This spring we stopped in to visit with the Gudkovskie family of Stariye Dorogi in Belarus. We'd just spent a couple days at a local orphanage, and to see children in a loving family environment was a jarring and welcome contrast. The Gudkovskies were CCPI's first foster home -- a program in which we take children who are living in orphanages and place them into carefully selected homes where they can thrive in a loving environment. To date we've placed 40 children in such homes and the program is accelerating.
Three years ago, Natasha Gudkovskie was working at an orphanage. She couldn't stop thinking about the sadness of children without families, and their bleak prospects for the future. One girl in particular made an impression on Natasha -- a pre-teen named Katya. Katya and her sister Irina had been placed in the orphanage after their father was imprisoned and mother started abusing alcohol. The sisters made many attempts to run away from the orphanage. Natasha and her husband Sergei were struck by the girls' will for a happy life, and took them in as their own children.
The family grew when Natasha and Sergei took in another girl, Inna -- a friend of the sisters. Inna had grown bitter and aggressive and had not been able to be placed in any family. Her brother Oleg soon followed, and then Ivan, a kindergartner who was abandoned by his mother in Minsk. Finally, they were joined by two year old twins Anton and Julia. Katya told us how after her birth father was imprisoned
...my mother started to drink alcohol and she did it more and more often. We children were starving, begging on the streets. Later on, I was placed in an orphanage . . . there were strict regulations and no care for a child's personality. I wanted to return to the days when I had a family. Now I've found a new family where I feel very happy. I know that all together we have our future. The main treasure I have is our family.
The family prepared a big celebratory meal to greet us, with Sergei grilling meat outside, and a table spread with every kind of sweet and savory. The children, especially the girls, doted over Sergei, a handsome man with a striking mouthful full of gold teeth. We look forward to seeing them again.
