Many children who grow up in Turkmenistan’s state-run orphanages end up living in retirement homes when they turn 18, says a woman who was raised in a Turkmen orphanage.
By law, the Turkmen government must provide social housing once orphans become adults and leave the state institutions.
“But in reality, that promise does not materialize,” the woman told RFE/RL.
“When the orphans turn 18, authorities often send the boys to the army and place most of the girls in retirement homes in the provinces where they were born,” she claims.
The 26-year-old woman says she was eligible by law to have a one-room apartment to begin her new life after leaving the orphanage. But instead, she got a room at a state institution for seniors in the eastern city of Turkmenabat, the capital of Lebap Province.
The woman spoke on condition of anonymity fearing retribution in authoritarian Turkmenistan, where criticism of government policies is not tolerated.
The woman says she found herself left with no social support, “unwanted and defenseless,” and unprepared for life on her own.
“Watching old people end up in the nursing home, I always thought that their fate was no different from that of orphans. To be unwanted is a very painful thing,” she said, describing how she felt when put in the retirement home.
The home provided her with a roof over her head, but she did not have access to the food that other residents at the facility received.
“I had to find a job at a local bazaar as I did not have any money for food and other basic necessities,” she told RFE/RL.
A bazaar in Lebap (file photo)
“A nurse and administration officials at the retirement home threatened me, saying: ‘If you make us angry, we’ll hand you over to police and accuse you of prostitution.’”
RFE/RL cannot independently verify the woman’s claims. Authorities in Lebap did not respond to our requests for comment.
Unprepared For Life
The secretive government in Turkmenistan doesn’t provide information about the challenges children face at orphanages or in life after leaving state institutions.
State media often publishes glossy photos of what it describes as a happy childhood in government-run orphanages that depict children taking part in school trips and concerts, or receiving gifts -- from sweets to bicycles -- sent by the country’s president.
In May, state media reported that 32 high school kids from Ashgabat and Balkanabat orphanages completed a special three-week training course on information and communication technologies.
The courses -- organized by the the UN’s children fund, UNICEF, and the Turkmen Education Ministry -- were aimed at “equipping the children with essential skills…useful for any future profession,” state media reported.
An official photograph showing some children from Turkmen orphanages graduating from training courses on information and communication technologies in May.
But the woman in Lebap says that most orphans don’t receive any help in preparation for their life after the orphanage.
“There are so many people who turn to crime or try to kill themselves [as they’re unable to cope with life] after leaving the orphanages,” she said.
The woman lived at the retirement for more than five years as she waited for social housing to no avail. The much-awaited apartment finally became available for her after she started dating a married official of the National Security Ministry, she said.
“I had to become his second wife. After that, he helped me get the one-room apartment I was eligible for,” she said without providing further details.
The woman said she decided to speak out about her experiences to draw the Turkmen government’s attention to the plight of orphanage children and the hardships they face as they begin living on their own.