Elena Page Five
What would you like to give your children to help them on their way?
First of all that they are able to see both themselves and their environment in a positive light. Also to be able to solve any conflict situations peacefully. That they are able to love and be loved. I try to make sure that I teach the children to look after themselves and others and to care cheerfully for the elderly and the young. I'm trying to motivate them to find careers that will suit their abilities and interests. I also try to make sure that they receive a musical education. They should be able to develop their creative skills so that they can turn their hobbies into professions. I would like to be able to teach them everything I know. I would like them to become independent and not to demand anything from society. They should be able to create things using their own strengths.
Do you think you will still keep in touch with the children once they have left the SOS Children's Village?
Yes, of course. I'm already thinking about grandchildren! My mother and I are already thinking about how we'll go to the children's weddings and bring up the grandchildren. We have become a family even though all the children have their own characters, problems and experiences. And the children are proud of this family. Previously they were able to say "mother" to any woman but now they call me "mother" and they know what it means. The first children, Aljoscha, Fedja and Anja, all say that I gave birth to them. The older children can remember their parents, of course, but they love me and to them I'm their mother. If you ask Anuschka what she wants to be she says, "I want to be a mother." Then she says, "I'm going to live with mother for ever and ever and help her." The others all chime in, "We will all live with mother! We'll build a big house and our grandparents will be able to live with us too."
What do you know about the children's backgrounds?
My children are all orphans. As far as I'm concerned, the important thing is to create a good and loving family. The children's backgrounds are not important. I have to love the children the way they are, with all their histories and all their experiences. The children arrive with problems that are not of their own making and I have to help them to forget this unhappiness otherwise they will spend the rest of their lives suffering. Sometimes the only way I can help the children is by studying their histories and documents so that I can see where their roots lie. Therefore, I know some of the children's histories but their backgrounds are not important for me. I just have to remove the black shadows of their pasts so that they can forget. Some of the children have relations whom we are in touch with.
Elena's Story:
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All these mother's stories come from SOS Children's Village Hermann Gmeiner Academy. Copyright is reserved and no unauthorized use permitted. Use for non-commercial purposes may be requested. The interviews telling about the lives of some SOS Mothers form part of an interesting study on being a replacement Mother to children in need in SOS Children's communities worldwide.