My name is Vanya. I'm 16 years old. I used to hang out at the market and sniff glue, because there were very big problems in my family.

I don't have a Mother, because when I was just two years old, my father beat her until she was black & blue. Because of that my Mom killed herself. My two brothers and I lived with just our father, and we really wished we had a good Mother, to raise us well.

When I turned 8 I was sent to school, but I didn't make it to school, instead I ran away from home. Because my Father drunk vodka and cursed us and we had nowhere else to go, I ran away from home and started hanging out at the market. I found friends there that where nice to me and gladly took me into their company. They taught me to sniff glue and drink vodka.

I was living at the market for 4 years. But after that I got lucky, when I started to go to the center "Children Without a Home", that my friends told me about. I was fed, clothed, I read material discouraging me from sniffing glue, and after some time I stopped. Then they offered to help me start studying again and I agreed. This is my first year of studies. I'm studying to be a plasterer and painter. Thank you.

--translation of the Russian original, written March 2000 by Ivan K, "Vanya"