Nastya about herself

Our new program "Orphans Reaching Orphans," and our small team of three (me, Nastya, and Inna) is off to a good and promising start. Today I translate Nastya's first letter about what she is doing and why it is important. I think you will appreciate hearing it first hand.

What is my job?

Our focus is to help graduates from orphanages.

Why them?

Everyone thinks that children are released from orphanages and they live like normal children, and they have everything you need to live. No. They do not live; rather they survive. As bad as the children's home is, they learn to live there, but when it is time to be released, they face an unknown future.

Adults who work in the orphanages work there to earn money, no more. One orphanage may have 1 or 2 people who genuinely care about these kids, loving them like their own children, investing themselves fully into them.You see what a little percent? And what about all the kids who do not get that love?

I myself grew up in three children's homes, and trust me, I know what I'm writing about, and I understand what the problems with graduates are. If these questions are not addressed, then it will be reflected not only in the people around them, at work, and in society as a whole. Many Graduates do not know how to:

• cook
• wash clothes
• care for themselves
• clean at home
• pay bills
• work
• manage their time
• make a budget
• buy food
• keep their word
• hold any moral principles
• help and give to others
• and much more

But the main thing is they need support, faith in them, love, and friendship.

The things I listed can be learned, but without someone to teach them to love, be a good friend, help others, believe in others, to trust, he will not live well, he will merely exist. They need someone they can come to, get advise from, to trust with any question, to share. With this kind of support we won't need to protect them against suicide or to visit them in prison. They need to know that there are people who need them, for whom they are important and valuable. Doing this is much more difficult and time consuming than learning those life skills above.

I'm not just talking hearsay; I live all of this; I understand how important this all is for them.

I have a girlfriend and one of them said to me, "If it weren't for you, then I would not know what to do." This she says just because I give her exactly what she really needs, in terms of friendship, relationship, love, fidelity, forgiveness, faith, accepting and valuing her as a person, and just time together. The best part is that this is how she acts with others. You see what can be done? What I do will be passed on to others, and it will be a huge help to orphan graduates as it spreads.At the outset I have 5 people who very much need this help, and thanks to you I can give them the maximum time possible. When I had my other job, I had no time, and I lost a favorite friend who died. It turned out she had needed a person who might respond to her at any time. Two other childhood friends of mine committed suicide because they were lonely and had too many problems that they couldn't resolve because they did not trust.

And there are many more like this.

They need us.