Today we’d like to introduce you to Katia Stsefaniak.
Katia, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I’m originally from Belarus. I was born in a small town called Soligorsk in 1987. On April 26, 1986, The Chernobyl disaster happened near the Ukrainian city of Pripyat and about 200 miles away from my home. My generation is called children of Chernobyl and unfortunately, the effects of it can be seen even today… I was a lucky one to have only minor health issues growing up. After the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Belarus, foundations and nonprofits began to appear that took the children abroad for recovery: small Belarusians lived in families in Italy, Spain, England, Germany, France, and even USA. When I was nine years old my mom signed me up for this program and I spent seven summers from the age of nine until sixteen with the same family in Spain. In those years I became fluent in Spanish and realized at early age that there is a whole world out there! I still remember those four-day trips on a bus through Belarus, Poland, Germany, France, and Spain. It was such a scary and fun adventure as a kid. I think at that time, I had my mind set that I need to explore more and the love for traveling and exploration was born.
I come from humble beginnings. Growing up, we didn’t have much and mostly struggled to make our ends meet but such was the case for lot of people at that time. I remember the times when my dad, mom and I lived in dorm-style housing where all we had was a small room and we would share kitchen and bathroom with another 20 other families like us. That was very common back then. Despite the poverty we lived in my mom would always collect the little things that we didn’t use or the clothes that I would grow out of and take me with her to the local orphanage to donate them. I believe at that time the vision and desire to give back was born within me. All thanks to my amazing, loving mom that has been a huge support in everything throughout my life.
When I was studying International Relations and Management at Belarusian State University, there was a Work&Travel program for students to come and spend summer in US for seasonal work or travel. I took a chance and went to USA first time summer 2008. I was 20 years old and had no idea where I was going or what was ahead of me that summer. It was tough, scary but so exciting and adventurous. We call it the “school of life.” I served food at local bed&breakfast, was bartending at lunchtime at an Irish pub and waitressing at a Cuban restaurant in the evenings. Days were long and busy. My days off and all the money I earned I spent on traveling and exploring the East Coast. When I got back to Belarus I was so excited and in love with USA, the land of opportunities!, that I decided to go next year again and explore the West Coast. It’s needless to say that I fell in love with San Diego from the first sight. This beautiful, cultural, Californian city, a paradise from a postcard, stole my heart forever. Going back home was the hardest thing to do. I promised myself “I will be back and I will live in San Diego.” My last year at university I spent planning my move to US. When I went to apply for visa with a group of 45 people everyone got rejected beside three lucky ones. I was one of them. I knew it was my destiny.
I moved to San Diego and did MBA at a small local university SSU. To pay my bills and still struggling with language barrier I was desperately looking for any job. I used to do pedicab, worked at few restaurants, startups, I tried it all. Besides paying my bills I always sought an opportunity to give back. I volunteered at San Diego food bank, with my friends we would drive around after work at the restaurant to feed the ones in need, I was a part of Big Brother Big Sister program and loved every minute of it. Once a friend of mine invited me to join on a trip to visit an orphanage in Mexico. After the first time, I knew my heart belonged with those kids. I fell in love with them so much. How genuine, loving and giving they are despite their situation. Since then I’ve been visiting orphanages on weekly basis. I’m forever grateful to my dear friend Amar who runs San Diego chapter of Corazon de Vida Foundation (https://www.corazondevida.org/) for introducing me to this beautiful cause and helping me finding my passion in life.
Over time I’ve developed close relationships with a few kids and we became close friends. One girl, her name is Anahi, asked me once: “Are you my friend because I’m here (at the orphanage) or are you really my friend?” I will never forget that. All she wanted is to know that she is truly loved and not alone. From that moment I promised her that I’m her real friend and I will never leave her and will always be there for her. One day when I arrived to the orphanage I didn’t see her and found out that she was moved to another place. I knew I had to find her. I had to go see her.
The orphanage I found her at was in a much more devastating condition than the first one. It had no running water and hardly any food. This orphanage wasn’t under umbrella of Corazon de Vida so I decided to do something of my own to help them. And for past two years, I’ve been organizing monthly group trips where anyone who would like to donate and spend a day with the kids and share their love and attention could join. We meet in the morning at San Ysidro, load the van with toys, donations and head across the border for an adventure of a lifetime. On our way, we stop by seafood truck to support the local vendor and of course to try the freshest and most delicious seafood tostadas and ceviche.
Every trip we try to create a theme: we do arts and crafts, Easter egg hunt, bring remarkable artists, sport players, musicians, dancers, yogis to share their talents with the kids and help them discover their own. I believe that the best way to release negative emotions and trauma is with the help of art. And it has an amazing impact on the kids. My favorite time of the day is to take a minute and just observe everyone, the energy full of smiles, laughter, games, and just pure happiness: shy adults at first who don’t speak any Spanish now playing silly games with little ones and letting their inner child free and the kids who are so happy to be surrounded by so much love and attention that they’ve been craving for so long.
After serving lunch and spending half day with the kids, we head back to the border usually stopping by some wineries and delicious restaurants in Valle de Guadalupe, where we share a meal and our favorite moments of the day. It’s a whole Saturday starting from early in the morning and coming back way after dark. But it’s so worth it! It’s a therapeutic experience both for children and adults. Some of our volunteers bring their own kids and have been sharing with many others the impact the experience has had on their values and lives.
We also host fundraisers and collect donations from our generous donors for primary needs of the children. Now we’ve started a campaign to raise money for sunshade canopies to create a safe summer playground. With the support and inspiration from my friends, and a big help of my dear friend and associate Arianna we filed for 501c-3 this year. The name of our non-profit is Alma (soul in Spanish) Future Foundation – creating a soulful future for the children. We are focusing on the educational programs and currently working on empowerment curriculum and planning to create a mentorship program similar to the one of big brother big sister where an adult from US will be guiding and helping a child from Baja, Mexico. The idea is to inspire and motivate the kids, to show them that there is a whole world out there and everything is possible. We want to break the cycle of poverty and child displacement with the help of education, art, and support of amazing loving volunteers. I believe that everything we do in life has to have a soulful meaning.
We advertise our monthly trips via Facebook page (https://m.facebook.com/almafuturefoundation/) and currently working on our website www.almafuturefoundation.org. If you can’t come join us on our trips but would love to help, please reach out. We are always looking for volunteers and help with social media, fundraisers, photography, donations, and would love for you to be a part of our team.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I believe that “Whatever happens happens for the better” And every challenge that we face is actually a lesson that helps us to get one step closer to our dreams. So I always try to focus on the positives of the obstacles. Truth to be told, the road wasn’t smooth at all from the moment I moved here and till today, but looking back I think it was all the best that could have happened to me and thanks to all of those experiences I’m where I’m at today
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Authenticity, vulnerability, love, and passion are the qualities I believe the most important in life. Love for children, passion to create a better future for them, being vulnerable and honest with them about my feelings and they trusted me with theirs, authenticity in actions and genuine connection with volunteers – all these brought a success and happiness in my life. To explain success the way I see it I would use a quote from Michelle Obama: “Success isn’t about how much money you make, it’s about the difference you make in people’s lives.”
Contact Info:
- Website: www.AlmaFutureFoundation.org
- Phone: 6195082642
- Email: info@almafuturefoundation.org
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/almafuturefoundation
Image Credit:
Pat Rogers
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