It is about a boy who was diagnosed with cerabal palsy and his journey of adoption by an American. I think I was particularly moved for several reasons. One being the recent developments of some families from the Poskv region who are attempting to adopt some special needs children. One family was denied at court with the judge ruling that the child would be better off in an institution than a family. I am floored that this sentiment still exists. Secondly, Dateline shows the fence around the mental institution. I literally got cold chills looking at it as Andrei's orphanage had the same type of fence surrounding his baby house. In fact, nearly all "government institutions"--orphanages, schools, hospitals, etc. have the same type of fence. It is rather eery. Thirdly, we didn't know until the afternoon before we picked up Andrei that his baby house was half special needs. That would explain the strange Stalinistic high chair with about 10 different straps attached to it to belt a child in that where Andrei was fed. I had thought it strange when we were allowed to go into the room where he spent his days that only a 1 or 2 children were out and then they were quickly whisked away to another room as soon as we walked in.
Fourthly, I had a flashback to college (when it's been over 20 years, is it still considered a flash back???) my last semester. A teacher's last semester is spent doing 10 or so weeks of student teaching after you have about 4-6 weeks of classes. One of those classes was Gifted and Talented. Our class took a field trip to a nearby mental institution. To this day, I have NO idea what that had to do with our class, but the van ride back to college was strangely quiet after spending 3-4 hours in an Oklahoma severely mentally handicapped institution. And this was in the good ole USA. I can only imagine what life would be like in countries like Russia for the mentally/physically disabled. We did not visit any place in Krasnoyarsk that was handicap accessible. There were very very few in Moscow, it what we saw were pretty primitive. Truly, this is just ONE of the many reasons why Doug and I now think everyone who lives in this awesome country of ours should go and spend a month in a foreign country--and not in the Marriott. We all should be kicking ourselves for not doing more with the blessings we have here. It made a profound impression on us.
Shelly- I watched all 6 parts of the Dateline documentary. Thank you so much for sharing that. What an incredible story.
ReplyDeleteAfter our month abroad, Eric & I felt the same way; that we were profoundly blessed to have been born here, in the US instead of somewhere else. For us, spending that month in Russia made us appreciate our lives and blessings in a way we had never done before.
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ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you Shelly. After spending a couple of weeks in Africa - Kenya- and visiting the ABC(Abandoned Baby Center)I came home with a "never quite the same' heart. We take for granted so many of the blessings we have here in the United States. Have very much enjoyed reading your blog and watching the unfolding of Andrei's new life.
ReplyDeleteI have been really struck by this story. I was born with hydrocephalus and had surgery at 6 months not expected to live past 3, let alone be normal. I would be in a place like that, and probably dead. Thank you God for letting me be born in a loving, beautiful family in a free country during a wonderful time!
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