Unfortunately Lesja's mother died when she was young and her father’s alcohol problems dominated family life. She was left to try and make the best of what they had to survive on. With the support of Hope for Latvia she was able to buy enough food and medicine to survive. She set about transforming the room, installing a curtain between the kitchen area and the toilet, and saving enough to pay for electricity. She made great progress at school and was a leading student in many of her subjects.  However this all changed when her sister became pregnant at an early age and subsequently fled to Ireland in search of job prospects; leaving Lesja to care for a small baby. After a couple of years her sister and family were reunited and Lesja was able to continue with her education.

If a student shows outstanding promise and gains grades that put them in the top 11% of their academic year, the Latvian government will provide university education for free. Lesjia became aware of this and began to dream of attending university to eventually become a teacher. We were able to support her in this by providing private tuition in Latvian and English, through her determination and this opportunity she has made it to university and is excelling as a trainee teacher.

She is able to care for herself for now, but as she puts it she "always knows where she can find advice and support" should she need it. 

If you want to become part of the solution for families like Lesja's, please visit our partnership page.