0:00:00 > 0:00:00yet they spend much of their lives in children's homes,
0:00:00 > 0:00:07some in shockingly bad conditions.
0:00:07 > 0:00:12Nikki Fox reports for Our World.
0:00:12 > 0:00:16Ukraine, independent from the Soviet Union since 1991. In communist times
0:00:16 > 0:00:21having a disability would more than likely mean you would spend your
0:00:21 > 0:00:25entire life in an institution. That still happens today. More children
0:00:25 > 0:00:29live in state care in Ukraine than anywhere else in Europe.A third
0:00:29 > 0:00:34have a disability. You can't really say how bad they are until you see
0:00:34 > 0:00:40them, until you are there, because these are dark places.I Nikki Fox
0:00:40 > 0:00:44and I'm here to find out what life is like for the thousands of
0:00:44 > 0:00:47disabled people who live in institutions just like this one.I'm
0:00:47 > 0:00:55very embarrassed. 750 institutions. It is a huge number.Legally parents
0:00:55 > 0:01:00can leave their child in a state-run institution and it encouraged. But
0:01:00 > 0:01:04some families choose instead to fight to keep their children.
0:01:09 > 0:01:13Now the government wants all institutions closed, at what will
0:01:13 > 0:01:31happen to those whose only know this kind of life? Hidden away in the
0:01:31 > 0:01:43Ukrainian countryside, where the nearest town is 60 kilometres away.
0:01:43 > 0:01:50This is where 86 disabled men and boys live. I've been given access to
0:01:50 > 0:01:56this government run institutions, are placed so many don't see.
0:01:56 > 0:02:01There's little routine and many of those living here aren't clean.
0:02:01 > 0:02:07There's just not enough staff here to look after everyone. Abuse and
0:02:07 > 0:02:12self harm happens in places like these. So green paint is used to
0:02:12 > 0:02:20help staff keep track of injuries. For most of this is all they've ever
0:02:20 > 0:02:27known. In this tiny room I meet Yuri. He's 15 years old. Even though
0:02:27 > 0:02:32he's had a family, he has lived in this orphanage since he was four.
0:02:32 > 0:02:37There are just 12 orphans here. The rest have families. Loved ones they
0:02:37 > 0:02:45rarely see. How long have the kids or adults being here? The nurse
0:02:45 > 0:02:51tells me that this man has been here for 20 years. She says he is 32.
0:02:51 > 0:03:00Even at this age they are still seen as children. The man who runs this
0:03:00 > 0:03:06place was keen for me to see how they work with the boys. These are
0:03:06 > 0:03:09really lovely. Thank you.
0:03:18 > 0:03:23I was also shown as singing lesson with volunteers. I'm told it's a way
0:03:23 > 0:03:30of improving communication, but activities are sporadic. Another
0:03:30 > 0:03:37room paints a very different picture. This is the reality for so
0:03:37 > 0:03:43many disabled people who live in institutions. There are some people
0:03:43 > 0:03:48who will see the film and think this is not the right situation for
0:03:48 > 0:03:50anyone to live in.
0:04:30 > 0:04:36Emotions are everywhere when you are inside. It really hits you. It
0:04:36 > 0:04:40really hits you. One minute I was incredibly sad, the next minute I
0:04:40 > 0:04:46was being halved by someone and I was smiling and so it's nothing like
0:04:46 > 0:04:52I'd ever experienced before -- being hugged. Across Ukraine there are
0:04:52 > 0:04:56more than 100,000 children in institutions. It estimated around
0:04:56 > 0:05:0590% have families like Andre. His mother Tatiana was told an orphanage
0:05:05 > 0:05:08was the best place for him because he has cerebral palsy. Did you feel
0:05:08 > 0:05:12like you were forced to make that decision, to have to give Andre a
0:05:12 > 0:05:14way?
0:05:29 > 0:05:35But the reality was very different. Pining for his mother, Andre became
0:05:35 > 0:05:40seriously ill. Instead of taking him to hospital, staff at the
0:05:40 > 0:05:46institution just left him in a broom to die. -- room.
0:05:51 > 0:05:53How does that make you feel?
0:06:20 > 0:06:27Tatiana lives in a remote village with no support or services her son
0:06:27 > 0:06:32needs. Because of this she felt she had no choice but to give him up.
0:06:32 > 0:06:36Closer to the capital, I meet a group of parents who have built up
0:06:36 > 0:06:44their own services. Larissa? Nikki. A small centre providing essential
0:06:44 > 0:06:49care. Offering families to support they need to keep their children at
0:06:49 > 0:06:54home. As I'm shown around, I meet young people with some of the most
0:06:54 > 0:07:01complex needs. Oh, hello! They learn ways of communicating and there are
0:07:01 > 0:07:05plenty of full list -- fully trained staff on hand to look after each
0:07:05 > 0:07:06child.
0:07:20 > 0:07:24Not only does Sasha come to this centre to help her son developed, it
0:07:24 > 0:07:28also gives her a break. Can you imagine what your life would be like
0:07:28 > 0:07:30if he wasn't able to come here?
0:07:58 > 0:08:03When Sasha gave birth to her son, she was told to leave him in an
0:08:03 > 0:08:07orphanage and have a healthy child. Despite such pressure, she refused
0:08:07 > 0:08:10to give him up, but it's taken its toll.
0:08:15 > 0:08:18It gets tiring, doesn't it?
0:08:25 > 0:08:31This place can only do so much. Sasha is still battling against the
0:08:31 > 0:08:36widely held belief that here disabled children are not able to
0:08:36 > 0:08:41live a normal life. But there is some hope. Ukraine is changing and
0:08:41 > 0:08:47there is now the political will to make sure children are no longer
0:08:47 > 0:08:54spend hidden away from society -- childhood is no longer. This man has
0:08:54 > 0:08:59a difficult task. I want to have this as a national programme... He
0:08:59 > 0:09:03is heading up the government's radical reforms to close all
0:09:03 > 0:09:06institutions, eradicating a system that has been in place for nearly a
0:09:06 > 0:09:13century.I'm very embarrassed because 750 institutions around
0:09:13 > 0:09:19Ukraine and it's a huge number. More than 100,000 children live in
0:09:19 > 0:09:24institutions. More of them have families, but because these families
0:09:24 > 0:09:30can't give enough support, they gave their children to these
0:09:30 > 0:09:36institutions. They've never seen a city, they've never seen a train,
0:09:36 > 0:09:39they've never seen a market. Every day nothing happens. That's why it
0:09:39 > 0:09:47is about hope. It's about hope. They have no hope.The change in the law
0:09:47 > 0:09:53will help give these children and their families more rights.Time for
0:09:53 > 0:09:56reform and reform for children with disabilities means we will support
0:09:56 > 0:10:02the family, we will give an opportunity to stay at home and to
0:10:02 > 0:10:06have enough services to live a normal life.
0:10:10 > 0:10:16One thing that has already changed, a new law that means all schools in
0:10:16 > 0:10:19Ukraine must teach disabled students.
0:10:21 > 0:10:28I am almost Ukrainian! In a secondary school in Kiev, this is
0:10:28 > 0:10:32one of a small number of disabled due to its can now take part in
0:10:32 > 0:10:38lessons with other children and she loves it. -- he loves it.
0:11:24 > 0:11:29The main challenge for him is getting to his classes. The school
0:11:29 > 0:11:33has tried to be more accessible, she has to rely on his dad to get him
0:11:33 > 0:11:39around. How much do you love school? Give me a smile. There it is.
0:11:47 > 0:11:51So many families here don't have that support. They don't have any
0:11:51 > 0:11:55support, so you have a child, your child has a disability, is got to
0:11:55 > 0:11:59get your head around that and venue got to find out, how am I going to
0:11:59 > 0:12:05look after my child? And part of that is education, because with that
0:12:05 > 0:12:08there's social interaction and all those wonderful things that we
0:12:08 > 0:12:13probably all take for granted. So for the families, no one is going to
0:12:13 > 0:12:17want their kids to miss out on that. No one is really going to want their
0:12:17 > 0:12:24kids to go on an institution. While I've been in Ukraine I spent time at
0:12:24 > 0:12:29an orphanage or than three hours' drive from the capital, Kiev. Now
0:12:29 > 0:12:32I've been given access to another state-run institution that is much
0:12:32 > 0:12:42closer. It's a home for girls and women up to the age of 32. And it
0:12:42 > 0:12:49feels very different. In every room there are activities going on, from
0:12:49 > 0:13:03dancing to selling. Everyone here is engaged. -- sewing. These young
0:13:03 > 0:13:06people have a range of different disabilities and even though the
0:13:06 > 0:13:10majority have parents, this is their home. Under the government's new
0:13:10 > 0:13:15reforms, institutions like this one will close. There is strong
0:13:15 > 0:13:18resistance from many who run them.
0:13:48 > 0:13:52Do you accept that there are other institutions, very different from
0:13:52 > 0:13:57your one, and the conditions are, you know, the conditions are a lot
0:13:57 > 0:13:59worse?
0:14:03 > 0:14:08Do you think it is located to child could be in an institution for the
0:14:08 > 0:14:13whole of their life? -- do you think it is a cave
0:14:33 > 0:14:39Not all of the residents agree with her. Bachar is 20 years old, she
0:14:39 > 0:14:50came here when she was 12. She spends her time reforming and
0:14:50 > 0:14:55reciting Pruitti with a four performing and reciting poetry which
0:14:55 > 0:15:01is able to do here, but Dasha the best place to be her life. -- does
0:15:01 > 0:15:06not want this place to be her life. Would you like to live one day if
0:15:06 > 0:15:11you could? The lady who runs the place is pretty adamant that she
0:15:11 > 0:15:15doesn't think institutions should be closed. She said something that
0:15:15 > 0:15:20we've all been thinking, you know, it is going to happen to these kids,
0:15:20 > 0:15:23these kids that have got various disabilities, some very complex.
0:15:23 > 0:15:28It's all well to good to say let's close these places but what is
0:15:28 > 0:15:33there? What will be their life after?Talking about reforming
0:15:33 > 0:15:36institutional care systems, people are asking me what about the
0:15:36 > 0:15:40children with severe disabilities? You will never do something for
0:15:40 > 0:15:43them? People can't imagine that in the other countries, these children
0:15:43 > 0:15:51can be living a normal life. And they will be in small group homes,
0:15:51 > 0:15:55do develop alternative care for these children.There are no easy
0:15:55 > 0:16:01answers. Many disabled children and adults will need some kind of
0:16:01 > 0:16:09residential care. But this will take time and money. I visited to make
0:16:09 > 0:16:14very different orphanages at their hundreds across Ukraine with many
0:16:14 > 0:16:22thousands of disabled children.So there is no rehabilitation?The
0:16:22 > 0:16:26neglect many experiencing care was highlighted in a report by the
0:16:26 > 0:16:30charity Disability Rights International, published in 2015.
0:16:30 > 0:16:34They visited dozens of institutions and documented how bad some of these
0:16:34 > 0:16:40places are.The result of research done that institutions, for the
0:16:40 > 0:16:46disabled child, stunt not only their physical growth but their
0:16:46 > 0:16:50psychological growth and we knew where there you can easily see that.
0:16:50 > 0:16:54You see a baby will not integrate with the world unless the world into
0:16:54 > 0:16:59rucks with the baby. And I think it is bad not only for people who are
0:16:59 > 0:17:03in the orphanages but also for the staff members. They all get tangled
0:17:03 > 0:17:09in the system that strips a lot of human traits from both sides. You
0:17:09 > 0:17:15cannot really say how bad they are until you see them, and surely with
0:17:15 > 0:17:19there, because these are dark places. I think sometimes it is, as
0:17:19 > 0:17:26a person or even before as a prison or even worse than a prison.Andre
0:17:26 > 0:17:33was left in one of those dark places to die. He was lucky he was rescued
0:17:33 > 0:17:39by volunteers who forced their way into his room. Now his story is one
0:17:39 > 0:17:45of hundreds. -- group. Natasha is one of the nurses who helped him
0:17:45 > 0:17:50recover in hospital. She is now his foster mother. You have such a
0:17:50 > 0:17:53lovely relationship with him, it is quite wonderful.
0:18:29 > 0:18:33He seems like a different boy with you now. Are you proud of the
0:18:33 > 0:18:34progress he's made?
0:18:56 > 0:19:03Natasha is desperate to keep Andriy. But his future is still uncertain.
0:19:03 > 0:19:08Take Andriy who we met, he is with a foster family but they are looking
0:19:08 > 0:19:12for international adoption for him. Is that concern you, the fact that
0:19:12 > 0:19:17there are no services, there may not be a solid family for him that he
0:19:17 > 0:19:23will have to be adopted abroad?We want to have Ukrainian family but we
0:19:23 > 0:19:30understand it is very hard to find. Not because we have no, not in
0:19:30 > 0:19:35loving families but we have a lack of services. It's why maybe he would
0:19:35 > 0:19:41be better for him to find an international family. As for me,
0:19:41 > 0:19:47yeah, it's not good feelings. We need support. I'm talking with an
0:19:47 > 0:19:51international agency and its different government, different
0:19:51 > 0:19:58countries, about support for Ukraine. Because no one country,
0:19:58 > 0:20:08Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, they didn't do this themselves.With
0:20:08 > 0:20:11thousands of disabled children and young people in need, finding a
0:20:11 > 0:20:17loving family is not an easy task. It was one of those who dreamt of a
0:20:17 > 0:20:24different life. In desperation and with a bit of government help from
0:20:24 > 0:20:27Nikolai, he used social media to find an adoptive family.
0:20:37 > 0:20:44And the video went viral. Eventually after a life spent hidden away in
0:20:44 > 0:20:47institution, the 23-year-old got what he wanted.
0:21:31 > 0:21:35She in Ukraine, I've met parents who have fought to keep their children
0:21:35 > 0:21:41out of institutions. Alexander and his life have an apartment on the
0:21:41 > 0:21:44third floor with no lift, they have adapted their life in order to raise
0:21:44 > 0:21:49their son. Sasha is now setting up her own centre. She wants to help
0:21:49 > 0:21:54other disabled children. And Andriy is finally getting the love he need.
0:21:54 > 0:21:55For now.
0:22:10 > 0:22:16But I've also met children and adults who have no one. Day is still
0:22:16 > 0:22:20that acceptance that if you have a child that has a disability it is
0:22:20 > 0:22:24fine to go into an institution so while the government will be putting
0:22:24 > 0:22:30forward plans, including education, small residential places for this up
0:22:30 > 0:22:35they've -- disabled people, it will take time but it isn't just that, it
0:22:35 > 0:22:40is also changing attitudes, society has to change. It cannot be just
0:22:40 > 0:22:44bought that this disabled child will go into an institution and that is
0:22:44 > 0:22:48except did. And the people we met stick with me, they stick in my
0:22:48 > 0:22:53head, because no matter how many plans are made, and how much change
0:22:53 > 0:22:58happens, most people are never going to see anything other than those
0:22:58 > 0:23:02four walls or different reactions of those walls, but will be their life.
0:23:02 > 0:23:07Go for different variations. -- that will be their life.