Nowhere Left to Turn

"Today, a pregnant girl called Alana came to our doorstep at the centre. She is 35 weeks pregnant. We don't have enough beds, chairs or cupboards to accommodate her… but we can’t turn her away. Please pray."

– Alina (WCC Manager, April ‘25)

Alina shared this with us in April. Shortly after, we heard her tragic story of debt, loss and abandonment.

Alana was a smart young girl with dreams of university and a bright future. In St Petersburg, where she’d lived her entire life, there is an illusion of prosperity and people are somewhat protected from the harsh struggles of a rural life and poverty. She and her mum didn’t have much but they managed.

On the edge of fulfilling her dream, her mother took out a loan for Alana’s university education but this dream collapsed in an instant. They discovered that her mum was very sick with stage four cervical cancer. With her mum no longer able to work, the loan intended for Alana’s education needed to be spent on her mum’s surgery and their everyday living costs.

While her friends went off to uni, Alana found work to support herself and her mum. Her income, dependent on commission, which was £378 on a good month, was nowhere near enough to cover the loan repayments, their utilities and food, and her mum’s medication.

“I took out a loan, and then another one to pay off the previous ones. After the pandemic hit, my income was cut to just 50%, but the debt obligations remained. With my mum being so sick, I tried to shield her from our financial troubles, but eventually I had to admit that I was trapped in debt and I couldn’t cope.”

With the debts spiralling out of control Alana and her mum were forced to sell their apartment. Friends turned their backs, and the remaining money wasn’t enough to buy another home. They rented in a town near to St Petersburg dominated by run-down tower blocks, and Alana changed jobs to be nearby.

Around this time, Alana began dating a man who was originally from Egypt; she felt comfortable with him and he seemed supportive when all her other friends had let her down. A little happiness crept into Alana’s life and they married.

Two years later, her mother’s condition took a turn for the worse.

“Her kidneys began to fail, she lost so much weight, and then she passed away. I had to quit my job to arrange the funeral - I couldn’t cope with the grief."

After the death of her mum, Alana’s husband began showing less and less interest in their life together, choosing to work far away, or at night, instead of being with her. He had financial interests in projects back in Egypt that Alana was not allowed to be involved with. He lost interest in their marriage completely, then stopped supporting her emotionally and financially.

Still facing financial difficulty… she was abandoned by him… and, she discovered she was pregnant.

“According to the law, divorce is only possible 300 days after the birth of a child. At 13 weeks pregnant I was fired from my job which meant I can’t even claim the 25% maternity pay I would have been entitled to. I can no longer afford my rented accommodation. I have nothing and no one. So here I am, at the Women's Crisis Centre.”

Alana has now given birth to a baby boy. This too has come with difficulty. Shortly after Eli was born he came down with pneumonia and as of June, mum and baby were still in the hospital.

Once they are both well enough to leave they will be welcomed back at the centre as Alana is still officially homeless and in crippling debt.

Your prayers for this new mum and baby are appreciated.

PLEASE SUPPORT OUR CRISIS CENTRE THAT HELPED ALANA