I was taken to an orphanage. It’s great there, we go fishing, swimming. But I want to be close to my mother and I know she wants that too…”
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Tomash - a dark haired boy, who tries so hard to appear that he is all grown up and knows his future. But when asked about his past or future, can't give many answers. All he knows is that he has been at the transit-center for a long time and thinks he'll be here forever...
The ten year old doesn't remember much of his past; there is not much to remember. Grew up in Ukraine, didn't see much of his parents, and never learned how to read or write. One day found himself without parents and in a big city. In the winter of 2008 was brought to the Transit-Center, never to see his parents again.
This boy, with a mop of unruly jet black hair, loves to do what any ten year old would: play games, kick a soccer ball, watch movies. Once he knows that you like him, he'll latch on and never let go. And when it's time to go, he'll keep asking, "you're coming back, right?" And you have no heart to tell him "no".
Soon Tomash will be going to an orphanage, where once again he will need to make friends, after he's treated as the "new kid" and made fun of for some time. Hopefully, he will have to go through this one more time before he is let out into the "world" to make something of himself. A "world" that doesn't care about him, nor knows that he exists...
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Three sisters - Natasha, Katya, Nastya
Three little sisters found themselves without a mommy or daddy. They were left to fend for themselves and no one came back to get them…
Now they are in a new place, a place with lots of kids, but kids who are much older than them; big brothers and big sister are here to take care of them until mommy comes back. At first they are shy, but soon you see toothless smiles and a hand held out to go play. The trust they show is priceless. Still waiting for mommy to come and take them home. Instead of mommy, a man came and took them to another “home”. A home without mommy, but more kids. And now their trust is gone, replaced with fear…
The three sister are permanently placed in an orphanage, not understanding why mommy is punishing them and not coming back to take them home.
Sonya is a beautiful fourteen-year-old with long, dark hair tied in ribbons. She has a contagious smile and laugh, but when talking about her family or past she does neither. Normally playful and talkative, she now sits slumped in a chair with her eyes focused on the floor. When asked why she is at the orphanage, she sighs deeply and after a long pause answers, “Ok. We had some problems at home, and my mother went to the police station and I was sent here.” She says that it is difficult to be at the orphanage because “I don’t have my parents with me here... I have no one.” This freckle-faced teenager is not unlike other girls her age; she likes to paint, sing and dance, she is afraid of arguments, and she wants to go to university and travel the world as a flight attendant. But she deals with much bigger struggles than any girl her age should have to face. Despite being surrounded by other children, she is lonely and says that all she wants is to be with her family. What makes her happy? “When my mother is next to me.” (Interviewed by Jillian Bittner)
Slava, an eleven year old living on the streets... He appeared weak and not take care of, he was filthy, in worn down and torn boots, stretched and worn out slacks, torn shirt.
He spent the whole day on the street, late into the night. He collected bottles, carried bricks, tried to wash cars. He did this each day, just to make at least some kind of money, to help his mother. He was just 11 years old. Slava’s personality would change from one extreme to the next. One moment he is completely alive, the next instant he is very aggressive, then completely indifferent to everything around him. His friends always harassed him, laughed at him and beat him. We found out that Slava lives with his mother who makes 300 rules per month, and with an aunt who is psychologically ill…
Fourteen-year-old Anya hides her pain and loneliness behind a tough exterior. She proudly shows off her piercings and a tattoo- made not with ink but by carving the design with a knife- to anyone she meets. She is quick to hit or yell at any of the kids in the center who upset her, but always curls into a ball on the couch afterward, hugging her knees to her chest and trying not to cry. On her left arm are dozens of cuts, some old scars and some painfully new. A camouflage bandana covers her shaved head, but she takes it off sometimes to look at her reflection in the mirror and sigh. “I’m so sad that they cut my hair,” she says. “They thought that I had lice but I know I didn’t. I cried for two days.” Anastasia had left the city where her family lives to come to St. Petersburg with her band, and she lived with the guys in her band until the police brought her to the center. But now, “I miss my home,” she says. (Interviewed by Jillian Bittner)
All names have been changed.