Bermet Has Been Forced to Wait

Forced to Wait....  what a poignant title for the story that you are about to read.  Bermet has been waiting over 3 1/2 years to be reunited with her mother, Pamela Allen.   Hopefully, their wait is almost over.  The Kyrgyz government is planning on announcing the agency accreditations at the end of this month and so far, it sounds like everything is going as scheduled.   If so, I am really going to have to get busy with some major fundraising!

Forced to Wait

Why are some children born into this world without a family to call their own?  Why is the child that I have committed to love and nurture not in my arms?  Why must she endure orphanage life when, for 3 ½ years, my family has been waiting to provide a permanent, loving family for her?  Why?

I find myself asking these questions on a daily basis.  My sweet little Bermet is the reason why.  Bermet was born in June 2008 and abandoned at birth.  She has no known family.  I first learned about her when she was 3 months old.  She’s now 3 ½.  She still lives in an orphanage in Kyrgyzstan.  She’s been forced to wait.

Bermet was born prematurely, a pale, skeleton of a child weighing barely four pounds with medical issues that could have addressed early on in her life had she been allowed to become my daughter.  She could have received medical treatment for the neurological, muscular-skeletal, gastrointestinal, and other physiological issues that plagued her.  She could have received early intervention from occupational and physical therapists who could have helped her overcome the fine and gross motor delays she continues to experience (she didn’t walk independently until about a year ago).  But, she didn’t get that support because she’s been forced to wait.

More importantly, Bermet has missed out on the love and nurturing that only a family can provide.  She doesn’t get to cuddle with her mommy or play with her little sister.  She doesn’t get to visit her grandparents and listen to them read stories to her.  She doesn’t get to play in the backyard or go for hikes in the woods with her cousins.  She doesn’t have the opportunity to learn about the beauty of her Kyrgyz culture or the amazing wonders this world has to offer.  She has only gets to learn about orphanage life and orphanage culture.  She has learned how to survive in an institution because she’s been forced to wait.

This injustice is what drives the advocacy efforts of me and many of the other families whose children have also been forced to wait.  My child and other orphans have been served a great injustice as they wait for the political climate to calm and bureaucratic obstacles to be removed.  Political will.  Bureaucratic road blocks.  That’s what keeps Bermet and the other children from joining the families who wait for them.  That’s why they’ve been forced to wait.

Please pray for Bermet.  Pray for all the orphans in Kyrgyzstan.  Pray for all children who don’t yet have families to call their own.  Along with your prayers, please consider supporting the efforts of my family and the other waiting families by contributing to Altinay’s Fund.  Your prayers and support will help us remove the financial roadblocks that have now surfaced as we continue to work to bring Bermet and the other orphans home.

May God bless you as you discern your roll in the future of Bermet and other children who have been left in this world without parental care.

~Pamela Allen