Comments on: Petropavlovsk Baby House

By: Patti

Patti — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 05:28:17 +0000

Chris,
I’m not certain which orphanage you were in, however I was in the Baby House as pictured above. My darling son had strider and scabs in his head, and wasn’t very strong at 6 months, but I can ASSURE you, he has NO issues what-so-ever. Momma Galena at the Baby House took very good care of him as well as all the other ladies in his group. I wished someone would send me an email address of the baby house so I can provide them with some much needed children’s vitamins! My son was born 05-18-2004, someone may remember him……..that adopted at the same time, or may read this from KAZ. I want to shout from the Heavens!! HE IS A WONDERFUL CHILD ~ THANK YOU PETRO AND KAZ…..I HAVE KEPT MY PROMISES TO CARE FOR YOUR KAZ CHILD!! And yes, he loves Dombra music, and KAZ, and Momma Nikita that carried him in her tummy, and Momma Galena that took care of him in the Baby House, until his Momma from the U.S. could finally find him, and bring him home.

Chris, maybe you don’t know what Kefir is, but this is what the babies were fed instead of plain cows milk, boosting their immunity tremendously….each night the Baby Hosue Mom’s would make it for them……and YES, they were loved and talked to.

I was there for 58 days, 2 x a day, stayed at the Skiff, and decided to eat one of everything on the menu. I loved the food, I loved the people, and I miss it so much. I want my son to go back to Petro and see Momma Galena, stay at the Skiff, sleep in the same room as we slept, eat the food and know the kindness they showed. I was there alone, and not a day went by that “locals” spoke to me. Quite frankly if your child or others has so many problems, please disrupt, place him in the care of CHASK and I will adopt them……Kazakh children are special gifts from God!!

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:22:42 +0000

Agreed. The situation is depressing and the outside of the building leaves a lot to be desired but the inside halls were clean. Towards the end of our time there we got to take a look at the renovated sections and they are pretty stunning. Clean, bright and all new furniture and toys. They are definitely trying to improve the facilities. Unfortunately our daughter was in one of the rooms that had not yet been renovated so at the time I wrote this post that was my context.

As far as the care that was received, I’m of a mixed mind on that. The caretakers seem to do their best but it was not abnormal to see the TV in the children’s room tuned to a Russian soap opera or to see 1 year olds spending upwards of 15 minutes sitting on a potty. They also had a habit of putting them in walkers and tying the walkers to the wall with rope so they couldn’t move more than a few feet. The medical care our daughter received was also rather substandard on any scale. They missed a digestive parasite that had been stunting her growth for upwards of a year – they wrote it off to a food allergy (she has none) and they removed two birthmarks via a couple of surgeries that were extremely botched and left nasty scars. The normal western practice is to shrink the birthmark with steroid injections.

So I’d agree they were all cared for to an acceptable level of standard for a second-world country. Loved is a bit of a stretch and they were definitely not well adjusted. Every single child that we know who was adopted had behavioral issues that will take years to work through completely. International adoption is something you need to go into with open eyes. The kids all have issues, some significant, and you need to be ready to handle them. To say anything different sets the wrong expectation for those who are embarking on this path.

By: Laurie

Laurie — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:42:16 +0000

I must say I have to disagree about the baby house being depressing. The situation is certainly depressing BUT my experience at the baby house was that these children were very loved and cared for. The baby house was so clean that they required that you take your shoes off when you enter and there was NEVER even the slightest hint of a mess. The sick children area, yes, I will give you that as depressing but overall, the house was clean, bright and decorated very much to suit the children. These children (the healthy) all were happy and well adjusted and seemed to be thriving in this enviroment. (I was there in 2006).