Our partner from Love Without Borders ,Ukraine has seen many cases of neglect and abandonment during their work. However, nothing prepared them for the case of Igor, a boy that reminded them of Mowgli.
No, he wasn’t raised by wild animals in the jungle, he is not an orphan.
He has 4 siblings, born from different fathers. His father is his mother’s stepfather. His mother was a heavy drinker. They lived in the region seriously affected by the war in eastern Ukraine and in 2014 their house was hit by a bomb. Igor’s mother then started drinking even more. They all moved to his mother’ friend who doesn’t like children and also drinks. The house is messy, constant fighting and aggression by the drinking adults, with little or no care for the children.
Igor is full of aggression and uses bad language as this he knew little else. He cannot read or write, doesn’t know the months or days of the week. He doesn’t have basic life skills, like caring for himself. He stopped attending school at the age of 7, although official papers state he was in school. With no interest from the parents his “education” was on paper only – thus allowing teachers to receive a salary!
Finding Igor, our partners first job was to remove lice from his head, several times. They often give him a bath and put him in clean clothes.
One day he was walking around the village screaming in pain. Love Without Borders took him to the dentist, and paid for initial critical treatment on 3 teeth, there is still more work to be done.
He has never brushed his teeth before and was never taught how to do it. Furthermore, he has neglected fungus on his feet and nails.
We cannot leave Igor on this own, our partner is there to support him. He goes to church and enjoys hearing the Bible (he cannot read), he likes to be around our partner and the people who help him. We want to organize a diagnosis with a psychologist and start psychological work and recovery as well as conduct a full medical examination. But most importantly, not to leave him alone in his situation! There is much to be done and thanks to Love Without Borders there is hope for Igor for a better now and a better future.
As Igor is not the only child living under similar conditions our partner is working hard to support as many children as possible.
Thanks to your kind support we are able to help children like Igor. To support this project please visit our general appeal Where Most Needed .
