Martina's Story

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.