I felt shock and sadness as Natasha -- a single mother living in Gomel, Belarus -- showed me the effort she must make to feed her son, Sasha.

Sasha was born healthy, but suffered irreversible brain damage during a tonsillectomy performed without anesthesia. He cannot walk or even sit up on his own.  Natasha has a tumor on her spine, is wheelchair bound herself, and lives in a tiny, one room flat that can barely fit the two wheelchairs and their single bed. She has refused all attempts by authorities to put Sasha in an orphanage.

Natasha insisted on showing me the painstaking process of feeding her son.  "You need to see it -- then you will understand why he needs ME and not some kind of orphanage."  The process takes more than 3 hours, and she repeats it 3 times a day.  First, she needs to soothe Sasha by singing to him and holding a musical toy to his ear.  Then, she uses rubber tubing attached to a suction machine to clear his nasal passages and throat of mucus that he is unable to clear himself. He becomes agitated, and she must stop frequently to sing and soothe. Finally she uses a spoon to very slowly dribble soup into his mouth, massaging his throat to get the food down.  "I have to look after my child myself, while he still lives.  So that his life won't be hard, so that he won't feel pain."

This is hard to watch, but I realize she is right -- Sasha would never get this kind of attention in an institution.  He needs his mother, and Chernobyl Children International's community care is their lifeline. 

Natasha gave birth to a healthy baby boy, but their lives changed dramatically.  She could have easily placed him in an orphanage. With your support, we are keeping them together, and helping him keep him as comfortable as he can, as long as we can.  

As overwhelming as this story is, Sasha is simply one of many many children I have met in a similar situation.  Our Community Care and Hospice programs are helping dozens of families care for their seriously ill and dying children at home, rather than place them in dismal orphanages.

See Natasha care for her son in the video clip below, starting at 1:58.