Martina's Story
0 (0 Likes / 0 Dislikes)
My name is Martina Kubátová,
I am 19.
I have been living in a foster family
for more than 16 years.
There are 12 of us in the family.
I come from the Roma ghetto.
I know how a family works,
because I am lucky
to live in a loving foster family.
Who stood behind me
in my current situation?
It was an active social worker
and specifically, my foster parents
with their persistence and will to have
me in their care – they wanted to
get me out of the institution.
The important aspect I have to
mention is what helped me become
a part of the community,
to be socially adaptable,
it was the fact that I had new siblings
and I had learned
how to live with them in a family.
Then the kindergarten and school,
where I was a pupil from a family,
that I attended with my brother.
In case somebody
doubted my family,
there came my brother,
who was white
(my foster family was his birth family)
and he protected me
and stood up for me.
Thanks to my brother, I never needed
to use physical strength to “punch“
the kids with prejudice against me.
I had my bodyguard.
And the people in the community
accepted me because I was part
of the family.
But I have to say, I was very
fortunate on people around me.
Classmates, friends,
everybody took me the way that I am.
Our neighbours were other people
who I could meet and socialize with.
For me, this was a wider family
and I was lucky to have neighbours
without any prejudice against me.
I have no clue how this
would be possible behind the walls
of an institution.
I could attend the after-school
classes which were offered
by the community
and I made friends
who had similar interests.
What I find very important was
the chance to see other
foster families on weekends.
These meetings were organized
by the NGO, Amalthea.
I could share my problems
with the people
who understood my situation
even though they were not my family.
What message should
be spread to the public?
People should not get angry
with children
with behavioural challenges
in foster care and don’t tell
the children they are trouble
and difficult to bring up.
This misconception makes
it harder to assimilate
into the community.