Gift Personal Mentors to 100 Orphans in Kazakhstan

It's time for the report, and we are happy to share with you the results and successes of our mentors and children from orphanages!

In Shymkent in October, we celebrated our traditional event "Mentor's Day". We held the celebration in a beautiful place in nature surrounded by mountains. Our guests were primarily children with mentors, as well as our partners and volunteers who support the project. Together we played various active games, had fun, and smiled a lot. Then we had a delicious lunch and presented gifts to our guests. And we finished the event with cheerful dances in nature! We really love our holiday "Mentor's Day" because this event brings our mentors closer to their mentees and all the people who are in the project become united!

Meanwhile, our team held several meetings with mentors in Karaganda. At these meetings, they discussed issues on the topics of "How to build interaction with a child after the summer holidays" and "How to cope with difficulties in relationships with a child." The project's psychologists shared useful information with the mentors and provided tools for interacting with children

The Story of Katerina and Zilyarah's Friendship

Zilyarah is a pupil of an orphanage, and from their first meeting, she and Katerina quickly found a common language. They walk together, talk, and learn from each other.
On one of their walks in the park, Katerina noticed that Zilyarah was having a hard time making a choice. Passing by a kiosk with cotton candy, she decided to ask the girl a simple question:

“Do you want cotton candy? Have you tried it before?”

Zilyarah thought for a moment and answered hesitantly, “I don't remember... I don't know. Do I want it or not?”

Katerina smiled and, looking at the girl, asked, “Who knows?”

“You know,” Zilyarah answered unexpectedly.

But Katerina shook her head. “No, Zilyarah. Only you can know what you want. So what do you think, should we take it?”

The girl couldn't answer right away, and they continued their walk. After making a circle around the park, Katerina stopped at the kiosk again and asked, “Well, how about it? Have you decided?”

This time, Zilyarah unexpectedly smiled and said confidently, “Yes, I want it.”

Katerina bought her cotton candy, and Ziljara beamed with happiness as she tasted it. This simple moment became an important lesson for the girl. Katerina explained that making decisions is part of growing up, and no one should make decisions for you.
But Ziljara also teaches her mentor to be attentive and caring. For Katerina's birthday, the girl made a gift with her own hands and put a small toy monkey inside.
- Why a monkey? - Katerina was surprised.
- You told me that you were born in the year of the monkey. I remembered. I wanted to congratulate you with something special.

Katerina was deeply touched by this attention. She did not expect that the girl would not only remember this fact, but also make it part of the gift.
Together, they continue to learn from each other: Ziljara is learning to make decisions and choices, Katerina is learning to see how important care and attention to detail are. And their story is a reminder of how mentoring changes the lives of both parts. Moreover, it opens up new horizons for both of them.

In Pavlodar, thanks to the hard work of our team, 9 children have found older friends-Mentors. We are very happy about such news, because it means that a child from an orphanage has a significant adult who supports him, shares his life experience with him!

The story of Galina and Daria

Soon it will be a year since Galina became Daria's mentor. Galina admits that their communication was difficult at first: Daria was closed and did not trust others.
Now their friendship is developing, and they find common interests.

Dasha and I knew each other before the Mentors program. I was a teacher at her school and wanted to take her under my wing right away – I even went to a school for adoptive parents. I came to «Mentors» on the recommendation of a psychologist, who advised me to first become her friend for her psychological safety. Of course, I was nervous. I was worried about how our communication would go, but now I see that everything is going well. I also had doubts – first of all, about myself, my capabilities, whether I would be able to establish contact, whether we would have common interests. I doubted whether I would have free time in my busy schedule as a teacher at school. But I set my priorities correctly, and everything worked out well. I get sincere childish emotions from Dasha. I see fear and caution somewhere and show by my example that this is normal. Together with her, I learn to cope with my fears. The whole spectrum of my emotions was revealed in communication. We are both interested in theatrical art. Thanks to this I learned a lot of new things, especially about the backstage life of the theater, the peculiarities of rehearsals. Now Dasha goes to classes at the theater and I accompany her.

"If you have knowledge, experience, time and desire to share them, dive into childhood and try to make the world a little happier, leave a piece of heart and kindness, then welcome!"

In Uralsk, our coordinators were actively involved in the selection: they conducted training, interviewed each candidate, met and talked with children. Now we can rejoice for the children in Uralsk, because two of them have mentors! Also, several mentors are waiting to meet the children to start their friendship story! We wish the new couples success, patience and many years of friendship!

We would like to share with you the story of our couple from Atyrau
Assel (mentor) and Carolina (mentee) began their friendship in June 2023. An easy and harmonious couple. They have many common interests and hobbies. Carolina herself was a very modest child, silent. During her friendship with Asel, she opened up, became more confident, open and takes the initiative. Carolina has a twin brother, Kostya. This year, he also found a mentor. Now the four of them spend some weekends together, thinking of useful leisure activities. Carolina is already a teenager and she has become interested in many things, Asel gladly supports all her hobbies. This year, thanks to the guidance and support of her mentor, Carolina has achieved success in sports, she passed the selection for the basketball academy at the Barsy Atyrau basketball club.

She also developed an interest in financial issues and Asel organized a two-day master class on financial literacy and career guidance (with professional speakers-trainers). We are very proud of our couple and wish them success in everything!