Thousands of girls in Russia grow up in orphanages without the support and guidance of a loving family. An increasing number of these girls become pregnant at an early age, mostly unintentionally. Since they were not raised in a family environment they often abandon their babies. Kidsave, and now its successor in-country Childhood Keepers, are devoted to keeping these teen moms and their babies together. Caring adult mentors recruited by Childhood Keepers will help these young women and their ch
According to the UN's last comprehensive study, Russia has the second highest teen pregnancy rate, 28 per 1,000 females. Research shows that many teen mothers come from orphanages or broken families. A great majority of them are mentally and emotionally not ready for parenthood. At this stage, professional assistance and support from caring adults play a vital role in the mother and child's future well-being, health, and happiness.
Within a year we plan to recruit and train trusted adult mentors from business and community for 16 high-risk teen mothers in Moscow, Russia. We will provide ongoing professional early intervention support and monitoring of the mentor and mother/child relationship. We expect that help and support of caring adult mentor will encourage and empower these young mothers, and provide them with opportunities to continue their education, develop vocational skills and become prepared to find a job.
With this project we'll break old patterns of neglect and abandonment, strengthen the community by engaging it into positive social change, and create true and lasting hope for teen mothers in Russia. By the end of the project, we will create a program model that could be replicated and affect a greater number of people. A new cycle of teen motherhood comprised of independent, productive, and nurturing women will establish and maintain success for generations to come.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
