Page 62 - Book about Friendship and Future.Stories of Volunteers.

Yulia Furmanova

Leader of the Charity Program “Generation Choice” in Yaroslavl
KFC Corporate Charity Fund “Opening Horizons”

Kolya

All my life I have been working –living – among the kids who
have a hard fate and a broken heart. I have met many kids who
felt hurt and embittered, who had given up and did not want to
build their lives. But there were also exceptional kids, whose te-
nacity could be envied by any adult.
Kolya, for instance. He was about 18 years when he and his
younger brother joined our group. They were picked up from
a remote site by the social security service. The boy looked with-
drawn but treated his brother Nikita (8 years younger) with great
care. During their first meals in the orphanage Kolya brought Ni-
kita his own portion of food. I have spent many years here but
I have never seen that before.
After a while Kolya told us about his life. Their mother worked
on a local farm. They lived a humble life, the three of them: Kolya
helped his mother around and took some extra job helping the
neighbors. He went to the local school and tried to be a good
student.
When his mother started relationships with a nonchalant man,
quitting her job and abusing alcohol, the care for the younger
brother fell on the teenager’s shoulder. Once, a fire burst out in
the house. Nobody got hurt but the boys were relocated to the
orphanage. Their mother’s parental rights were terminated, but
she deeply repented and wanted to get the boys back. She came
to see them: they were talking about their past life and were
planning the future.
Then a military service started, and lasted a whole year. Kolya
contacted Nikita on the phone, their mom visited him. The neigh-
bors were sharing some food and money, and helped to recon-
struct part of the house. After the military service Nikolay got
more mature – he had changed both inside and outside. And
soon, not without the neighbors’ help, he erected a house, got
a job and together with his mother they took Nikita back home.
The guys were happy as ever with the family reunion.
Kolya is a unique example of perseverance. Not only did he
not lose the faith in himself but he also inspired his relatives with
such faith!