This Is Katya

This is Katya. I first met her in March 2005 when I was adopting Nastia. She was in Nastia's "Groupa' and she was about to turn 16. She stood out to me because she was smart, inquisitive, and a great advocate for herself. The first time I met her, she asked me through the translator 'I don't have much time left..do you think you could find me a family before I turn 16?'

I'm sure you all know me well enough by now to know that I got to work on her request the second I landed back in the US. And I DID find a family for her -- my friend Francie. However, when we contacted my adoption agency about starting the process, they told us they 'looked into it' and that the time frame was just too narrow. I was naive -- I took them at their word. Knowing how things work now, I know it could have been done. It has been done in that time frame. The agency just wasn't interested in working so quickly for a child of that age. A year later I found out they hadn't even inquired about her. They lied.

So, I kept in touch with Katya via letters that year. When I returned with Nastia to visit a year later (on our trip to meet Anya), she was gone. She had 'aged out.' No one knew where she was. A 17 year old out in the world by herself. I can't imagine what she endured that first year out.

But sometimes persistence pays off and God lends a hand, and people we lost are found. On this last trip we took to the orphanage, in June 2011, Katya was there! I had asked the Director, before every visit between 2005 and 2011 to please try and find Katya and a few of the other girls from Nastia's group. She had never had luck. But somehow she had found Katya this time, and she surprised me with her visit in June!

Katya showed up, with a child in tow. She had recently gotten engaged to the father, and was very proud to show off her little boy, Arkasha.(Yes, I know: not the most flattering photo of me, but I was jet lagged and had no access to a shower for two days...) We caught up, and she gave me a gift - a photo of her son, and asked me to be his godmother. She filled me in on all she knew about the other girls from the group. (There were many horrible stories, with one girl recently arrested for selling her child for drugs.)

But somehow Katya had defied the odds: She was alive, she was not drug-addicted, she was not involved in criminal activity or prostitution, and she was still the same smart, inquisitive girl I had met 6 years ago. No, life was not what she envisioned for herself, but she did count her blessings. She lived with her boyfriend in his parents' apartment. She had a roof over her head, which is more than most of her friends had.

I'm writing this post about Katya, because I know how important it is to put a name and a face on the numbers and statistics everyone reads about. How can people care about and want to help a statistic? But if I can tell others about Katya, her dreams, her hopes and -- more importantly right now -- her needs, then others can take action.

I sent funds in September for Katya to buy Arkasha some
winter clothing:) Here's the photo I just received!

Katya is a young mother. She struggles to have enough to feed her child. Her husband is out of work, his parents are older and I'm not sure if they are working either. And even if they do, I know that the average salary is under $80 per month. I do know that when she wrote me this week and asked for $10 to buy food for Arkasha, she wasn't being melodramatic. She is very proud and has never asked me for anything. Like you and me, she just wants what is best for her child, but she is in a position where she is unable to provide for him in a way that we can for our children. He will get no Christmas presents. He doesn't even have his own bed. And yet Katya manages to make the best of things and look on the bright side.

I want to support and nurture the success that Katya has already created for herself -- staying alive and out of trouble. What if I could find families willing to send their gently use clothing, toys, bottles, etc to Katya? I asked her if she could receive packages and not have to pay a fee. As long as the customs form states that the items are worth less than $25, she can receive them at no cost to her. She will have to take a bus to town and go to the post office to pick them up, but I am sending her a small bit of money this week to help her pay for bus fare in and out of town.

If you are interested in sending gently used baby/toddler items to Katya, please let me know. This is her address. I hope she doesn't mind my posting it for a bit.

Yekaterina Chervonets
Menzhinskogo Ulitse 11-19
653000 Prokopyevsk
Kemerovo Oblast
RUSSIA

If you have never sent a package to Russia before, it is very simple. First, get a ready-post mailing carton like this:

Fill it and print the address in BOLD, CLEAR letters. Go to your local post office and fill out the customs form. (It must be filled out in detail or it may be returned.) In the customs form you list everything you are sending and its estimated value. Keep the value low, under $25.

Send it express mail to better insure its arrival in Siberia. At the post office they will tell you it will take 10 days to reach its destination. This is a myth of epic proportions. It is supposed to arrive in 10 days. However, it will take an average of 4-6 weeks. Once it arrives in Prokopyevsk, Katya will be sent a slip from the post office to come pick it up.

I hope a few readers will feel inspired to send her some things. Of course, if you can include a translated letter or card, all the better! I'll keep you posted on Katya's situation. I am excited to see her when I return to bring D home!

Most recent photo of Arkasha. Isn't he adorable?