April 21, 2008

Today started out very good.  Maria and Sasha arrived at the apartment exactly when they said they would be here to take us to the Department of Education.  It is only a few minutes drive from our apartment so we were there just as they were opening for the morning.  Inside the building Maria had us sit in a lobby and said she would be with us in a few minutes.  When she returned she said the Minister of Education approved us and would not be conducting the typical interview as she was too busy.  Maria said that was only the second time that has happened to her in the two years she has been working this job.

Maria and Sasha brought us back to the apartment and told us they would call us once Svetlana arrived on the train.  Svetlana is our attorney/coordinator in Petro.  We did not receive the call until 3:00 telling us they would pick us up at 4:00.  While we were waiting for them we took a walk around the area and ate lunch (dark bread with bologna, cheese and lemon mayo) from the groceries we bought upon arrival in Petro.  We walked past a Kaz High School and saw several boys climb out a window and run quickly away from the school.  I would love to know what they were up to!  Maria told us the town has Kaz schools and Russian schools.  Because Petro is so close to the Russian border the main language here appears to be Russian.

Maria, Sasha and Svetlana were here to pick us up right at 4:00.  We were going to drive directly to the orphanage with the children from ages 3 to 7.  It was about an hour drive.  The orphanage is in a very remote area and the drive is through a birch wood forest and wheat farm land.  The orphanage is located in a very small, rural farming town.  There are about 72 children there.  The children come from the northern towns of Kaz.  The orphanage is a very nice building that was neat and clean.

At the orphanage we met with Uri, the director.  Uri has been at the orphanage for 15 years.  He is a very caring man with a good sense of humor.  He told us he has seen 80 children placed in America.  Uri told us there were three girls that are available for adoption.  He notified his assistant to get the children ready as all the children were outside playing.  The girls were brought to the “sports room” for us to meet.  The sports room is a large room with balls, jump ropes, hula hoops, and play equipment. 

The girls were all in frilly dresses, stockings, sparkly shoes and big bows in their hair.  They were all cute, neat, clean and well behaved.  Mausha is 7 and has a 13 year old sister, Sophia is 6 and has two older brothers, and Angela is 7 and does not have any siblings.  They are not told why we are there but they know when Americans come one of the children leave and go to America.  They tried very hard to please us and called us mama and papa.  We played with the girls for about an hour and it was time to go.  The children in this age group do not attend school. When they are 7 or 8 they get moved to the boarding school where they begin attending classes.  At this age they are just beginning to learn the alphabet and numbers.  They learn a lot of songs and poems and recite them all for you.

Svetlana will verify the paperwork is in order, as they have encountered problems before, and check on the status of any siblings and they will contact us the next morning to decide the next steps.  It is a difficult and emotionally draining visit.  You want to take all the children with you.  It was after 8:00 when we got back to the apartment and we were exhausted.  We went to sleep soon after getting back to be rested to see what the next day brings us.

We did not take any pictures of the orphanage or the girls as it did not seem appropriate at this time.  We hope to be able to get pictures soon to share with everyone.

The Hrenko Family

Adoption Journey to Kazakhstan

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