Hello, dear sponsors!
We are not acquainted but I’ve heard a lot of good things about the UAC organization. I would like to meet you very much!
This year I finished the 9th grade and left Orphanage #5. I entered Professional School #33. Actually, my dream is to be an English teacher. This summer I tried to enter Teacher’s Training School in Balta but I failed. I had to enter Professional School #33 in order to not waste a year. They didn’t let me return to the orphanage because I am 17 years old.
There were four kids, my mother and my grandmother in our family. I’ve never seen my father but I had a stepfather who was imprisoned when I was 5. Our mother began to drink and our grandmother lost her eyesight. Our life got harder. My brother escaped from home and was sent to an orphanage earlier than me. Then, my elder sister was sent to an orphanage, too, and only me and my younger brother (2 years old) were left at home. I was brought to a shelter after finishing the third grade. I lived there for nine months. Then, I thought out a plan and with the help of deception I took my little brother to the shelter, too. There I felt well and more calm. In 2007 I was sent to Orphanage #5 and I started the sixth grade. It was hard to socialize there and I wanted to return to the shelter because I had friends there. I needed a year for socializing. At the orphanage they suggested I go to America for two weeks (through a summer orphan hosting program) and I willingly agreed. It was very interesting. I liked America very much, but unfortunately I had to come back.
Unfortunately, now our family is divided. My oldest brother is in Orphanage #1 in Balta, my sister was adopted in Kiev, and my youngest brother was sent to some village. I don’t meet with my mother and rarely speak over the phone with her.
Thank you very much for wanting to help me!
Yours sincerely,
Anna Shapovalova.
