By: JESSICA MUSICAR - For the North County Times
FALLBROOK ---- For the summer, Fallbrook residents Peter and Sylvia Berens are learning what it is like to be mother and father to three little girls. Both in their 50s, the couple are hosting three sisters from Kazakhstan through Summer Miracles, a Kidsave International program.
While watching Malika, 12, Madina, 9, and Zarina, 7, play with balloons from a pizza party Wednesday, Berens said that despite the language barrier, caring for the girls has been a wonderful experience that he and his wife have not previously enjoyed.
"We love them, they are just little angels," Berens said as his face suddenly became flushed and his eyes brimmed with tears. "We really felt we missed out on being able to nurture and raise children that will carry on our values and traditions."
Kidsave International, a nonprofit organization, helps orphaned and abandoned children between the ages of 5 and 15 by introducing them to families interested in adopting. Summer Miracles is the organization's primary program, which gives orphans from Russia, Kazakhstan and Colombia a summer vacation with host families.
The Berens said they believe that Summer Miracles has given them the opportunity to interact with the girls to see if they could be a good fit.
"You get to know the kids' personalities and get to do activities and get to have them live in your home. You aren't getting a piece of paper and a picture," said Sylvia Berens.
The girls will stay with the couple for five weeks more, before going home to their orphanage in Kazakhstan. Berens said he is considering adoption, although the girls think they are in California for a long vacation.
Wrapped in her host mother's arms, 12-year-old Malika said, in Russian, that she is having a nice time and likes Americans because they seem friendly. She added that she really likes her host family.
"She said she will feel really bad when she has to leave," said translator Kate Pfandt for Malika. "She really wants to stay here forever."
The Berens' young guests aren't the only children visiting the country through Summer Miracles. Ten other children from Kazakhstan and Colombia are spending the summer in California, participating in such activities as day camps, weekend house parties, riding horses and taking trips to SeaWorld and the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center. They also receive medical and dental checkups during their stay.
"These kids live in very institutionalized settings," said Roberta Brodsky, a coordinator with Summer Miracles. "This summer experience, living with a family, in a home, with all the events and parties, really is one of the best memories they will ever have."
Brodsky said Kidsave is not an adoption or preadoption agency. Rather, it connects orphans with adults interested in adopting and refers them to agencies when and if the time comes. She said between 80 and 90 percent of Kidsave children are adopted, and the program has brought more than 1,200 children to the United States for a six-week visit.
She added that the children are never told that they may be adopted. They are told that they are simply getting a vacation, so that they have no false hopes.
Host families receive 15 hours of training before accepting children into their homes, where they are introduced to issues that come with institutionalized children. They are all approved by social workers or are licensed for foster care, Brodsky said.
Kidsave International was founded in 1997 and has two offices in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. Brodsky said it caters to children in and outside the United States. Brodsky said the program raises money to transport orphans to their host families. This year, they raised $24,000. People interested in hosting children, but who do not plan to adopt, may also participate, she said.
Whether or not a family plans to adopt Kidsave children, all of them are returned to their orphanages, Brodsky said. Then, with the help of an adoption agency, a family will spend at least six months and about $25,000 to bring their children home.
"This is not something that is taken lightly," Brodsky said.
For information about Kidsave International, call (888) KIDSAVE or visit www.kidsave.org. Anyone interested in meeting some of the children during their summer visit may also call Brodsky at (858) 349-3219. |
