Orphaned boy looks for hope, new family

“Fifteen-year-old Patryk Budzinski is looking for a foster family who will love him, provide him with care and maybe help him out with his math homework. The boy turned to Gazeta Wyborcza asking for help in finding a new family.

Patryk told Gazeta Wyborcza he has had seven or eight operations and that he is a “”bit disabled.”” He added “”I have trouble with math, one of my legs is shorter and one of my arms is disabled. But I am helpful, funny, and pretty good at chemistry. I’ll be on my best behavior and won’t be loud around the house.””
Patryk wrote a letter to the Gazeta Wyborcza asking for help in finding a new foster family. Patryk confirmed he had been thinking about it for a while now.

He’s heard of a boy who established communication with a couple over the Internet and now has a foster home to live in. Patryk tried doing the same.

“”I went on the Internet and immediately found the “”Children for Homes”” web site. I started reading it and turned out to be about kids like me. I wrote an email to Dorota Frontczak. I was a bit embarrassed but I wrote the email anyway,”” he told Gazeta Wyborcza.
According to Patryk, the email was honest. “”I wrote that I am fifteen, that I live in an institution for schooling and development run by nuns in Jaszkot and that I would really like to meet a nice family,”” Patryk assures. He added in his email that he “”dreams of a family in which there is love and respect.””

Patryk feared nobody would respond, but Ms. Frontczak “”replied almost immediately,”” he told Gazeta Wyborcza.
When asked about his childhood, Patryk reveals a somewhat turbulent history. From an infant, he was placed in the care of the nuns at the Immaculate Mary order at a health care institution.
Then he found his way to Jaszkot. “”This is my home, I have no other. The nuns told me that I have a mum and a dad as well as siblings. My parents gave me away because I had an illness of the bones, but I can walk now. I use a prosthesis. My mum gave me up because she was scared she would be unable to look after me. I once wrote to them asking if they would visit me. I assured them that I am fine now, that I go to school. I’m not sick like I was when I was little. I got a reply from my sister Urszula who was studying at the time.

She told me I had ten sisters and nine brothers and that they’re sending me their love. But nobody came. After three years, I invited them to my First Holy Communion. I prayed they would come and hug me, giving me their warmest wishes just like parents of other kids did. But nobody replied to my invitation,”” Patryk told Gazeta Wyborcza.

“”I thought they didn’t want to see me sick. But my health has been good. The nuns tried making me feel better, but I was upset anyway,”” Patryk continued.

When asked about his parents, he is unsure about what his dad does. His mother is a stay-at-home mum. They live in a village by the Mazurian lakes. One year ago, Patryk turned to the television program “”Kochaj mnie!”” (Love Me!) for help. He appeared in it just so that he could meet his family. “”The television program found them and took me there. My family cried when they saw me, I did too. We talked for the very first time in our lives. They have a small kitchen, a simple room. I didn’t see the rest of the house. My mum said that she loved me. Everyone told me the same thing. They thanked the television crew for bringing me to them. They invited me for Christmas and for the holidays,”” Patryk remembers.

But so far nothing has come of it. Patryk has been writing and telephoning them to no avail. Sister Estera (Patryk’s legal guardian and a nun in Jaszkot) has also tried. “”They promised they would hire a mini-bus to come to see me. It hasn’t happened. One of my sisters invited me over and I was nearly on my way, but somehow it didn’t suit her in the end. After that she just stopped picking up the phone,”” Patryk recounted to Gazeta Wyborcza.

Upon being asked about the children’s home he is living in by Gazeta Wyborcza, Patryk displays a brave face, “”my guardians are nice, the nuns are good. Together with the rest of the kids, we’re one big family. The only thing missing is real parents, just to keep for yourself. I keep thinking about it. I would like to feel love that is just for me, like a normal kid. Some are lucky and they have found homes with foster families. Even at my age, you still wish for a family. The nuns also want me to find someone. I always go to Sister Estera’s home for Christmas and for school holidays. I keep pestering her and asking her how I could find some parents for me.””

When imagining a future family, Patryk sees them as good and caring, “”someone who would talk to me when I have a fight with my mate and someone who would help me with my math homework, because sometimes I have trouble with it. That’s it. I just want them to be nice.””

And asked how he would introduce himself:
“”My name is Patryk. I have had seven or eight operations and am a bit disabled. I have trouble with math, one of my legs is shorter and one of my arms is disabled? But I am helpful, funny, and pretty good at chemistry, biology and art.””
Patryk can only stay at the children’s home until he finishes junior school.

After that he would be placed in the care of a Caritas home for teenagers or a social care institution.
“”But I don’t want to keep roaming about. If someone would support me, direct me, then maybe I would have a chance to study at university. I dream of computer studies,”” Patryk concludes.

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