“I was afraid my past would steal my future”: a story of love for children that overcame fear

“When I was packing my things to leave for Odesa, my hands were shaking. I didn’t know where I was going or what awaited us. I had only one thought — to save my children,”  Anna recalls. But she wasn’t only fleeing war, as a mother living with HIV and raising two children on her own in a small village, she felt a constant threat from people around her. Anna was determined to protect her children. To take them [children] away from a place where people pointed fingers at us and give them a chance for a normal childhood,” she says. . 

Today, watching her younger daughter play in the children’s corner of the Safe Space run by NGO Positive Women, she allows herself, for the first time in a long while, to relax. 

Anna is a mother living with HIV and raising two children on her own in a small village in the Odesa region. Her move to a big city wasn’t a whim but an act of escape. 

In her village, where news spreads faster than the wind, HIV and her past became a stigma. Neighbours turned away, and any misbehaviour from her children was seen as poor parenting. She lived under constant pressure, knowing her children were growing up surrounded by hostility and rejection. The village also lacked the medical and psychological services her family needed. Eventually, Anna realised she had to leave — otherwise fear would break her completely.

The first place where I was asked “How are you feeling?”

But life in Odesa was also difficult. Rent consumed almost all her savings and soon Anna faced a familiar dilemma for many mothers in hardship: buy dinner or a pack of nappies. Loneliness in a big city began to feel even worse than the bullying she left behind.

At this critical moment, she came across the Safe Space of NGO Positive Women Odesa on social media. The organisation, supported by UNICEF, helps women with children.

“I walked to their office with my teeth clenched from anxiety,” Anna admits. “I was used to being seen as a ‘problem’, so I was afraid to tell the truth about myself. I thought they would refuse to help or start lecturing me. But something unexpected happened. They greeted me with a smile. One of the staff simply offered me water and asked, ‘How can we support you?’ It was the first place in years where I felt like a human being, not just another ‘case’.”

At the Safe Space, her family received what they needed most — urgent basic needs. Packs of nappies, hygiene products and quality baby formula became a lifeline. “When I brought everything home and realised my children would be fed and dry for the next month, I slept peacefully for the first time,” she says.

“If they find out about my past, they’ll take my children away”

Beyond daily struggles, Anna was terrified of approaching state services to apply for social benefits. She believed that if officials learned about her past drug dependency, her children would be taken away. This fear paralysed her and kept her from claiming support she was legally entitled to.

The NGO Positive Women team connected her with the organisation’s lawyer, who explained that her past did not erase her rights as a mother. Step by step, she helped Anna gather all necessary documents.

“We went from office to office together, filling in forms. I felt I had someone reliable by my side, someone who wouldn’t let anyone mistreat me,” Anna recalls. Eventually, they completed the paperwork and secured all payments. For Anna, it felt like a major victory.

At the same time, she began working with the organisation’s psychologist, who helped her finally forgive herself for the mistakes of the past and let go of the constant guilt that kept her from moving forward.