Adelina* is a heartwarming soul, she is originally from Angola. Adelina has survived the atrocities of a civil war, the sudden death of her first husband, and has been living in the US for almost 13 years with her second husband who turned out to be abusive and neglectful. When we met her she was living in a women’s shelter, here in Brooklyn, with her two children. Adelina is a domestic violence survivor.
You may have crossed her path and she may have smiled, as she smiles at everyone. This beautiful, warm and compassionate smile, beaming with gratitude for the second chance at life, after breaking free from a marriage of over a decade of abuse.
Adelina may have smiled, and you would have never known, that behind that smile sits a woman so resilient and so brave. A woman who decided one day, that her children had witnessed enough. She needed them to see, that she valued her life, and show them by example, to value their own.
Adelina is free today, and for that, she will smile on. But surviving is one thing, thriving is another.
Adelina and her children are bursting with potential. Adelina’s 10th grader wants to be an architectural engineer and is already at the top of her class in most subjects, winning awards and earning praises from her teachers. Her 5th grader wants to be a cardiologist. “I want to help save people’s hearts” the sweet boy said. These children are believers. And these believers have big dreams.
As for Adelina, she wishes she could go back to school to learn all the fundamentals she never had a chance to learn. She sometimes feels embarrassed to ask her 5th grader to correct her spelling or help her understand the wording of certain documents she’s asked to sign. She believes that with a few preparatory classes, she can take the GED exam and get equivalency for a high school degree. Once that is achieved, she dreams of working with young children.
With sufficient funds, we can help enroll her in a vocational program, allowing her to reach a higher salary bracket and ultimately achieve financial independence.
*Names of DV survivors have been changed to protect privacy.
