Support
GROUPS
Support groups have been set up and are run for various marginalised groups...
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Children and teens from vulnerable homes and families crisis.
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Orphanage leavers struggling to adjust to independence.
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Orphan mums in poverty and lacking parental example.
Group leaders teach life skills, give emotional and practical support, ensure basic needs are being met and that their children/young people are developing towards independence.
The
NEED
Orphans leaving Russian orphanages at age 16 are unprepared and ill-equipped for life outside institutions.
By age 20, nine out of every ten orphanage leavers will either be addicted to drugs or alcohol, be involved in crime or prostitution, will have died from poverty, and if homeless, there is a high chance they will take their own lives.
Children from vulnerable homes are similarly at risk.
In
PARTNERSHIP
Love Russia, in partnership with local Russians, strives to transform these statistics. With intervention, and the security that comes from having a reliable adult role model in their lives, marginalised young people have a chance at having healthy, independent futures.
One support group for children still living in an orphanage sees our project leader taking them for fun days out. It is important they experience the outside world before independence is abruptly thrust upon them, as well as having an opportunity to get to know an adult who can help them when they transition out of the orphanage system.
By partnering with local people, these goals can be achieved.
What Your
DONATIONS DO
Donations towards support groups allow mentors to dedicate their time to this. Funding allows them to organise activities, provide resources (including food), provide transport, use premises and more.
GENYA'S STORY...
Genya once struggled with his temper and confesses to having been a bully in the hierarchy for dominance that is common among orphanage children in institutions. Angry at the world he developed some very destructive habits.
Since being part of a support group he has become a gentle, helpful leader assisting his mentors with the newer, younger members of the group. They care for each other like family. Genya has become a Christian and is keen to share this with everyone.
