The universe of a child is mainly built up of his/her family. Most of the times love, smile, happiness are learnt in the cozy atmosphere of the family home.
For a harmonious physical and psychical development children need affection, unconditioned family place first of all, protection and security because they are the most easily hurt by the hardships of life. They need education and games.
In our surrounding there are too many children who do not have the chance to go through normal life experiences which they could get by living together with the family. Out of all the members of our society, they are the most exposed to risks, and by all these also the ones who our future is built on. There are children who do not have the opportunity to be born without disability. The responsibility of their education, protection and support in order to become independently living members of the society as powerful adults with healthy experiences, as a result, lie with the family and also with the examples the community offers them.
‘If you get, your hand becomes full. If you give, your heart becomes full.’
Margarete Seemann
Why is the child the biggest happiness? He/she loves you in the morning and in the evening even when you are upset or tired. He/she fills you up with energy, and the feeling that he/she awakens in you lasts so long that no beautiful trip or happy event can be compared with it.
Children with difficult family situation, deserted or orphans, get a new chance to physical, psychical and social development by being homed with maternity parents.
The girls we look after come from a large family. Szilvia was 2 years old, weighed 8 kilos and was very silent. She was standing but could not walk, she was afraid of everyone and everything, she didn’t know how to use a spoon, how to drink from the glass, she was not used to wearing clothes and shoes, was not interested in toys, that’s why first she had to be taught how to play. Panna didn’t move, she was only shaking her head, and although she was 9 months old she weighed 6 kilos. She could not sit, had a very fair almost transparent complexion. In the first two months they slept a lot.
I believe there is nothing called impossible, only incapable people. As weeks were passing by, the development of the girls was more and more visible. With the help of the family, the psychologists and the financial help of the Maltese Relief Service, a lot of patience and perseverance, the girls developed much in a few months.
Besides the financial help given by the Maltese Relief Service, the main advantage of the program is the fact that we are part of a maternity parents’ community. The girls can meet other children who are in the same situation with them. Last but not least the maternity parents can share their everyday experiences.
I was curiously waiting for the first camp, but also with preconception because I hadn’t met the other families and children before. The first camp proved to be a wonderful experience, we made friends, laughed a lot, became a really united group. The camp was also a holiday for us, maternity parents, taking care of the children together, playing games, going on walks.
Szilvia is now four and a half years old, Panna is three and a half. They go to kindergarten, are properly developed for their age, happy, naughty and charming like any other child.
Accepting to become maternity parents represents a huge responsibility and a great joy at the same time! It is a warming feeling that you can offer a loving family and a happy life to two children who were refused this by fate. We can compensate everything their parents couldn’t or didn’t want to offer them.
These children may be able to grow up also without the help of the Maltese Relief Service, but not in the same conditions and with the same chances. They helped us a lot and especially made the lives of the children better and more beautiful.
Zsuzsanna Kovács – maternal parent in the program ‘Families for orphans’
