Russian Orphan’s Tale
By Vika Fleck
In 1991, in St. Petersburg Russia there was a little baby who was abandoned by her alcoholic birth mother in an apartment. She was only seven months old. The baby was found in a crib, wrapped up, crying, hoping for someone to hear her and help her. No one heard her. Soon, it was three days without food or water: the most important thing--a mother to guide her. Her mother had disappeared from her world.
The neighbors heard her crying and called the police. They arrived, got the baby girl and took her to the hospital to make sure she was OK. During that time the police were trying to locate her mother. They also talked to the neighbors and a cousin that came. Then they took the infant to the baby home where she was going to live for more than three years. The police still continued looking for her birth mother. Later, during the years at the baby home, she was getting check up's with the doctor to make sure she was still healthy. Then she was moved to the children's home (Detsky Dome). They put her in a Detsky Dome where there were kids with vision problems. She was only four years old.
The Detsky Dome was a two story white building that was home to 40 kids. The second story was split into four areas; each had a living room, kitchen, bathroom and a sleeping area. The first floor had the doctor's office where they got shots, a dance floor, the director's office, main kitchen, and a room where they got their eyes examined. The outside area was as big as two football fields together with a fence around it.
She lived with ten kids in the room she was assigned to. During her first two years there, she was getting into a lot of trouble. For instance, if she didn’t make her bed on time and get changed, she would get yelled at and sent to the closet. Another time, she refused to eat her food, so they tied her up on her chair until she ate.
She didn’t get into trouble all the time. In fact she helped the caregivers around the orphanage. Her responsibilities were to keep an eye out for Natasha who was half blind, feed the cats soup and milk, set the tables for meals (she hated doing that), and keeping the living area cleaned up. The other kids had their jobs too. As long as she did her chores it made her life easier.
She doesn’t remember, but her parents have told her that when they came to get her they brought clothes, candy, medicine, and a stuffed white bear. When they took her from the orphanage, they went to a hotel where they gave her a backpack that had a music player, tapes, a coloring book and crayons, and a koala bear beanie baby which she named Mushka.
They traveled on a train all night to get to Moscow where they had to go to make the adoption final. She also had to go to a clinic for a checkup and to get shots before she could come to America. That took about three days. Finally they went to the airport to get on an airplane and fly to New York. There she went through immigration and was able to get on the last flight to Phoenix. Finally she was going to see her new home.
Vika slept the whole entire way from New York to Phoenix. Her new mom woke her up when they landed. When the family got off the airplane in Phoenix, the mother was carrying the exhausted and tired Vika in her arms out of the exit ramp towards her new family. There was a group of people waiting to welcome her home. They had a big banner that said “WELCOME HOME” and colored balloons next to it. Vika was still really sleepy and was confused about her surroundings. She was pretty scared too. From the airport they went home.
When she got to her new American home, the first thing that happened was that her new older brother Dan showed her around. Dan was very excited to have a little sister to show around the new home that they would share from now on and keep him company. He gave her a tour around the house. There was a fire place, a kitchen, two bathrooms, three bedrooms. And one of those rooms was Vika’s. She had a bed with Mickey Mouse sheets, a book shelf with kid’s books and some toys and dolls (she didn’t like dolls at all). She also had a black lab dog named Amy. Vika was breathless with everything.
From then on during the days of her growing up it just became a blur. She was learning how to speak English and understanding the new rules of her new life. She was trying to make friends as well as stealing desserts off their lunch trays. Vika learned things that she had never done before like roller skating, riding a bike, and scooter. The foods were new and she didn’t understand why her mom wouldn’t understand that she wanted to take a walk in the morning. It was also frustrating that Vika wouldn’t get near the water. So it was a very slow process. In time she got to learn that she was different and behind in a lot of stuff. But she made the best of it.
- Mood:
Neutral - Listening to: nothing
- Reading: nothing
- Watching: nothing
- Playing: nothing
- Eating: nothing
- Drinking: nothing
SL and drawings 
