Alesya now

Alesya has been in charge of "SOSedi", the monthly magazine of SOS Children's Village Minsk, for more than two years. When someone had the idea of creating an SOS Children's Village magazine, no one was surprised when Alesya immediately agreed to take it on. "It is sometimes difficult to get all the materials together - thank goodness I never promised that SOSedi would be issued at the beginning of the month!" she says, laughing.

Youth Home & College

Alesya now lives in an SOS apartment for young people in Minsk. She goes to college and is in her first year, studying economics, but still keeps contact with the SOS Children's Village. She stays in close contact with her SOS mother. "To us, she was and is a loving mother," says Alesya. "She had great expectations of us. I found it really great that she let us help make decisions that affected us when we were children."

Alesya often goes back to the SOS Children's Village, and is happy to see familiar faces. She didn't find it easy to leave the SOS Children's Village. "Even though I knew everyone at my new apartment, it took me a while to get used to the change," she explains. It was yet another time to say goodbye in her life.

10 Years Later

Alesya's during her early days at the SOS Children's Village-Minsk

It is now ten years since Alesya went to live at SOS Children's Village-Minsk. The village director had gone to visit the orphanage where Alesya was living. Since Alesya's SOS mother had room in her family, she went to visit Alesya. "We liked each other," says Alesya, quite plainly, so she was soon sent to the SOS Children's Village. She was afraid nonetheless: "I had visions of a monster flying out of the house." But her new family including seven siblings became part of Alesya's everyday life. "There was always a lot going on," she explains. "Actually, we were all supposed to eat together, but we didn't manage that very often." There is a lot of work in such a large family and the children were also asked to pull their weight. It was often a case of all hands on deck on the weekend: "Because we cleaned the house together," explains Alesya.

The children did their homework, had visits from school friends or enjoyed hobbies in the afternoons. During these times Alesya quickly discovered a passion for music. At music school she learned to play the flute and bought herself a cassette player with some of the first money she earned.

A Large and Loving Family

Alesya describes life at the SOS Children's Village as "life in a huge family." She adds: "We knew each other so well that we recognised each other by the way we walked, even those who didn't live in the same house." Joint activities and parties help to increase this feeling of belonging, such as the anniversary of the SOS Children's Village. "There's a party every year when we prepare a program together." Rafting on the river during the summer holidays was a particular adventure: for several weeks a group of children rafted on the river Berevina, come rain or shine.

Alesya also spent a lot of time with her school friends. "My friends knew about my background. They knew where I came from and where I lived, but that didn't affect our friendship", she explains. School friends visiting the SOS Children's Village was par for the course.

She has hardly any contact with her family of origin, but that is okay with Alesya. She has met some members of her family a couple of times, with the support of the SOS Children's Village. However her life revolves around the SOS Children's Village and her SOS Family. "I've experienced and learned so much at the SOS Children's Village. I know what I want to do with my life and I know to achieve it."