Support Group Families: An Update

Love Russia supports around 20 young families where the parent/s grew up in orphanages. They need regular financial support in the form of a bursary from us because each struggles with poverty. This bursary pays for food or essential medications or goes towards the rent or bills they cannot afford alone. By being part of one of our groups, they have emotional and practical support from Alina Z or Galina who are always there for them. Here's some of their news we've had recently...

Olya has a severely disabled son called Dasha. He has been having difficulties with swallowing which causes him to accidentally breathe food into his lungs. This has been a scary time for Olya who has regularly had to manually retrieve Dasha's food to prevent him from choking. Praise God that the recent surgery to fit a g-tube will help. This will enable him to be fed directly into his stomach, which will be so much safer for him and less frightening for Olya. Through Alina’s orphan mums' support group, Olya has had extra financial support for Dasha's medical costs.

Fayina has had a difficult year. Daughter Felisia was run over by a car only a week after Fayina had given birth to her son Timur. Praise God Felisia’s injuries have healed well and that we’ve been able to bless this family with extra financial support during this difficult time.

Mila is an orphan mum we've supported for over 20 years. She is a single mum to her eight-year-old daughter, Ksenia. Having no family for childcare has meant that when Mila did find work, she would always lose it or have to quit when Ksenia became ill, even with a cold. The solution has been for Ksenia to spend Monday to Friday at an institution. Being separated from her mum five days a week has been really hard on Ksenia and we pray for a new solution. However, it has meant Mila has been able to retain employment for several months now. This is a big achievement for Mila.

Anastasia is another orphan mum and we are delighted that she has a new job. It's local which means she is close by when her children need her. Most jobs she's taken in the past have meant leaving her children with her disabled partner for weeks at a time to stay 140km away in the city. We pray that she can keep this job and life will become more settled for them all.

Natalja continues to battle with some debilitating health conditions (psoriatic arthritis, psoriatic spondylitis and psoriatic bilateral sacroiliitis) which cause her a lot of pain. Her husband, also an orphan, is very caring and supports her well, but life with chronic health conditions, and no family support, is difficult. Natalja’s pain means she's unable to take her daughter out much and is very isolated. Pray for the right medications and that she feels less lonely with the support of Galina's group.

Odessa was desperate a few months back for help to provide special shoes to correct her twin girls' feet. Odessa works two jobs and earns only a couple of hundred pounds a month - this is barely enough to cover essentials. We were glad to help and happy that Mara and Elesa finally have correctional shoes so their mobility can develop as it should.