When leaving orphanages, their graduates often do not know where to go, what to do, and how to earn a living. The country does not provide post-orphanage support and housing laws are almost not working.
19-year-old Bogdan Yakunin was admitted to orphanage “Svetly Put” when he was 10 years old together with his five-year-old brother Igor.
“We had had a usual happy family,” the young man said. “But at some point father left, and mother started to drink. She took us to the orphanage. At first, she visited us often, took us home on weekends, and kept promising that it was all temporary, and that we would be together soon. But it never happened.”
For various reasons, Bogdan has changed three facilities. The last place of his living was Voenno-Antonovka orphanage. In 2020, Yakunin left the orphanage and started the adult life. One year later, he lost his only sibling – his brother, 12-year-old Igor, died mysteriously in the orphanage.
“The mentor of my deceased brother has helped me with accommodation and job after I left the orphanage,” Bogdan said. “If it wasn’t for him, I would have so many problems.”
According to Yakunin, it can be proved by his classmates, who graduated with him at the same time. The young man sometimes meets them and they just “roam” the streets and do nothing.
With the mentor’s support, Bogdan could acquire basic computer skills, take the course in web design, and find a house for rent.
Allowances no one knows about
Until 2020, article 10 of the law on state allowances reads that children are entitled to the monthly social allowance “in case of loss of one of the parents or both parents.” They should have personal deposit saving accounts opened until they reach 18. The allowances are accumulated on those accounts, and once the graduate leaves the orphanage, he/she receives the total amount.
In other words, allowances are a small financial cushion helping the graduates to rent a house, buy food, and so on.
However, in 2019, the public foundation “Nash golos” received a few messages from graduates of orphanages and boarding schools that they did not receive their allowances. To figure out the problem, employees of the foundation, representatives of state bodies and organisations working to protect children held monitoring of a few childcare facilities in the regions.
According to Ainura Ormonova, director of the foundation “Nash golos”, the results turned out to be shocking – the statutory allowances have not been provided to over a half of children. They did not even know that had a right to.
“It turned out that allowances were provided to full orphans only,” Ormonova said. “But we all know that there are few of such orphans in orphanages. Almost 90 per cent are social orphans, i.e. children left without parental care. Such children did not get the allowances.”
For example, according to Ormonova, among the graduates were those whose mother was under mental treatment, and father was serving time in prison; or, parents left to earn a living and left their children in orphanages; or, mother was serving time in prison, and child’s father was unknown.
“In other words, parents were legally incapable,” Ainura said. “The authority could assign allowances to such children, but in fact it did not have the right to do that because children were not orphans.”
After the inspection, the Ministry of Labour and Social Development has amended the law on state allowances. The amendments that became effective in 2020 implied that from that moment monthly allowances were available absolutely to all orphanage graduates. Besides, from January 2022, the rate of allowance was increased twofold and amounted to six thousand Kyrgyz som (71.85 dollars).
Bogdan Yakunin graduated from the orphanage when the new standard just became effective. And, according to Ainura Ormonova, he and other such children should have had their allowances recalculated, but in most cases it was not done.
When asked, “Did you receive any allowances for your time spend in the orphanage?”, Bogdan said, “Could I receive them?”
The expert knows that such work is very hard sometimes as there are many children, and few guardians or directors of institutions.
“But once guardians or directors assume responsibility to work with such children, they must perform their duties,” Ormonova said.
“Not prepared for adult life”
Currently, there are five boarding-type facilities in Kyrgyzstan, according to the ministry of education.
- The Razzakov boarding school for orphans and children abandoned by parents in Osh region.
- Chaldybar-based boarding school for orphans and children without parental care in Talas region.
- Belovodskoye-based preschool institution for orphans and children without parental care in Chui region.
- Chui-based boarding school for orphans and children without parental care.
- The Tilebaliev boarding school for orphans and children without parental care in Chui region.
According to Gulshan Abdyldaeva, chief specialist of the office for school policy and book publishing, the number of children in orphanages decreases every year.
“If there were over 2.5 thousand children in orphanages and boarding schools two-three years ago, now this figure is 452,” Abdyldaeva said to CABAR.asia. “This resulting decrease was due to strong preventive events held among parents and guardians.”
The agency failed to give details of events they held.
In 2022, according to the ministry of education, 124 graduates left orphanages and boarding schools. The agency does not know what happened to them after graduation. Neither does the Ministry of Labour, Social Security and Migration.
And it is not easy for every graduate “deal with it themselves.” And there are many reasons for that. According to Viktoria Yakunina, director of the public foundation “Putevodnaya zvezda”, graduates of orphanages are not prepared for adult life.
“Children get used to dependency, and they cannot depend on anyone outside the orphanage,” Yakunina said. “Moreover, orphans almost do not know the terrain, they have no skills of work or socialisation.”
According to her, after graduation from orphanages, graduates are usually placed to professional colleges or vocational schools, where they can live in a dormitory and get a profession, e.g., of a cook or a welder. By the time of graduation, many of them have hardly finished nine grades and they are under 16.
“However, we know cases when orphanages have overstated the age and children ended up on the street at the age of 12-13 having the certificate of completion of nine grades,” Yakunina said. “Of course, the knowledge they have is not enough to go to college.”
Viktoria also emphasised that it is almost impossible to stay in dormitories for a long time because of the shortage of money or problems with food. Therefore, many orphanage graduates leave them, trying to earn money, or resort to desperate measures to survive.
Meerim Osmonalieva, director of the foundation ”Oasis”, also confirmed that nearly 70 per cent of orphanage graduates leave studies in the middle or before the end of the educational process. This information, according to her, could be obtained as the result of surveys.
Besides, according to Osmonalieva, orphanage graduates sometimes are easily deceived and so they become easy prey for organised crime groups. Some start stealing in despair and go to prison. According to the surveys held by the foundation “Oasis”, nearly 10-15 per cent of young women can get married in the first year after the graduation, or get pregnant at the age of 16.
There is still discriminatory and stereotypical thinking about ex-orphanage graduates. According to Viktoria Yakunina, graduates of boarding schools are not trusted by their employers and often encounter negligence.
“There is no trust to them because they are orphans. Who will be responsible for them?” Yakunina said. “Plus, there were moments when orphans were employed and one-two weeks before they should be paid they were dismissed. It happens because employers know that no one would stand up for them.”
To prevent such cases, public foundations and organisations try to agree independently with private colleges on children’s study, establish contacts with companies that provide various courses in manicure, pedicure or mechanics. Thus, orphanage graduates can have some skills and opportunities to earn money legally.
But this is not enough, according to public foundations. To resolve all issues, orphanage graduates need comprehensive state support in all regards. But the authorities are in no hurry to make such decisions.
Neither house, nor support
Tatiana Usova was born in Chui region in 2002. The girl has liked physical education since childhood and when she grew older, she was dreaming of building a sports career.
Her parents were regular drinkers, and her father used to beat Tanya often. Her childhood traumas still show themselves as the young woman cannot hear in one ear.
Guardianship authorities were aware of the family situation and gave Tanya’s parents some time to change. However, it did not happen and when she was six Usova was placed to the orphanage. Later, her parents deceased, and Tanya changed a few social institutions for 10 years.
She had to get used to new rules, patch up relationships with her peers. Only her physical education classes helped her to forget about difficulties in life for some time.
In 2017, Tanya won gold medal at the country’s weightlifting championship among boys and girls. She showed good results in table tennis and basketball competitions, too. Her great sporting future seemed to be just around the corner, but alas… The trauma of her leg did not let her continue her trainings. After she graduated from the orphanage, she had to attend vocational school, just like most of graduates. Tanya was to obtain specialty of “pastry chef.”
According to Usova, this profession was not the one she wanted to devote herself. Later, the young woman was called to the “Youth House”, a social house, where female graduates of orphanages lived. There she met with Viktoria Yakunina, head of the public foundation “Putevodnaya zvezda”, who later took Tanya to live with her. She left the vocational school, and Yakunina helped her to enrol in the College of Economy, Design and Information Systems to the major of “applied computer science.”
In 2022, the young woman graduated and planned to keep developing in this direction. Tatiana admitted that she cannot even imagine where she would live now if not for Viktoria.
According to public foundations, provision of housing to orphanage graduates is very complicated. Although, at least two laws provide for provision of housing to orphans out of turn – article 44 of the Housing Code, and article 13 of the Children’s Code. In general, former orphanage graduates live in houses provided by “social activists.”
Thus, there are two social houses for girls and boys in the public foundation “Nash golos” operating since 2012. Also, the first social store “Nasha gryadka” was opened last year and orphanage graduates work there.
Moreover, there are two “Youth Houses” based in Bishkek and Novopokrovka, which were opened by the public foundation “Rights of protection of orphans.” According to Igor Belyaev, director of the fund, 17 girls and 8 boys live there now.
“Boarding, accommodation and extra courses in houses are provided free of charge. The foundation also finds money to pay contracts in educational institutions,” Belyaev said. “Instead, young people must study well, keep the house clean, and follow some rules.”
According to the mayor’s office of Bishkek, four districts of the city have provided 14 residential properties to orphans on behalf of the state in the last two years. However, 218 persons are now waiting for accommodation.
According to Abysheva, now Bishkek does not build social houses, and orphans receive property with no heirs, which becomes the property of the municipality by court decision.
As to the regions of the country, graduates there do receive apartments, but in rare cases, according to Ainura Ormonova, director of the foundation “Nash golos”, which does not tackle the problem as a whole.
“There have also been facts of granting of land plots in Batken, Issyk-Kul and Naryn regions,” the expert said. “It’s good, but my question is how the graduate can develop it if he/she does not earn much? As we all know, building a house is very expensive.”
According to Ormonova, charitable organisations, sponsors, foundations, philanthropists try to build social housing and provide it to the graduates, but the point is that state bodies have nothing to do with it.
“But we speak about the state policy regarding graduates,” Ainura said. “Provision of housing and support of orphanage graduates should not be done by “international stakeholders” or foreign sponsors. These are our children, children of the state. They will not leave the country after graduation, they will be living here, in Kyrgyzstan. Therefore, the state must and should take care of them, while international foundations can just help. And we have it vice versa.”
According to experts, there are ready-made solutions to issues. In particular, in 2017, the initiative group consisting of representatives of public foundations, state bodies and civil society developed and proposed the regulation on post-boarding school support of graduates within two years after they leave orphanages.
The document included a package of measures: protection of property rights (if orphanage graduates have some property left from their parents), a well-organised system of allowance granting, issue of passports, resolving housing issues, employment, psychological rehabilitation, and so on. The state was supposed to be the chief executive agency with involvement of the civil society.
The main thing, according to the expert, is to give an opportunity to children to become full-fledged members of the society instead of languishing in misery and agreeing to any conditions just to feed themselves. However, the ministry of finance refused to implement the document referring to the lack of funds.
According to the Ministry of Labour, Social Development and Migration, they are planning to bring the initiative on introduction of the post-boarding school support of orphanage graduates again in 2023. According to Bakyt Todogeldiev, chief of the office for family support, protection of children and gender policy, this point is included into the new programme of children’s protection intended for 2023-2026.
“The programme has already been developed and is now pending before the presidential administration,” the official said.
According to Todogeldiev, “the agency is going to bring the matter of introduction of post-boarding school support before the country’s leadership and convince them in the need to adopt the norm.”