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!!!