Milena and Kiril are part of a family with many children, where having space, comfort, gentle motherly care and love were unknown to them. Their mother did not have a partner, was mostly absent and left her children to take care of themselves. Little Milena was only 3.5 years old, and her brother was almost 5, but the absence of attention and affection had already had heavy consequences on the children’s development. Poverty, squalor and the lack of normal care led Milena and Kiril to the “St. Sofia” orphanage in the middle of December, 2010. Shortly before the holiday, long anticipated by all children - Christmas, when every child dreams of presents and miracles, the brother and sister entered the doorstep of a cold institution. They were cold, scared, distressed, hungry and completely alone...

Little Milena was a smiley and very communicative child who loved music, while little Kiril was more introverted - he loved drawing and dancing. Both of them preferred being surrounded by adults, because they were not used to playing with other children and had not owned toys with which to entertain themselves. The specialists from For Our Children Foundation supported these children and worked long and hard to allow them to find a new home and remain together. 

Thanks to good care, the children quickly made big progress in their development. When she entered the institution, Milena could only sit, but soon she began to crawl, while Kiril started to participate in the games of the other children and became very lively and curious. Almost two years passed when, in September 2012, Kiril found his new home filled with love and security and a real loving family in the face of his professional foster parent. With the help of the team of For Our Children Foundation, the little boy managed to perfectly adapt and achieve huge progress in his general development. 

With one little detail – his little sister Milena was no longer with him. 

The whole team of specialist who work with the children in our Center for Foster Care was firmly convinced of the need to keep the already established emotional connection between the brother and his little sister. With this mission in mind, eight months later, having overcome many hurdles and hardships, Milena also lives with Maria and shares the cozy home with her brother. She is happy, curious, a bit scared, but fully supported and guided in each of her pursuits and wild games by her beloved brother Kiril. 

For these two children, after the darkest and scariest nights came days full of hope.

The title belongs to National Foster Care Association. The original publication comes from the website of For Our Children Foundation.