This is my son Zhanali, but everybody calls him just Zhanik.

He is five, and literally yesterday we were transferred into a pre-school group. We are quite proud of it.

Although we still need mum's or grandmother's help to get dressed.

Every morning Zhanik takes a new toy to the kindergarten. The choice is very important, and sometimes the selection process takes quite some time.

And this is our azheka (great grandma). Zhanik has become her 11th great grandson. And her favourite! Due to the grandma Zhanik has Kazakh accent.

Every day I see my son off to the outside world. On his own. At some point every mother has to do it. I was waiting for this moment with fear, just like all mothers in the world...

But, probably, I was a bit more worried than the other mothers... Have you guessed why? My son is a Kazakh boy, in whose veins there is African blood.

I was worried about how the world will take my son. The world is not always just. Sometimes people do not like when something stands out from the general picture even in a semitone.

However, it seems that all my worries were unfounded. Zhanik does not feel as an outsider anywhere. Children like him, and as for adults... Adults pamper Zhanik, single him out, and this is a problem. Now I am worried that my son will develop a superiority complex. Slight signs of big-headedness can sometimes be noticed.

Wise azheka says that he is an unusually forward child and his heart is kind.

Children respect Zhanik. Teachers say that he has leadership abilities, even though he is not aggressive at all. On the first day in the pre-school group someone broke his favourite toy. The teacher expected usual in such cases hysterics, but Zhanik just sighed over the remnants of the toy and departed to play again.

According to the teacher Marzhan Marlanbayevna, small children do not feel social, ethnic, racial or even language differences. A year ago a new girl came to Zhanik's group. She was from a family of immigrants coming from China and did not speak any Russian. Educators were worried that she would not be able to communicate with the other children and were surprised to see that kids could perfectly understand each other!

All the problems are created by adults - that is what children from an ordinary Almaty kindergarten have taught me. They have barely noticed my son's skin colour. Even though this colour has become an unsurmountable obstacle for some of our relatives and prevented them from loving him...

Xenophobia is unnatural in humans. If you want a proof, go to a kindergarten. You will not find a single racist or nationalist among millions of children. And not just truth, but the voice of nature itself come out of the mouths of babes and sucklings.

Zhanik's aga (uncle) Amir holds a black belt in Taekwondo. He decided that the wisdom of the Korean martial art will be useful for his nephew. Amir takes Zhanik to the practice sessions himself three times a week.

I am happy that Zhanik is going to taekwondo trainings. It is not just a sport or an ability to strike back in the future. What is more important, taekwondo schools temper. It nurtures honesty, nobility and generosity.

Zhanik has an excellent coach. Serik Askarovich holds a forth dan black belt. He is an incontestable authority for Zhanik and a perfect example of a man's man.

On my first visit I immediately noticed discipline during training sessions. Boys understand and obey their Teacher without many words, even though he is not strict and never raises his voice.

At the moment Zhanik holds a white belt. The principles of a white belt are respect and attention. Once my son came home and suddenly started helping me clear the table. And then he asked, "Mum, is it respect or attention?" I replied that it was attention.

This weekend Zhanik will try to get a yellow belt. Here the principle is honesty. Serik Askarovich told me laughing that when asked "What does it mean to be honest?" Zhanik replied upon reflection "Not to joke".

I have to admit, that for me it is important that during trainings Zhanik is in purely male society. Because at home he is surrounded by loving women.

That is why I send all the mothers who bring up their sons without fathers directly to Serik Askarovich.

People are all so different, and various things happen in public places. Some people turn in surprise and their jaws drop in amazement. As if they do not just see a mulatto child, but some unknown rarity. What is so different about him?!

But you know, it happens very rarely. And nobody can spoil our mood anyway!

Zhanik is encompassed with care and attention, and we cannot avoid it. He is singled out. For instance, security guards of the nearby shop like to play with him. My son realises his "specialness", even though he does not understand the reason behind it and takes people's attention as a matter of course. Thus sometimes I have to fight the first signs of big-headedness for character-building purposes.

Sometimes the attention come in unusual forms. Once my son came from a kindergarten and proudly told me that his best friend Darigusha said, "You are so chocolate, I want to lick you and eat you!" I was a bit confused and did not know what to say.

Sometimes I look at my son and think, Oh my god, it is the best that happened in my life. Could I ever doubt it even for a split second?..

I think I do everything right. We talk a lot with Zhanik, discuss everything, we do not have forbidden grounds. But we have not talked about his dad yet. The time will come and I will explain everything to him. We split up with Zhanik's father. It just happened. He knows that he has a son in Kazakhstan. And at some point they will definitely meet. We will go to the second home country of Zhanik's and he will meet with his relatives from father's side. Because it is the second part of his personality. Every person has to have a choice and has to know his or her roots, I am sure about it.

However, a person starts to discover things about himself much earlier than you would think. Who am I and where have I come from? Why am I here and why am I like this? My sons asks a lot of questions. For example, "For how long should I scrub myself so that my skin becomes like yours?"

Sometimes small quarrels happen. But for now, thank God, only because of the toys.

Но мы всегда договариваемся и находим компромисс

And this is our janitor. He loves Zhanik very much, calls the boy Kara-batyr (Dark warrior) and predicts a bright future for him. And once he brought a can full of fresh milk to his favourite boy. He says that batyrs (heroes) have to consume only natural products. Azheka appreciated his behaviour very much and gratefully calls him "a son found in the yard"!

Thus due to Zhanik's charisma we all drink organic milk from a cow who pastures high up in the mountains. Our neighbours asked for such milk too, but the janitor refused. He explained that this is specially for Kara-batyr.

Zhanik spends a lot of time with his great grandmother. I am happy about it because my grandma is a unique person, who has wisdom from nomadic culture. Her childhood caught the end of nomadic era, can you imagine? Azheka remembers how in spring the whole aul (village) was moving to dzhailyau (summer pasture)... My great grandfather, my grandma's dad, was a rich person, a bai. During collectivisation all the property of their family was confiscated and she had to work in a kolkhoz from the age of 13. Despite the hardships, she has always been a cheerful woman and was famous in the neighbourhood as a live wire.

Me and Zhanik owe a lot to azheka. I was very worried and doubtful. It is not easy to make a decision to have a baby alone, without a husband, and also a baby of different race. Let us be honest about it. My father still has not accepted it. But I do not blame him. Thus the firm statement of my grandma to give birth to this child was crucial for me. Her love is our support and protection from people's narrow-mindedness.

Once I read an interview of Irina Ponarovskaya. The famous singer had to send her son to America because she was afraid for his safety. His skin is dark, and the society around is infected with xenophobia. I had a lot to think about...

But I see that the world is kind towards my son. I do not know how his life will turn out to be in the future. However, I am sure that he will always have his back covered by our big family. Maybe he will be famous and will make Kazakhstan famous! Or he will just want to see the whole world, or he will fall in love and get married... But he will never have to run away from hypocrisy and spite.

Good night, my little warrior!