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June 2005
 Hi--- My name is Alin Silcock. I came from
Romania down in Europe. I was a small boy. I was six years old. I lived in
an orphanage my whole life. I didn't like living in the orphanage because
I was scared. I did not like Romania. Why? Because I got hit by sticks,
the staff yelled at me and there were no toys. We had a television but the
staff got to watch what they wanted not what the kids wanted. Sometimes I
got hit with sticks even when I did nothing wrong. I still have scars
today from those beatings. I was very sad in Romania. It was so hard for
me without a mom and dad and without a family. Even though kids should
have a nice life, when I lived in Romania I had a hard life.
In the orphanage there were lots of other kids waiting to get a real mom
and dad. I was waiting too. When I went to sleep at night I was always
very cold and very scared. The window in my room was very high. I could
not see out of it. The only thing I could see from my bed was a picture of
Jesus, but I didn't know who Jesus was then. That picture scared me and
gave me nightmares because I thought the picture was watching me.
In the mornings, I was a little scared. Before we went to eat our
breakfast we had to do chores. Our first chore was to make our bed. If we
didn't make our beds fast enough we got hit and yelled at. That is no way
to teach a kid. After we made our beds we got undressed in our bedroom.
Then we all had to walk downstairs naked and wait for our shower. We had
to wait a long time because there were lots of kids. We were cold because
we had no clothes on and we did not have any heat. It was also
embarrassing because there were boys and girls together, all standing
there naked.
After the cold shower, because we did not have hot water inside, we had to
get dressed. We didn't have our own clothes so we all had to share. The
clothes were very old and didn't keep us very warm.
When it was time for school, in Romania, I had to walk to my school. It
took me 30 minutes to get to my school. I didn't like to walk that far
because it was tiring, but at least no one was yelling at me or hitting me
with sticks. I had to hurry because if I wasn't to school on time I was
hit with sticks again. In school we did math, reading and had some fun.
Most of the time I was bored because we didn't do a lot.
When school was out I got pick-up by a car. I was lucky because I was the
only kid that got picked up by a car and driven back to the orphanage. I
loved it because I didn't get tired and I got to rest. When I got back to
the orphanage I was supposed to take a nap. I did go to my room but I did
not take a nap. I just
stayed awake in my bed. There were ten bunk beds in my room and all of the
kids had to lie there very still. We had to pretend like we were asleep.
If we made any noise or even go to the bathroom we would get in serious
trouble. Now ask yourself, "Would you rather fight back or not?" I decided
to not fight back because I knew I would get in more trouble. I did what I
thought was right, I had to survive.
One morning the staff at the orphanage woke me up
early. I was surprised. They told me to get up because I was leaving. This
was the first time they were nice to me when they woke me up. I was pretty
amazed. I did not even have to take a shower but I did have breakfast. My
last breakfast at the orphanage was eggs, bread and hot tea. I wondered
why I got a nice breakfast on that day. A social worker told me that I was
finally getting my real mom and dad. I told the social worker that I was
ready because I really had been ready for a long time. The social worker
told me that my new family was in the United States. I wondered what an
orphanage was like in the United States. I didn't know what living with a
family was all about. The only moms and dads I knew came to visit their
kids at the orphanage then left their kids there. I thought those kids
were lucky.
Before I left for the United States I stayed with a Romanian foster family
for a week. I was bored there because there were no other kids. I had to
sit there all day and wait for my social worker to come get me. I had to
go to the doctor before I got to go to America.
When I finally got to leave I was very happy. This was my first time on an
airplane. I saw the pilot and met the stewardesses. I was so excited that
I stayed awake for the whole trip. Even my social worker fell asleep but I
didn't. ......
I got off the airplane. My social worker and I had to wait in line to turn
in some papers. When we were waiting in line I was thinking about my real
mom and dad, I wasn't worried about the paperwork. I was just thinking
about meeting my real mom and dad for the first time. We finally go to the
front of the line. I did not understand a word because they were speaking
in English.
When my social worker finished with the paperwork, we headed up stairs to
meet my real parents. I followed my social worker through the airport
until he found my parents. When I saw my parents for the first time my
social worker told me to hold my mom's hand so did.
Then we walked to the car and got in. I thought we were going to my new
house, I was very tired.
To Be Continued…………
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