Former orphans use experience to help others

UKRAINE - At seven years old Lyuba faced abandonment by her parents and a potential life filled with crime, drug addiction and prostitution. That was until she was taken in at an orphanage where she met the people who would change her life.

"For the first time I was loved as I was," said Lyuba, who would spend the next nine years of her life living in an orphanage in the Ukraine.

It was when she attended a Life Skills Summer Camp at 13 she found direction and purpose. She was befriended by a missionary couple who encouraged her to find more independent living arrangements and to attend a University. Lyuba went on to work abroad and then, eventually moved back to the Ukraine.

Now eight years later, Lyuba, 25, is giving back to other orphaned teenage girls facing life alone, just as she had. She, along with other young adults from across the globe, spent 12 days working as camp counselors at a Life Skills Camp for children from five orphanages across Ukraine. The camp was sponsored by Operation Blessing International and Ukraine Ministries of Oklahoma.

"I hope my testimony will encourage these kids as they see a difference in my life," she said. "I wish I could protect the older girls from harmful relationships. I don't want them to be used."

Among the 24 volunteers sent to the two-week camp, three were former Ukrainian orphans. Victor, now 28, was sent to an orphanage at age four after his grandmother could no longer care for him. His father was sent to prison and his mother abandoned him. Alex, now 20, was also orphaned at age four from similar family struggles.

"My desire is for this new generation to be a good generation," Victor said. "And they can be, with help."

In Ukraine alone, there are more than 100,000 orphans. An estimated 10 percent are orphaned due to the death of a parent and the other 90 percent are because of socio-economic problems such as alcoholism, abandonment, or imprisonment of parents or guardians.

Each year, orphans between 15 and 18 years old age-out with little to no job skills and as a result, often turn to violence, crime, drugs and prostitution to survive. However, programs such as Life Skills Camp are working to change that.

"I have seen children's views on life change as they develop a relationship with us," said camp counselor Yuri. "We are helping these kids have a (good) childhood."

Thanks to Operation Blessing more than 2,000 children have attended summer camps since the program's inception in 2000.