Stamford Advocate, CT
July 30 2004
East European orphans hope visit to U.S. yields a family
Pavel `Pasha’ Ptushko, an 8-year-old orphan from Russia, is staying
with a Stamford family for a month while he waits for an adoptive
family to be found. (Paul Desmarais/Staff photo)
Jul 30, 2004
By Katherine Didriksen
Special Correspondent
July 30, 2004
STAMFORD — Pavel “Pasha” Ptushko is fresh-faced, blond and 8 — and
has come far to find a home.
An orphaned child from Russia, Pavel is staying with a Stamford
family for four weeks this summer through World Links Association, a
nonprofit international adoption agency based in Scranton, Pa.
World Links unites orphaned children from Russia, Armenia,
Kazakhstan, Moldova and Ukraine with American families. It has placed
about 450 children in the United States in the past five years.
In its Karing for Kids Host Program for Orphans, the agency brings
children such as Pavel from orphanages in eastern Europe to stay with
American host families for several weeks. The 56 children who visited
this summer will return to Russia on Wednesday.
The program, which began with 25 children in 1999, allows orphans to
learn about American culture and family life while the agency screens
potential adoptive families.
It’s easier to find the children permanent homes if they are in the
country, said Laureen Dempsey, coordinator of the host program.
“If they’re just a picture in eastern Europe, they’re no one,” she
said.
American families begin adoption proceedings for about 98 percent of
the orphaned children who come to the United States through the
program, Dempsey said.
All children must return to Russia after their stay. They go back to
the orphanage or are adopted by an American family in Russian court.
Born July 12, 1996, Pavel is one of the few orphans on this trip who
has not been placed. Left at an orphanage at birth, Pavel, who has a
partial cleft lip, never had a visitor there.
“Russia doesn’t have the social safety net that we have,” Dempsey
said. “When a parent can’t care for a child in Russia, they’re put in
the orphanage system. . . . Some children are in the orphanage a long
time.”
Pavel has seen his friends from the orphanage find families.
“He’s dying for a family,” Dempsey said.
His host parents in Stamford, who did not want to be identified, have
watched Pavel acclimate to life in Fairfield County during the past
three weeks. He particularly enjoys the beach.
“Just getting in the water was thrilling for him,” his host mother
said.
He is quickly picking up English words and phrases, flashing a “hi”
at visitors and easily getting his point across with hand gestures.
“He has a really good disposition,” his host mother said.
This week, Pavel fought a fake sword battle with the couple’s
4-year-old son, one dressed as a knight and the other playing a
pirate.
Some host families eventually adopt, sometimes taking in the child
they hosted, Dempsey said.
Barbara and Nick Rinaldi of Guilford and their 9-year-old daughter,
Alicia, will adopt Christina Nesterenkova, whom they have hosted
since early this month, as soon as possible.
The Rinaldis have talked about adoption for years.
“Ever since she could speak, she has wanted a sister,” Barbara
Rinaldi said of their daughter. “It was always kind of in the back of
our minds.”
The World Links hosting program “was a perfect test drive,” Barbara
Rinaldi said. “They’re truly sisters, sisters of the heart.”
A victim of parental neglect, Christina was removed from her home and
placed in an orphanage near Smolensk. She has a foot deformity, which
the Rinaldis hope to have corrected. They also hope her condition
will speed up the adoption process which can take several months.
When she arrived in the United States, Christina was wearing pink
jean shorts that were two sizes too small and oversize shoes. She had
no suitcase and carried only a plastic bag with an incomplete change
of clothes.
Her ordeal has taught Christina to take care of herself, Barbara
Rinaldi said.
“She is an independent, fiery spirit. . . . She’s amazingly happy,
given what she’s been through in her short life,” she said.
Like Pavel, Christina will board a plan for Russia next week. Her
host family is sad to see her go, even as they plan for her return.
“We’re dreading Wednesday, but we’re looking forward to the best
Christmas present our family has ever had,” Barbara Rinaldi said.
— Families interested in adoption may call World Links at (570)
344-8890 and ask for Laureen Dempsey.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress