Crisis Centre Sponsorship: Meet Kiara

We met Kiara at the crisis centre; she's a very small girl with a big character! Kiara's dad died when she was four years old and her mum was an alcoholic. Shortly after, her mum began a relationship with another alcoholic who abused Kiara.... When she was 5, during one of the regular beatings, she ran from the home and a neighbour called the police after hearing her screams. Kiara spent a year in a shelter and at age 6 was moved to foster care. At 16, she was enrolled by the state at a college for vocational training as a baker and housed in a a dormitory for orphanage leavers. "It was during this time I began to drink heavily... I had boyfriends, went to drunken parties and experimented with drugs… like all my orphan friends were doing." She mentioned getting pregnant at the age of seventeen… we don’t know if that baby was ever born or lives in an institution. She’d already revealed so much hurt from her past, it seemed insensitive to ask. "After finding out I was pregnant for a second time, I felt as if I ‘was sinking in the mud’. I wanted to quit drinking but didn’t know how. I felt defeated and told myself I would stop when the baby was born, but I was powerless without help and nothing changed. I felt as if I was going crazy." Her lifestyle and the people she mixed with made removing herself from this cycle of behaviour extremely difficult, where could she go?

After her baby Maxim was born some volunteers brought Kiara to the women’s crisis centre. "I was scared at first and I wanted to run away, but I knew I could not cope with my problems by myself. I needed Alina and the other mums to help me change… and I wanted to do it for Maxim."

It’s early days and recovery is an ongoing battle for Kiara as she addresses the hurt from her past and learns new ways to deal with her childhood trauma… but it was clear as we spoke to her that she is in love with her baby and he is motivating her to keep going! She told us… “I was glad to hit rock bottom as it helped me realise I need God. I have just celebrated my 21st birthday at the centre. I am loved, I am supported and I am sober."

We rely on supporters like you to continue funding this centre.

You can sponsor Kiara and Maxim or any other family at the crisis centre. Click HERE to choose a family to support and pray for.