Colombian mother’s journey of transformation

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Many of us make New Year's resolutions: eat healthy, get organized, save more, forget less. Even with the best of intentions, many resolutions fall by the wayside. If you've made a resolution, we want you to achieve it. Let the story of one mother's personal transformation inspire you to succeed in your own goals for 2016.

Ana is a single mother from Colombia and has faced many challenges, personal and financial, in raising her 12-year-old daughter, Katherin. Katherin was sponsored by Manuela from New York six years ago through Unbound. The sponsorship came at a time of economic crisis for the family.

Ana and Katherin go for a walk in their neighborhood.
Photo copyright 2016 Unbound. All rights reserved.

"When my daughter became sponsored, I had no job, no money, therefore sponsorship was a blessing," Ana said.

Ana admits that during that stressful time she acted in ways that made her relationships with her family and neighbors suffer.

"I did not relate myself much with others because I was not nice at all," Ana said. "I know of many people that disliked me back then. Honestly, at that moment, I felt I did not care about that or them. To me, my life was first and everything else I did not care about."

When she found out Katherin was going to be sponsored through Unbound, Ana was elated at the newfound financial support. She was less enthusiastic about the program requirement of taking part in a mothers' group and attending meetings and workshops with the group of women.

"I disliked the idea of going," Ana said. "I didn't believe in those things. I always felt that it was my personality and nothing was going to change me."

It was through those workshops planned by the mothers' group that Ana began a process of personal transformation. In one of the workshops a family psychologist talked to the group of mothers about healthy dialogue, anger, respect and empathy. The mothers had a chance to share about their own experiences, and Ana found she wasn't alone in her struggles.

"In the end, it wasn't really hard [to change], because I decided I wanted to change after I started attending the different lectures and workshops we received," Ana said. "… All this made me moderate my personality, which only brought tranquility and love into my family. My circle of friends has grown, and that makes me happy."

According to Ana, some of the most valuable things she has learned are "to control myself in moments of anger, to avoid venting my problems over others and to value my life, my family and especially my daughter, Katherin, because she is the engine of my life."

Perhaps the best part about Ana's self-transformation is that she is able to pass on the lessons she learned to her daughter.

"Throughout the years, Unbound has become a home and its members are my family," Ana said. "My daughter is happy because I have taught her to appreciate everything she receives, especially those benefits that transform us."

Help someone become an agent of positive change in their own life. Sponsor today.