Page 41 - Book about Friendship and Future.Stories of Volunteers.

Evgenia Korneeva

An orphanage graduate, volunteer of the charity program “Generation Choice”
Kaluga

My Success

What is success? For someone it means having a lot of money,
for others – a position in the society. Someone sees success in
creating a stable family, and others want everything and at once.
For a kid graduating an orphanage success means that after the
graduation you have become independent and you are ready to
help the kids in a similar situation: to orientate in the modern so-
ciety, communicate, become successful and not to lose oneself
outside the orphanage.
After graduating the orphanage, the first year in college
turned out to be very hard for me. This was a completely new
stage in life, to which I happened to be not ready yet, but at the
same time there was no way back. At that time, I met people
who with their labour, their “great deeds” and their crystal heart
helped others, not for the sake of their personal interest, but be-
cause no one would do that unless they did.
I managed to find support from volunteers and to find myself
in that area. And it helped me to become independent and not
to be afraid of the future, not to be afraid of the adult life, which
was so different from what I got used to inside the familiar walls.
I grew up and joined volunteering.
I understand that the environment which embraces the kid
from the orphanage is exerting a great impact. Sometimes a tu-
tor cannot allocate to each kid the time that is required in order
to develop the simple skills that are so necessary for living, and
this is the time when a tutor needs support. a volunteer is a per-
son who is ready to listen to and support the child, to tell the kid
about some issues and train some skills, to provide help, a person
ready to share part of own story and experience. For a volunteer
it makes no importance how long the warm-hearted tea talks will
last, and what is most important – a volunteer does not get any
money for that, doing that for free, from all his/her heart. I am
glad that I can help the kids, this is my personal success!