Gift Personal Mentors to 100 Orphans in Kazakhstan

Traditionally, children go to summer camps. Because of the remoteness of the camps, mentors are not always able to visit children, so telephone conversations and messenger’s chats remain the main means of communication.

Before the children moved to the camp, the new mentors from Shymkent managed to spend time with the children in an original way, without breaking the rules due to the coronavirus. All adult participants adhere to the rules and pass a mandatory PCR test before meeting children. The mentors have set up a small workshop to make doner kebabs, salad and lemonade in the backyard of the orphanage. Nice picnic set, agree?

During the summer period, project 5 cities (Karaganda, Shymkent, Pavlodar, Atyrau, Uralsk) received 83 applications from candidates for tutors, 11 of them were trained at the online tutor school.  In September, the project team plans a series of interviews with new candidates.

During the reporting period, our foundation launched a new channel on YouTube. One of the first stories was the story of already graduates of the project - Gulnara and Kamila from Pavlodar. In addition to the personal history of couples, the channel has useful tips and lifehacks for graduates of orphanages on such topics as financial literacy, stigmatization, sex education and other important topics of concern to children today.

Also, we are pleased to announce that the project has published a book with pairs of stories in 3 parts. In 3 parts of the book, there are real stories of couples from Karaganda.
Here is a translated passage of one story:

SPECIAL ADELE

 “There are people that need my help in the form of life experience, support”

 Mentor: Anfisa, 37 years old

 Mentee: Adele, 18 years old

 In the project for 5 years

ANFISA

          Adele is not a simple girl, she is special, and because of that, she requires more patience while giving her attention. When I first met her, I decided that I would give her the correct guidelines in education and that I would try to help with her treatment. In the first case, I wanted to teach her English and improve her skills in mathematics. Unfortunately, I have not achieved these goals yet. 

Adele is not interested in anything, she quits everything almost right after starting. That is why I want to apply to the Psychological, Medical and Pedagogical Commission to receive professional medical assistance. This particular commission provides a complex diagnosis of a child carried out by specialists to detect the presence of different diagnoses. Usually, it is mental retardation, delayed psychological development and other diseases.

         There is one more pedagogical goal, which is to teach Adele how to properly communicate with boys since she hit puberty and is about to become a lady. While having a conversation, I try to instil in her the proper values of the relationships between boys and girls. I might say that I succeeded the most in this one. And also, in the fact that she began to properly perceive her appearance and started to like herself. I witnessed the opposite when she was 13. She was very unhappy with herself, stooped, however now she changed her attitude in this matter.

         Adele has a great personality, she can insist on her own opinion, analyze as much as it is possible. She values cleanliness and order. The fact that she started to behave freer and bolder in society is a good sign.

         Our relationship with my mentee cannot be indicated as difficult. It is just that I sometimes cannot understand if we are having progress or that we are not moving forward at all. Every so often, I do not know what to do next, how to talk to her or how to help.

         Adele was initially not always ready to communicate, and now, because of the quarantine, we started talking even rarer. Nevertheless, despite the obstacles, I will continue to support her. I know that there are people that need my help in the form of life experience or support. Not only Adele but others as well. Teenagers that were left without parents especially need the strong “shoulder” of a mentor.

         I sincerely wish that Adele would become more confident and that she would stop being shy when it comes to people.

THE COORDINATOR’S COMMENT

         Anfisa is very compassionate when it comes to Adele’s education, she worries and tries to conduct classes with her and is always in search of any additional courses. She also always tries to teach her new skills, such as cooking, for instance. 

         In addition to her communication with Adele, Anfisa helps other children with English, gives advice on any legal issues when necessary. She constantly attempts to assist everyone to the best of her abilities. 

The book is now available in Russian. We plan to translate the book into English in the near future. A compilation will be sent to our regular sponsors.

Links:

• Channel 5 about the project in Karaganda
• The story of Kamila and Gulnar