Artur
Artur is a friendly, laid-back kid who has a strong desire to connect with a family, particularly a mom. He is great with younger children and good with children of a similar age/older children, though he can take on a bit of a pestering younger brother role when playing. He enjoys riding bikes, playing outdoors, swimming, legos, crafts, and drawing. He is kind of an “old soul”, and enjoys spending time by himself as well as others. He can be a bit reluctant to join in certain activities (like board games) but he has fun if you can convince him to participate. Towards the end of summer hosting he started to pick up a bit of English, though his speech impediment makes him self-conscious about speaking in English or Ukrainian, as he can be harder to understand at times. Other than his difficulty with speech, you would hardly notice his cleft palate. He eats with no problem, and seemed to enjoy most foods he tried in America. Cereal, yogurt, and fresh fruits were some of his favorite snacks. He got very excited when we had spaghetti for dinner, and also came to like tacos as well (though he is not a fan of very spicy food). He was evaluated by a team of cleft palate specialists during summer hosting. They recommend that he should have a special surgery to fix his soft palate cleft as soon as possible (before he gets any bigger), but the recovery time is to long for it to be done during a typical hosting visit. Artur also has an older brother. Our family did not meet him in person, but he spoke to Artur often on the phone this summer. You can tell that they are closely bonded and his brother really cares about his well-being. Overall, Artur is just a wonderful kid who would bring a lot of joy to a family!
Artem
Artem enjoys playing video games on a telephone. When we asked him if he prefers to play with younger or older children, he said age didn’t matter but he prefers for them to be taller than him. He enjoys going to school because his friends are there and his favorite subjects are art and physical education. He enjoys playing volleyball and soccer. If Artem was given $1 million, he would buy a big house, a car, and would pay for surgery for his brother so he could speak better. This kid has a big heart for his little brother. If he gets to visit America he couldn’t decide what he would like to do most. He would love to go to a beach, amusement parks, and the zoo. He dreams of riding a roller coaster. His favorite foods are pizza, hotdogs, and french fries. His favorite color is red and his favorite animal is a dog.
From last years interview: Artem enjoys playing with Legos but likes to play outside better. He has a lot of friends and enjoys playing with kids of all ages. His favorite foods are bananas, dumplings, and soda. When asked if he had money what would he buy, he said a car, food, and a house. His favorite color is black and he likes dogs. When he grows up he would like to be a pilot. In school his favorite subjects are drawing and PE. He likes to play soccer. When asked what type family he’d like to be and he said a family with a lot of kids. Older kids are good too he says.