Slava (meaning "Glory")

This picture is taken while the family gathered around TV set to sing to karaoke.
Slavik loves to sing. In this picture he is waiting for his turn.


Here is his story, according to Slavik's own words. His mother worked at night and would often come home with different men. One night she did not come back. Slavik continued living at home with two other men whom once his Mom brought. Slavik called them 'stepfathers'. As far as we know they were quite good to him, took care, fed him and even taught how to read. Then they brought their own women (whom Slavik would call 'stepmothers') and came to a point when they couldn't be raising this child. After all, he wasn't related to them in any way. He did not belong there. That's when they brought him to the orphan shelter. All the social workers liked Slavik a lot. He was a very interesting, polite, curious boy, not like the others who behaved like frightened wild animals. He read a lot. Since there were not much books in this shelter, Slavik chose the geography atlas for 7th grade pupils as his favorite book. The women there cared for him a lot and realised that once he would reach 9 years old they would have to send him to an orphanage and that's a place with no hope for future. Kids become agressive, depressed and hopeless there, influencing each other negatively. Knowing that the women working there started looking for help contacting the social workers. Thankfully Mom and Dad were right in process of getting all the papers ready and looking for a child who needed them. That's when Slavik showed up. The Lord brought them together to make a happy family.

Slavik went to school for the very first time in his life last September (see Jamie's blog for pictures 'First Day of School'). To 4th grade instead of the 1st grade! Not knowing how to behave at school, not knowing what studying was all about, not knowing how to count, write, etc. It was incredibly hard for him, a great challenge, a lot of disappointment and hopefulness, a lot of bad marks. Mom and Dad doubted about the choice of sending him to 4th grade instead of the 3rd or even 2nd, and almost regreted it. But things got better. Because of their help and encouragement and Slavik's discipline and desire to succeed, he did it. He made a big step to an average/high success in studying. We are all so proud of him. He goes to choir and craft, studies additional English, has become a caring elder brother and well-behaving son. What a joy!

Before and After: A Visual Companion

This is post is the official visual accompaniment to the post below it.



Before:
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And after:

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Before and after...

It’s about time to tell you the stories of each of our kids. They all came from terrible conditions, families who abused and abandoned them.

Anton and Sofiya Marmolenko are biological siblings. Sofiya wasn’t even registered anywhere before she got into the hospital. They lived with their alcoholic mother who once attacked their father with a kitchen knife and was sent to prison. No one would even know about existence of these kids if not for a terrible incident. When 1,5 y.o. Sofiya fell out of the window off the sixth floor of an old building with high ceilings. By Lord’s miracle she didn’t only survive, but ended up having only a couple scratches, bruises and unfortunately an inside bladder trauma. The neighbours called the ambulance and both kids were taken to hospital. That’s where Mom and Dad found them with the social worker’s help. Even after they lived in a normal home with good food they would still be hunting for food in the garbage bin or sucking water out of a sponge, begging for treats when outside. They were like wild animals trying to survive on their own even though there were parents to provide and take care of them. Anton, being 3 y.o. would always make sure Sofiya got some food before would eat his. It was impossible to understand their speech, enriched with hard swearing. Their bodies were thin and rachitic, even their scalps were of weird shapes, because the kids never had proper meals or necessary vitamins, sun or fresh air. They tried nearly everything for the first time in their lives, they finally saw snow. Sofiya cried when she first saw it because it was so unusual for her.
Now they are beautiful, healthy kids with kids’ thoughts, games and dreams. They now have loving parents, grandparents, uncles and aunts, lots of siblings and many friends. They have God. They are now happy. Praise the Lord!!!

Another family member

Forgot to tell you about Chapa (I call her Chapidze - Slavik likes this variant better, too). She is a random guest in the Genesis house, independent and free, comes and goes whenever she likes, but the children are always happy to greet her. Dad always has a feast prepared for her and if you ask him, he'll tell you this dog is %100 theirs. I wonder what the dog thinks.
She is very sweet. LOVES playing with the children and has a special personality. When she first came we thought she was a male and kept calling her Chap intead of Chapa (Ukrainian female names end with a vowel, mostly "a"). Didn't take long to change the name, did take long to notice she was a lady :) She is indeed very graceful and aristocratic as you can see.