My Lili girl has always had a heart for orphans. I’m not sure why. We didn’t obsess over the movie Annie. We have never lived near an orphanage, nor were there any known orphans in her groups of friends. The only logical reason – God instilled it in her. When she was four years old, she looked at me and asked, “Mommy, can we take care of an orphan? And if we can’t take care of them, can we find them a mom and a dad?” I want to honor my sweet girl’s dreams and help take care of an orphan, or several. While I am usually wrapped up in my own little world, God pulls me from that by placing opportunities in my lap. As I was checking Facebook one day, I came upon this: a news article posted by a friend about her in-laws. It tugged at my heartstrings. I felt compelled to help Orphans’ Future in Ukraine, and at the very least, to tell others about this.
Meet Andriy Nazarenko
If you had a chance to read the news article above, you know that Andriy was in the process of being adopted by the Lois family in 1992. After Ukrainian bureaucracy got in the way, he remained an orphan in Ukraine. Instead of being bitter or broken by this experience, Andriy has turned his life into a mission for others. The Lois’ daughter-in-law, Bethany, helped fill me in: “Most orphans in Ukraine leave the orphanage at 18 and dive into drugs and prostitution. The government leaves them high and dry. Orphans in Ukraine aren’t ‘registered.’ Registration is somewhat similar to being an illegal alien here. They can’t buy property or have a bank account, and they can’t be paid anything other than ‘under the table.’ Andriy has a college degree and can’t be hired. You can only be ‘registered’ if you own property, which you inherit. It’s a sad situation.”
Andriy is now “the founder and director of Orphans’ Future, a group devoted to making sure that Ukraine’s orphans grow up to be productive adults. His mission is more complicated now that the country is in upheaval.” (Kenosha News)
How Can We Help?
Andriy shared with me, “Our children in orphanages feel sad and discouraged. Orphans’ Future volunteers (have) started seminars for the orphans there to provide psychological, moral support.” He says, “We are former graduates of orphanages (and we) are with them and they can call us any time (most of orphans older have cell phones now, but need money to have in their phones, as in Ukraine most people use prepaid phone cards). Also, teachers and our volunteers have an idea to send some kids – those who are very much influenced by the situation in Ukraine – to special sanatoriums for seven days. As I already mentioned in my article in Kenosha News, most children would like to receive gifts from U.S. children. This project will help them to know that U.S. children support them and everything will be fine.” Andriy says the best way they can help these orphans is to be with them daily. Encouraging them and teaching them. To go to those orphanages, they need: “gasoline for transportation (which Orphans’ Future has), printing of seminar materials, and organization of events to help the children switch their thoughts from the war in Ukraine to something positive and interesting. To place a child in a sanatorium somewhere in the Carpathian mountains costs $50 per child per week. This also can help them to fight with a stressful situation which we all now feel.” Andriy also wants to say thank you to his American foster family and friends for supporting Ukraine in a such difficult time.
This is our chance to do something global. To give back to these orphans. To create a better world for them. To teach our children to think of others who are not as fortunate.
You can do this one of two ways.
- You can give financially. Andriy mentioned several ways that you can help these orphans by sending money through this website. Designation: Orphans’ Future Ukraine.
- You can send care packages. Andriy said that sending shoe box-sized packages to Ukraine can get quite expensive. However, it would be a great way to encourage their kids and to get our kids more involved. You can send those to this address: Orphans Future, 37 Chumatska Street, Ternopil, 46009, Ukraine.
