Gift Personal Mentors to 100 Orphans in Kazakhstan

Greetings to You, Dear Friends!

Summer holiday is the best time for every child. In the summer, our children rested in the camp, swam in the pools, walked in the parks and had a carefree time. Some children were able to get a job in the summer and received their wages! During this period, the children have grown a lot: some of them went to college, the others went to the university, and from this year, some children will begin to prepare for the entrance exams. The mentors are always nearby in all these global chances in the life of children. They support them and share all the joys and hardships of these changes with them!

In Shymkent, one more child from the orphanage got a long-awaited mentor and, now, there are seven pairs of "Mentor-Child" in the project. The children in Shymkent spent the whole summer in the camp, which is a few hours’ drive from the city. Despite this, our mentors went to the children in the camp and visited them. They bought them different goodies, played various games with them.

Mentor Sabina came to the camp with her own family to congratulate her mentee on her birthday. Yaroslavna did not think that the mentor would come to the camp to her. Sabina had not told her anything before. She wanted to make a surprise. The surprise was a success! Yaroslavna was pleasantly surprised and glad to see her mentor. She was pleased that after work the mentor specially came to the camp for her sake and made such a pleasant surprise. Yaroslavna wants to enroll in a specialty "Tourism" in the future. Being aware of this, Sabina gave her a small silver bracelet with an airplane pendant. The mentor chose such a symbolic gift to help her go towards the goal of enrolling the specialty "Tourism".

In Karaganda, children from an orphanage began classes with tutors as part of our project. Unfortunately, children from orphanages have poor academic performance and need help with their studies so that they can improve their knowledge and prepare for exams. Thanks to classes with tutors, children successfully pass entrance exams, enter colleges, universities, and improve their grades in school subjects.

Since June of this year, 10 children in Karaganda have started classes with tutors in subjects: mathematics, Russian language, literature, etc. They spent the whole summer doing their homework. The children have worked hard and they will continue their tutoring in the new school year.

There is the story of our one couple from Karaganda:

Valentina has been a mentor for Milana for more than 1.5 years. In the summer, Valentina shared the news that Milana got a job! It was her very first job! All summer Milana worked as a janitor. This is a great achievement because all this time, Milana was not motivated to do anything at all. At the first meetings with the mentor, Milana said that she did not want to do anything. The only thing that attracted her was social networks. Thanks to the mentor, she changed as the mentor always showed an example that work is very important. We think that this is a great achievement, because all summer long, every day, Milana did her job with discipline and overcame her reluctance to do something!

In Pavlodar, we spent our traditional holiday "Mentor's Day". On such holiday, we realize how important it is to have support and a helping hand in our life. On this summer day, teenagers from the orphanage and their incredible mentors merged into one big friendly family.

Our little and big heroes played exciting team games, danced flash mobs and enjoyed delicious food. On this day, the atmosphere of joy and happiness enveloped everyone.

A magical holiday took place in the fresh air, among nature and smiles. It was a day that reminded us of the importance of cherishing precious moments together.

In Atyrau during the summer period, we have five new mentors. Now 20 teenagers have mentors there!

Over the past year, the orphanage moved to another small village, which is located 1.5 hours from the city. However, this does not stop our mentors to go to the orphanage to their mentees. Moreover, they do it regularly.

There is the story of our one couple from Atyrau:

Sandugash (mentor), Makhambet (mentee).

Sandugash became a mentor in February 2021. Since then, she has been communicating with Makhambet and now we can observe the rapid growth and development in their communication. Many people began to note an improvement in Makhambet’s behavior. This is noticed both at school and in the orphanage as well. They actively attend various cultural and entertainment events. A couple of months ago, at one of the career guidance trainings organized by us, Makhambet shared with great enthusiasm that he wanted to become a chef. Sandugash supported this desire with pleasure, and she began to help him master this profession. The mentor agreed with her place of work and every week she took the mentee to the practice in the culinary workshop.

Also in Atyrau, our organization works in the direction of "Corporate Mentors". The purpose of the direction is to help orphans in planning their lives and careers for successful socialization in society, and to give the opportunity for the business community to help children left without parental care.

Three girls from the orphanage got training classes in the beauty salon “Stilissimo”. The girls were taught the basics of haircuts and hair styling. They got acquainted with the profession of a hairdresser in practice and were able to practice a little: the girls did various haircuts and styling for models.

The fitness center "Victoria" also became a corporate mentor and accepted four girls who were previously interested in the coaching profession. The girls were told all the features of professions, shown and told about the correct techniques for performing exercises. The girls themselves tried to perform various exercises and then, under the supervision of experienced trainers, they trained with various clients of the fitness center.

Our team from Uralsk is also actively working in the direction of "Corporate Mentors". The beauty salon "Infinity Lash Room" became a corporate mentor and taught a girl from an orphanage how to apply eyelash extensions. This area is in demand in Kazakhstan, and this profession is in great demand. Christina was interested in this profession, and our team organized training for her. Christina learned everything about the profession, about the intricacies of working with a client, and in practice consolidated all the gained knowledge.

We would like to thank all the corporate mentors who accepted teenagers from orphanages for free and helped them be acquainted with various professions!