Nina and Arina met only once per week at the activities organized for the care home where Nina used to live.
Today, Arina is applying to become Nina’s guardian and give her 27-year-old friend a hope to finally be able to live out of an institution where she spent most of her adult life.
Nina Torgashova has been enjoying independence for the past few months, something that had been out of reach for her, including cooking, washing her clothes, and shopping.
Nina Has Been in and out of Institutions most of Her Adult Life
Nina has always been in and out of institutions during her adult life. At the age of 18, she moved to a psycho-neurological care home in Russia.
When the pandemic hit last year, she could experience life outside this home together with a volunteer, Arina Muratova.
In April 2020, Moscow went into a lockdown. Visits to the institution where Nina was stopped and charities lobbied for the volunteers to be able to care for some of the residents until they could go there again.
Arina who works as a market research expert loves nail art and embroidery offered to care for Nina.
Arina has been doing volunteering for more than ten years. She started by helping kids with learning challenges and their families.
The Story of Nina and Arina
Afterwards, she also started volunteering in adult care and she met Nina through the Life Route charity. They organize trips and classes for the residents of the home where Nina lived.
Four years ago, Arina began her volunteering in this care home where hundreds of residents lives. They looked after adults with different disorders, including cognitive disabilities and mental diseases.
Despite struggling with literacy and maths, Nina is very capable, explains Arina. She’s a fast learner and adapts well to daily life.
Nina was admitted to a home when she was very young. It’s unclear whether her parents brought her there or she was taken from their care.
Her parents visited her once, she claimed, but she was scared and hid under the bed because she they were drunks and she was afraid.
Prior to the pandemic, Nina participated in different workshops, sports, and loved football. Although they tried Zoom calls with the residents during the lockdowns, this wasn’t very successful.
So, the authorities were pressured to allow some residents to be released. Arina recalls that she was nervous when she decided to care for Nina.
She was counting on her relative independence since she was going to work from home.
The first day, Nina looked lost, remembers Arina and she was wondering if she made a good decision.
Nina Adapted to Independent Life very well
However, this lasted only shortly-Nina soon started shopping groceries and cooking on her own. Arina arranged her a math’s tutor and also helped her read and write.
However, with the lockdowns easing in June, the Life Route charity was going though challenges, according to the director Ivan Rozhansky.
The people who were transferred to assisted-living homes didn’t want to go back to the care home. The quality of life there isn’t the best there is. People are living in close quarters, yet have different needs and abilities.
Although looked after by professionals who know how to care for them and treat them, the conditions aren’t ideal. This is when the charity started looking into making the assisted living permanent for 9 people, including Nina.
They rented four apartments and planned Nina to share it with two other fellow residents.
However, There Was Another Issue
But, Nina doesn’t have legal capacity because the decisions about her life are made by the director of the care home. However, this was necessary to be able to release them from the home.
This is when Arina decided to apply and become her guardian.
She will be responsible for all of Nina’s life. The process will be extensive, says Arina, but when she took her out of the home, Nina became her responsibility.
If she’s given the custody, she says she won’t be her mom, but more of a friend, explains Arina.
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