2000 miles across a warzone to rescue her siblings from a brutal orphanage
Tetiana had been on the bus for two days. All the way from Ukraine to Turkey, she shook and rattled in the same seat, and breathed the same hot, stale air. But two days was nothing to her.
She had been fighting for her younger brothers and sisters all her life.
She didn’t care about the countries, cities and towns she passed through. All she cared about was the moment the bus would reach the Turkish orphanage where her young brother and sisters had been taken and treated so cruelly.
When the bus pulled in, Tetiana saw them, Yana, Kateryna, Yuliia, and Dmytro, who was just five years old – their arms stretched through the huge iron gates, waving, shouting and crying out Tetiana’s name.
At last, these four children were going Back to Family, where they always belonged.
Photo Credit: Chernenko Timofiy
Help reunite families like Tetiana’s who have been callously torn apart by poverty and war
The powerful bond of family
Tetiana and her siblings share a powerful bond. Ever since any of them can remember, their lives have been hard. When their mother – worn down by poverty and addiction – would disappear for weeks at a time, Tetiana clothed and fed them. Even when Tetiana left home aged just 14, she did everything she could to protect them.
But she still was too young to do anything when the authorities finally took Yana, Kateryna, Yuliia and Dmytro to an orphanage. They would have taken Tetiana too if she had still been there.
The terrible impact of war
When full-scale war broke out in 2022, the children were packed up without warning and taken 2,000 miles away from their sister who truly loved them, to a child institution in Turkey.
Tetiana was devastated, and when she finally reached the children by phone, they were terrified. It was a brutal place. They were shouted at, bullied and humiliated. It was a place of violence and beatings – of constant fear, and they had no one to show them the smallest bit of comfort or love.
This is why an orphanage is never, ever, the answer, for any child.
Overcoming all the barriers in her way
Tetiana was 17 when her siblings were taken away. She went to the authorities and told them she would care for them. They told her she was not suitable to be their Guardian.
She was dismissed. The only person in the world who would love them like a mother, and give them the care and protection they so desperately needed, was turned away.
Tetiana refused to back down.
Reaching out for help
Thankfully she came to us, because reuniting families who have been cruelly separated is what we do.
Thanks to the amazing kindness of donors around the world, we could support Tetiana’s cause – with legal advice, with the mountains of paperwork, and with finding people in local agencies who were willing to take her side.
After a long, exhausting battle, she was officially granted Guardianship of Yana, Kateryna, Yuliia and Dmytro. But she still had to go and rescue them.
Without the help of our generous supporters, she could never have afforded the 2,000 mile journey across a war-zone, nor the five tickets to bring her excited, happy siblings back with her.
And when they arrived safely home, they found a new person who also wanted to help care for them – Tetiana’s husband Vlad.
This brave and tight-knit family were ready to start their new life together.
Helping heal the trauma
But reuniting Tetiana’s family was only the start of the support they needed. All of the children were deeply traumatised by what had happened to them. They needed expert psychological care. And they needed to move out of Tetiana’s two-bed apartment to somewhere with enough space for the children.
Thankfully, again through the kindness of donations, we were able to provide the care the children needed, and also find this wonderful, loving family a new home.
But that’s not quite the end of this incredible story.
Even more love to share
Having seen how crucial the love of a family is in a child’s life, Tetiana and Vlad decided to do something truly remarkable.
Tetiana and Vlad recently welcomed 16-year-old Olena into their family.
Brought up in state care, Olena is now surrounded by her new parents and siblings. Together, they are all looking forward to the mini-miracle of their first ever Christmas together as a family.
If you’d like to help support another child finding their way Back to Family, please make a kind donation and help turn that wish into reality.
*To ensure the safety and privacy of the people we support, the names of the children and relatives featured in this story have been changed.
