By Anna Kochineva | Project Leader
When she graduated from college, Tanya found herself on the streets without shelter and money. After lots of negotiations with the district administration office, she was included in the list of orphans to get an apartment. Social workers helped her restore her bank account. Everything seemed to be going well: she now had money, lots of plans for the future, and she had fallen in love with a nice young man.
But everything changed in a moment: she lost her money when her bank was drained via internet, and her boyfriend left Tanya when he heard about her pregnancy. In November 2014, Tanya entered Kidsave Russia’s ‘Teen Mom’ program.
Tanya with her mentor, Natalia, and her daughter, Velena.
Tanya was one of the most active participants in group activities carried out by the program. Psychologists worked with Tanya help her deal with her anxiety, accept her pregnancy, and raise awareness of her new role as mother, to engender positive feeling towards her unborn baby.
During one of her meetings with potential mentors, Tanya met Natalia and they immediately found a lot of common topics of conversation. Natalia decided to become Tanya’s mentor. Natalia has a big family, and so this is a good opportunity for Tanya to learn from Natalia how she is able to manage taking care of her children and work, and also to find time for herself. Tanya and Natalia meet a couple of times in a month, and also communicate via phone.
In May 2015, Tanya gave birth to a daughter – Velena. Tanya is responsible mother, she listens to the doctor’s recommendations. Natalia is an active part of Tanya’s life and also of her baby’s – she visits them and tries to support them in many ways. As mother of three children, Natalia shares her experiences with Tanya and mentors her. This is so important for teen mom Tanya.
Tanya is very good at drawing. Before her pregnancy, she studied the art of folk painting. Tanya’s paintings are full of frankness and depth.
“When someone feels bad, they think they are alone. But the angel is always with them, we just don’t notice it next to us because of our sadness,” Tanya said about her painting.
Natalia wants Tanya to continue her studies in painting. She is sure that the girl will be successful.
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