河本美津子さん（岡山在住）
岡山のぐるーんサポーターの皆様にお目にかかる時、私は乳児院での抱っこの話だけでなく、必ずぐるーんの活動目的である里親制度の話もしています。
私の祖母は５人の子どもを出産しました。やがて、戦争になり、遠縁の子どもが5人家に疎開して来た時、祖母は自分の５人の子どもと5人の遠縁の子どもを分け隔てなくかわいがり、物の不自由な時代にみんなに同じお弁当を作ってくれていたそうです。また、私の母も世話好きというかお人好しというか、親類に体調の悪い人が出ると、すぐに家に引き取って面倒を見ていました。私達夫婦もそんなことが自然体でできたらいいね、と話をしていましたが、３人の子どもが成人して家を出た今、これから新たに１人の子どもの人生を丸々受け入れるのは難しいと諦めていたのです。そんな話を抱っこをしている乳児院の保育課長にしたところ、週末や夏休みだけ里子を預かる里親制度があると教えてくださいました。それは全く知らなかったこと。ですので、ぐるーんの話を人にする時には必ず話すようにしています。｢それくらいならできる!｣と思ってくれる人が現れることを期待して…。
だからでしょうか、私の元には乳児院で抱っこをしたい人だけでなく、里親に関心があるという方も話をしにきてくださいます。
これからも、微力ながら、乳児院とそうした方々の架け橋になれればうれしく思います。
Message from Mother in Okayama, Ms. Komoto, Gruun sponser and supporter
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When I meet the Grune supporters in Okayama, I always talk about the adoption system which is also one of Grune’s activities- not only keeping babies in the foster
home.
My grandmother gave birth five times. Yet, the war started and the distant relative's five children evacuated to our house. My grandma took care of her five children
and the five relative"s children equally. Although in that age goods were in short supply, she was making the same lunch box for all. Also, my mother is kind of hospitable or good-natured, as
soon as she found one of her relatives got sick, she brought them to her house and took care of them. My husband and I were discussing how we hoped we could do something like that with a natural
attitude. But now after our three grown children left from our house, we thought it would be difficult for us to accept a new child’s whole life and gave up on it. I talked about it to the
childcare manager in the foster home, she told me they have the special foster care which we can adopt a child only on weekends or summer vacations. I had no idea about it, so when I talk about
Grune to others, I always talk about this topic with the expectation that someone believes “then I can do that way!”….
I guess that’s why the people who are interested in foster care not only caring for children in the foster home come to talk to me.
From now on also, although my poor ability, I hope I can become like a bridge between the foster home and such people.