A BOOK BY THE “DARA” FOUNDATION ABOUT THE FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN ADULT MENTORS AND TEENAGERS FROM ORPHANAGES WAS PRESENTED IN ALMATY

On April 16, the Meloman chain of stores in Almaty hosted the presentation of a book about mentoring “Mentors: real stories of friendship with children from an orphanage”. The book was presented in print and audio format in Russian, as well as in electronic format in Kazakh.

Assel Shaydikeshova, coordinator of the “Mentors” project in Almaty, spoke about the presentation:

— The book presentation is timed to coincide with our special holiday — Mentor's Day. On this day, we tell stories of friendship and highlight the issue of socializing children from orphanages. We must remember that the friendship between a mentor and a child will result in a successful and independent life for a graduate of an orphanage. The stories collected in the book clearly demonstrate this.

This book brings together the vast experience of the project's team of specialists over more than 7 years of work and more than 40 personal experiences of the project participants. Each story is unique and interesting in its own way, which reflects how Mentors search for “special keys” to children, teach them to trust, be friends and believe in the best, help them achieve their goals and prepare them for life outside the orphanage. In addition to touching stories, readers can receive useful advice and important answers from the project's psychologists on interaction with adolescents.

The book consists of three parts. It presents real stories of friendship between children from orphanages and mentors from Nur-Sultan, Almaty and Karaganda. Project psychologists Dana Serikova, Lyailya Yesnazarova and Larisa Sidorova, edited by Alua Barmankulova and Galia Makulzhan, assisted in preparing the material for the book. The compiler is Ainur Aimurzina, Director of Projects and Programs of the Black Sea Fleet Dara, Project Manager. Tolendi Abdumajit, Sergeev Bogdan and Eric Mishustin, students of the New Generation School “NGS”, took part in the voicing of the audiobook. Dauren Bliev and Aizhan Zhanayeva gave their votes to the mentors' stories, and Marzhan Kulazhanova became the voice of the author, psychologists and coordinators. The audiobook is already available for purchase in the chatbot, the link is in the profile description.
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The presentation was attended by the book's characters — mentors, project graduates and teenagers from an orphanage. They shared their stories of friendship as part of the project.

The main idea of the “Mentors” project is to help children from orphanages prepare for independent living through communication with trained volunteer mentors. A mentor is an adult who is willing and able to devote his time, knowledge and experience to a teenager left without parental care. Any Kazakhstani over 25 years of age who has been selected and trained by the project can become a mentor. The minimum time for participation in the project is 2 years, ideally, it is a lifelong friendship. Through communication, Mentors help their students learn everyday and social skills and adapt to society. The most valuable thing older friends can give is time, personal attention and interest in a teenager's development.

For reference:

“Mentors” project has been implemented since 2015 by the Dara Charitable Foundation in partnership with non-governmental organizations. To date, the project operates in 13 cities of Kazakhstan: Atyrau, Almaty, Nur-Sultan, Karaganda, Temirtau, Pavlodar, Uralsk, Aktau, Shymkent, Semey, Kostanay, Kyzylorda and Ust-Kamenogorsk. The project provides ongoing training and psychological support for volunteer mentors, as well as children. The project is free and open to anyone who is ready to go through the selection and training process.

Dara Foundation - a charitable private foundation that implements projects aimed at improving living conditions and expanding development opportunities for children with special educational needs and children in orphanages, as well as at developing inclusion in Kazakhstan.

More about the project: www.dara.kz

https://www.instagram.com/dara.nastavniki/

You can buy a paper version of the book at the Meloman family store chain in Kazakhstan. Electronic versions of books in Russian and Kazakh languages can be purchased on LitRes, the largest e-book platform, at the following link: https://www.litres.ru/aynur-zhenisbekovna/nastavniki-realnye-istorii-druzhby-s-detmi-iz-detskog/ and on the site www.fundaraising.kz. To get the audio format of the book, you can contact the chatbot on the project's official Instagram page @dara .nastavniki.

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