Children’s plane

 

The noise of landing and taking off planes makes my mind rise above the problems, above the lively conversations and hurried people. From above, the buildings, streets, parks and people look trouble-free, calm and hopeful. Our lives have meaning when we strive for a better future for us and our children.

Three-year-old Ivan runs towards us, holding a plane with one hand and the sky as if pointing at us with the other. In the sky are his dreams and desires, he is ready to fly to the unknown, to the new – from the autumn he will go to kindergarten. He has experienced a lot in his three years, and we hope that he will already have his support and a peaceful future.

Ivan’s mother grew up in institutions, moved from one place to another and began to try to survive in her own way. She wants to be independent and because she did not have a carefree childhood, she is frantically looking for freedom, but she has not been taught how to keep it. Her life makes her survive in different situations, never thinking about the consequences and others. After the birth of Ivan, she began to look for security and this led her to 20 years older Ioan. He is caring, kind and welcomes new people into his life with open arms. Family relationships are great, while after 8 months of living together, problems come. The mother loves her child but starts to use alcohol. She justifies herself and always says that this will not happen again. She is just an immature child. No one teaches us to be parents and we strive to replicate the family patterns we have observed.

Despite Ioan’s devoted love for the child, he decides to separate from the mother.

Ivan has no one to rely on, his mother does not manage to raise him, and there are no relatives to be accommodated with. The possibility is to be left in an institution. Children in institutions are raised in groups, have a hospital-like regime, have food, staff to take care of them physically, but there is no warmth and no family. If Ivan had been in an institution, he would have spoken later, different people would have changed every day, who are unrecognizable to the child’s consciousness. He would not receive the support of a significant adult, and his small world would become increasingly confused. In this situation, it is crucial for the child’s development to be supported and raised in a family environment. Then the stress for him will be less and there will be no major injuries in the future. At such times, social workers come to rescue and they look for a suitable family environment.

Ivan is accommodated with his mother’s relatives and so he has to get used to new people, he has to go through his first divisions and he has to learn to love. Ioan continues to visit the child who has touched him with his presence in his life. It briefly enlivened his home with laughter and turned his whole world upside down. The child grows, but it is with other people, games, meetings, separations are more and more difficult. He decides to reunite with the mother to get the child back, which they both love, but in their own way, but the attempts fail. The desire to raise Ivan gradually arose in Ioan.

From the end of 2019, Ioan adopts Ivan and they become one family. Every day of the struggle for the happiness of a child is worth it! A smiling face, arms outstretched to the sky and that deep gratitude that is read in his eyes makes us forget about any difficulties.

The child has a loving home again and the future is a little clearer. The COVID 19 pandemic, however, forces Ioan to work 4 hours a day, incomes fall, bills and rents do not change, and at this point the team of Hope and homes for children – Bulgaria came to support and overcome the crisis in this family.

After talks with CEZ, the family was included in the “Together we can do everything” campaign and now Ivan will be able to go to kindergarten, and his father will be able to prepare their home for the winter. When he grows up, Ivan will not remember this story, and we want him to be able to fly on the wings of his favorite toy and be a beloved child.

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