Ruslana and Alla — two withering lives

Alexander Osipov, April 2002

Ruslana (on the picture) and Alla (on page 1) are 16- and 17 years old — though it is hard to believe it. These skinny girls look much younger. It makes you shudder just to think of their life and to monitor it from aside.
Sympathetic Ruslana told me her gruesome story: When she was 6 years old, her father raped her and then left the family. The mother began to prostitute herself and invited Ruslana to do the same when she grew older. When the daughter refused, the mother threatened her.
Ruslana ended up in a drug gang and left the home for good. She told me she had now been without drugs for two months, but her dilated pupils testified to the contrary.

Between life and death.

Alla came to Odessa from Moldova when her mother remarried and began to drink heavily. Alla’s life didn’t become any better in the new environment. She and two other girls had to turn to “Uncle Vla-midir”, who gave them food, clothes and money for make-up — for them working for him as prostitutes.
During her stay on the streets, Alla has been continuously hanging in between life and death. Once I found her lying in the heating pipe chamber with bad slashes on her arm. Two drunk men had stabbed Alla when she had tried to help her friend whom these men were attacking. She didn’t know where to find medical help and as she was not able to treat the wounds herself in the filthy environment, the arm began to swell and fester. We came on time to have the wounds treated.

Eyes that express nothing

Some weeks later we again met Alla. Her arms were again full of wounds. This time she herself had gashed herself, intoxicated by drugs. The help of our nurse was again needed.

When you look into the pining eyes of these girls, you face a look that has something abnormal in it — because it doesn’t express anything. These girls need more than just human help.

Mission Possible’s task is to find and save these kids.
We don’t believe in impossible cases,
because we have seen so many people’s life restored
— and some people, regarded as “impossible cases”, have become our own workers.