Give Russian Orphan Children Parents and Mentors

"I love spending time with Anna,” said Nastya, an 18-year-old Russian teen mother. “She tells me her stories of personal success, she gives advice. I love listening to her."  

Anna is Nastya’s mentor, a successful businesswoman who was invited to a Kidsave event by another Kidsave mentor. Anna and Nastya met in November of 2016 after Nastya had moved to the Malenkaya Mama Crisis Center in with her 5-month old daughter Miroslava, leaving a troubled family situation.  The Malenkaya Mama Crisis Center is the home of Kidsave’s mentoring program for teen mothers who need the help, guidance and steady friendship of a loving, mature mentor.

Over the next four months Anna and Nastya became friends, going for walks, visiting museums, seeing movies, exhibitions and skating. Anna listened to Nastya, and shared details about her own struggles and triumphs and how she has dealt with them. Anna shared the kind of advice Nastya would get from a loving supportive home life -- if she had one.

Kidsave finds mentors to help girls like Nastya learn how to take charge of their lives, raise their children, find and keep a job, and function successfully. Nastya is on the road to self-reliance, learning to break the cycle of despair that can engulf young women who have to go it alone.

This important work  came to the attention of local media last month, when Moscow Channel 24 came to the Malenkaya Mama Crisis Center to report on the girls and their mentors. The girls told the correspondent about Kidsave’s Malenkaya Mama program, and how it had helped them find caring adults who support their progress. A week later Kidsave mentor Elena invited the film crew to her home to continue the conversation while making soup. It was a “family affair, as the teen mothers talked about their friendship, and their mentors’ support. Elena’s sons Sergei and Paul warmly welcomed Vika, another young monther from the Malenkaya Mama Crisis Center, and they all had fun celebrating Vika’s19th birthday.

Links:

• Kidsave's Russia Program
• Kidsave's work generally
• Why advocate for families?

Katya is quite an amazing girl -- clever, pretty, talented and passionate about everything creative. It’s hard to imagine when you look at her beaming smile that she is bereft of parental love. But due to difficult family circumstances Katya lives at the Rossolimo Centre of Family Education Assistance with other orphaned children. She is 17.  

 Thanks to a mentorship arranged by Kidsave Russia and Citibank, she is full of plans and hopes for the future! It started in 2016, when Citibank staff came to visit the kids for a mentoring meeting. Nastya was among the volunteer mentors. Initially, the Citibank volunteers had planned a vocational guidance class, but then decided that a more engaging and fun way to teach the material would be to split into teams. Each team made up its own “dream company.”

“I was on Katya’s team,” said Citibank mentor Nastya. “We decided that our dream company would be a Parisian Café, and we gave it a name and created a menu. We discovered that we both like to draw, and Katya made some wonderful drawings of the details of our imaginary cafe.

 “A few months later, when Kidsave offered me and the other Citibank volunteers the chance to mentor kids in order to help them choose their future occupation, Katya was the first person I thought of.

 “This project included an essay contest, and we mentors each teamed up with one of the kids and helped them write an essay on their chosen profession. Katya told me she dreams of becoming a famous actress, so we did our best to write about this career goal. As it happened, Katya won 3^rd prize in the essay contest! We both felt a great sense of accomplishment and I think winning the award drew us closer and helped us understand each other better.”

 Wonderfully, the award included acting lessons and Katya has since been attending theater school where she is rehearsing for Bernard Shaw's play “Pygmalion.” Her role? No less than the star herself, Eliza Doolittle!

 Nastya has registered for guest custody of Katya, which makes it easier for them to spend more time together. They now enjoy time together outside the orphanage including trips to the planetarium on weekends, walks in the park and attending exhibitions.

 In the spring of 2017 Nastya married. Her husband supports her mentorship of Katya. 

This summer, Katya is in a children's camp on the sea, and every day she communicates with Nastya through social media. Katya talks about her day and shares thoughts on books and films. In September, Katya will return to Moscow for more time with Nastya.

 In addition to Nastya, seven more mentors are now trained and ready to begin spending time with a new mentees outside the orphanage. This program is just getting under way, but it is already changing lives.

Links:

• Kidsave's Russia Program
• Read about Kidsave's purpose and work
• Read about hosting and mentoring