Family of Eight

Here is an example of a family that lives in Belarus:

There are six children, twoboys and four girls, ranging from ages 12 to 20. The father travels over and hour by foot to get to work each morning. The oldest girl, Natalia, was hit by a car while walking across the street, but the man who did it refuses to help pay for her leg surgery and the family has little chance of winning their court case against him, because the unwritten rule about the judiciary system is, "Whoever has the most money, wins." And on top of this, the mother has dreamed for years and years of taking her family to Vilnius, a city in the neighboring country of Lithuania, so that her children might actually meet their grandparents. It is only a two-hour car ride there, but the high price of visas and their lack of a car make it a nearly impossible dream. Yet despite this situation, the 4 kilometer walk to school and the local train station that family members make every day, they are cheerful and giving. When visiting this family with an American couple, the mother immediately brought out her best cookies and preserves and their much-treasured Folgers Instant Coffee, which to them is priceless. They happily work in their garden, and the family obviously is very close. In many ways, they have a love for each other that many American families lack, yet there is not always a guarantee of enough food for the entire family at dinner.