Ukraine
"I am grateful for all the help"
Anna's story
Life is hard in Ukraine. Even young children like Anna Kondratieva, for example, notice this. When she is one year old, her mother dies of cancer. Not much later, her father dies of alcohol poisoning. At the age of five, she is orphaned. Fortunately, her grandmother is able to take care of Anna. Unfortunately, her brothers do not make things easy for Anna in her struggle as an orphan.
"I rebelled regularly and my brothers constantly rubbed my bad behaviour in," Anna recounts. "They threatened to take me to an orphanage. I couldn't stand up to them anymore and eventually, at 16, I wente there myself. Even though I attended my school in the meantime, I preferred hanging out with friends.
Mother
Later, I met a boy and we got married. We moved in with his parents, but because of the greater distance, I quit my engineering studies. Soon I got pregnant. My father-in-law was not happy about that. My son Stanislav was born and, despite the problems, I enjoyed motherhood. After eight months, I unexpectedly became pregnant again. My father-in-law became increasingly angry. After the birth of my daughter Svetlana, my husband started humiliating and beating me". Anna sighs. A little later, she continues, "That was unbearable for me. I returned to my grandparents' village. They gave me shelter in an old cottage without running water, a difficult time. Not long after, the police with youth welfare came by to take away the children. I was very scared and begged them to leave my kids with me.
Seeing children laugh
To my surprise, volunteers from House of Mercy arrived a little later and I accepted their offer to get my life in order there. I am very grateful to everyone who helped me. I have a heated, bright room where the children have their own beds. My life is changing and I am trying very hard so I can see my children smile!"
