By Nancy Pitt

 

Vova and Zhenya were best friends in their orphanage in Baikolova, Russia. They did everything together. Vova would even skip a meal to help Zhenya catch up on his chores. When Zhenya was adopted by a Virginia family through a summer host program, Vova was left behind, without his best friend. But Zhenya didn’t forget his friend and talked incessantly to his new adoptive parents about Vova, urging them to find a family for him. Zhenya’s adoptive mother decided that she would do her best to find a family for this child who her son talked so much about. She sent an email to a Pennsylvania family who had recently adopted two school age sisters asking if they knew anyone who might be interested in hosting Vova, then age eight. The email eventually made its way to LCFS and we immediately thought of Jack and Diane Althouse. 

 

The Althouses were interested in summer host programs and knew that they wanted to adopt an older child. Ever since they adopted their daughter, Irina (8) from Kalmykia, Russia seven and a half years ago, they knew they would adopt again. The faces of the children in Irina’s orphanage had stuck with them and Jack and Diane wanted to make a difference in the life of a child who truly needed a family. The Althouse’s children, Brad (23), Evan (19) and Hayley (15) and Irina (8) all supported this plan. Diane vividly remembers the day she read the email about Vova and first saw his picture. She was excited but tentative, knowing that this wasn’t a sure thing. The Althouse’s daughter, Hayley, however, thought differently and immediately told her mother that Vova was going to be her little brother.

 

The plan was for Vova to come to the U.S. through Bridge of Hope’s summer host program in 2006 and stay with the Althouses but as it happens so often in international adoption things didn’t work out the way they were supposed to. The summer host program was cancelled. The Althouses were devastated by this news and feared that they may never have the chance to see the child they hoped would become their son. Diane had already purchased clothes for Vova and had even found a bi-lingual Russian-American summer day camp for him and Irina to attend. Feeling that they couldn’t give up on Vova or on their dream of adopting another child, Jack and Diane decided to pursue adopting Vova without hosting him. 

 

That was July of 2006 and now, July of 2007, Vova has been living with his forever family for five months. Jack, Diane and Hayley traveled to Russia twice to complete the adoption process and finally brought Vova home in February of 2007. Diane described the first two months home with Vova as physically and mentally exhausting. He didn’t want to leave the house or his adoptive mother’s side. Vova was stubborn, demanding and seemingly angry, having left everyone and everything that was familiar to him. The family spent a lot of time trying to communicate with Vova, often resorting to a computer program that translates English into Russian. Eventually, Vova became more comfortable with his new family and started to rapidly learn English. He can now speak in full English sentences and is starting to read in English as well. He still reads well in Russian though and teases his mother and Irina that they cannot read Russian. Vova has a great sense of humor and keeps his family laughing. He has formed a close relationship with Jack through their love of drawing. Ironically, Vova is a talented artist and Jack is an architect. Vova has learned to swim and ride a bike. He loves to catch lightning bugs and camp out in the yard. He also loves the family’s animals (dogs, cats, sheep, ducks and chickens) and is helpful in the garden. Vova has talked on the telephone to Zhenya and a summer visit is planned. Both families look forward to reuniting Vova and Zhenya; this time with their adoptive families in tow.