Palisades Couple Host Two Orphans from Kazakhstan

By MARIE-CLAUDE HAMEL Palisadian-Post Contributor When Palisadians Shirene Miller and Mike Robinson got married in 2003, adopting a child was a desire they both naturally shared. Although the simple dream of having a family may seem like an easy goal to achieve, Robinson and Miller knew that for many children, this hope remains beyond reach. Now turning their dream into reality, 10-year-old Nikolay is joining the Miller-Robinson family, finally completing the circle they say they all so wanted in their lives. Miller and Robinson, longtime Palisades residents who met two years ago and were married 11 months later, viewed adoption as a wonderful way to have a family. For them, looking to another country for adoption was a logical choice. ‘If you think about how fortunate we are here and that we had the opportunity to give a child a family’it seemed like such a wonderful way to get to have a family,’ Miller says. Considering that there are millions of children around the world who live in orphanages or are shuffled through the foster care system, Nikolay from Kazakhstan was one of the lucky ones. Nicknamed Kolya, he’s ‘sensitive, analytical and enjoys taking things apart and putting them back together,’ Robinson says. Sponsored by Kidsave International’s Summer Miracles program, this little boy was one of about 180 children who were selected to come to the United States this summer in the hope of getting adopted by a loving family. Kidsave, a Washington, D.C.-based organization that reaches out to older orphans between the ages of 5 and 15 from Russia, Kazakhstan and Colombia, provides a chance for these children to experience family life and hopefully find the right match. Miller and Robinson are hosting both Nikolay and another boy from Kazakhstan, 7-year-old Marat, at their Via Bluffs home. The two boys, who arrived July 6, have enjoyed Movies in the Park on Saturday nights, the Sunday farmers market, hiking in Temescal Canyon and outings to the beach. Although the couple would love to also adopt Marat, Miller says that she was afraid that two children would be too great a responsibility to take all at once. She is hoping that the little boy, whom she describes as very intelligent, engaging and active, will be able to find a loving family to adopt him. Robinson, an executive for an aerospace firm, describes Marat as ‘energetic, musical and a very happy boy.’ For many of these Kidsave youngsters, the feeling of a real family is something they have never previously experienced. ‘Although some of these children are true orphans, most of them are social orphans, which means that their parents could not take care of them,’ says Liz Zeigler, program assistant for Summer Miracles. She adds that in certain countries, when children are abused or neglected by their parents they are often placed by the state in an orphanage after the parental rights have been removed. Since 1999, more than 1,000 of those children have been sponsored by Kidsave and brought to the United States for its Summer Miracles’ six-week program, which gives the child the experience of a family life but also has the ultimate goal of adoption. Zeigler, however emphasizes that Kidsave is careful about not giving the children an expectation to be adopted, therefore minimizing the risk of psychological stress if no match is found for a particular child. After placing the children with various host families in the U. S., Kidsave then actively tries to make a match between children and families, understanding the fact that every child will have different needs and may not be adequately matched with a host family to begin with. Although this sometimes occur, according to Zeigler, more than 90 percent of the children in the summer program find permanent families in the U. S. Miller explains that the children who are sent back to their country without having found an adoptive family receive the help of psychologists and therapists when they return home and participate in programs that allow them to perform better in society than most children who are brought up in an institution. ‘They are learning skills that they may not be able to learn in an orphanage, allowing them a chance at a better future,’ Miller says. But the parting is not an easy one, especially for the adults. ‘It’s often harder on the host families. [The children] miss their caretakers back home and are often looking forward to seeing their friends again. But the real young ones and the older ones are sadder.’ Miller adds that even if they find an adoptive family, each child must go back to their country of origin until the adoption has officially been approved, and cannot stay in the United States past the six-week program period. In order to enhance the chances of adoption, Miller, who with her husband hosted a little girl named Tanya last summer, stresses that the process of being a host family is crucial to finding out more about the child and the dynamic needed for a good match. ‘On weekends we have events where [the children] can get to meet other families. The kids get to also see each other and interact.’ Although the match was not ideal for the Miller-Robinson family and little Tanya, she was eventually adopted by a family in Moscow, Idaho, who already had a daughter. Miller says that Tanya had always wanted a sister and found herself right at home with her adoptive family. Little Marat and 28 other children between the ages of 5 and 14 hosted in Southern California have not yet found a home. With the August 16 deadline approaching, Miller, who is now a full-time employee at Kidsave’s West L.A. office, says she hopes that families interested in adopting a child will step forward and take action. ‘There is still time for people to get involved.’ Kidsave has also established a Summer and Winter Miracles programs in Russia to help children find families and long-term mentor relationships in their own countries. The organization is in the process of establishing similar programs in Kazakhstan and Colombia. Kidsave has also launched a Weekend Miracles program in the U.S. for children in the foster care system in Fairfax County, Virginia. ‘We are developing Weekend Miracles programs in three other U.S. cities, including Los Angeles,’ Miller says. If you are interested in adopting a child or if you wish to donate time or money to Kidsave, you may call 479-5437 or visit their Web site at www.kidsave.org