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Healing relationships to the rescue!

February 18, 2021

Emotional support is the first step in physical healing.

When orphaned youth are in a tight spot, they need more than money or connections. They need emotional support, too—even for their physical needs.

Masha P. was moved from one orphanage to another for eighteen years, so she received little of the loving care a child needs. Soon after we met her, Masha asked our staff to go with her to the doctor because she couldn’t breathe through her nose. The doctor prescribed minor surgery to remove five cysts.

Masha began to cry and panic. She was so afraid! But staff member Lena A. knew that Masha just needed the support she hadn’t received in the past. “I told her how good it would be when her suffering ended,” Lena said. “That you need to be a little patient and then it will be over, you’ll be able to breathe well and enjoy life. That I’ll be there and support her… As a mother to a child, I amused her and talked to her for a long time. Finally she agreed.”

The first surgery was in August 2019, and she had another small procedure recently. Again Lena reassured her. “She would hardly have agreed to it without support,” Lena said.

Masha had a follow-up appointment this Monday. She’s feeling better, and in a few weeks the wounds will heal. Emotional healing takes more time, but Masha is making progress by trusting one caring adult with her medical needs!