A life transformed
Shuttled between cities and countries, Andela and her family had little hope of breaking the cycle of poverty — until an intervention helped change her life
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By the time Andela Petrovic finished high school, she had attended six schools. Her disrupted childhood saw her move cities and countries more than the average person would move in a lifetime. And like so many of the 1.2 million Australian children and young people growing up in poverty today*, she had endured a number of personal challenges threatening to derail her hopes and dreams for the future.
When Andela was eight years old, her father fell into a coma and unexpectedly passed away. At the same time he was in hospital, her mother gave birth to her younger brother.
“We had a very quick change in our family that was very unexpected,” Andela recalls.
“We expected a sibling, but we didn’t expect our dad to die.
“My mum didn’t work and my dad was the main breadwinner of my family, so his loss had a great impact on us, not only emotionally but also financially. We lost quite a lot in a very quick moment.
“After my dad died, within a year we got forced out of our house because the rent kept on increasing.” Originally from eastern Europe, Andela’s family decided to pack up their life in Melbourne to start anew in Serbia.
“When we were leaving to go to Serbia, I remember that we had to get our carpet cleaned, so we spent a week sleeping on the tiles in our kitchen,” Andela says.
“All our belongings were shipped overseas and we couldn’t stay in the bedrooms because we were so terrified of getting the carpets dirty because we didn’t want our deposit taken away.”
Although their move overseas signalled a new beginning, Andela’s family arrived in Serbia to find the roof of her father’s old house caving in. It had been built by her father and grandfather decades earlier, but was in no condition to house a family of four. Andela describes the roof being so low that even as a child she was able to touch it.
After weighing up their options, they moved back to Sydney three months later, where the singleparent household continued to struggle to make ends meet. “We came back literally with just our suitcases; we’d shipped all our belongings back to Serbia and everything’s there still to this day.”
“The Smith Family has changed our lives immensely. Some of the opportunities I have now I wouldn’t have gotten otherwise.”
— Andela
Andela’s life reached a turning point when she became part of The Smith Family’s Learning for Life program in Year 8.
Currently supporting 57,000 young people experiencing disadvantage across Australia, Learning for Life provides students with financial and personal support, as well as vital mentoring programs that help them stay motivated throughout their schooling.
The Smith Family has supported Andela’s studies for the past eight years and she says this support has had an immense impact on her.
“It does come down to me most of the time. I have to push myself and I have to be able to get up when I fall down,” Andela says. “But the fact that The Smith Family has been behind me the whole time takes a massive weight off my shoulders.
It eases the pressure so much.” While in Year 11, Andela was offered a mentorship that inspired her to study law. Supported by a Smith Family Tertiary Scholarship, Andela is fulfilling this dream through a double degree of law and commerce at university.
“There was a period of time where I was a tertiary student, my sister was a high school student and my little brother was a primary school student - and we were all supported by the Smith Family.
So, we had the whole range of the organisation’s support,” she says. “The Smith Family has changed our lives immensely. Some of the opportunities I have now I wouldn’t have gotten otherwise.”
From the young girl thrust between cities, learning to live without her dad in an uncertain world, Andela is proof that with the right support by your side, nothing in life can stop you.
To find out how you can sponsor an Australian child today, call 1800 497 038 or visit thesmithfamily.com.au
How does a sponsorship assist a family in need?
• Financial support for school essentials such as uniforms and books
• Access to out-of-school learning and mentoring programs to help students catch-up and build vital skills
• Personal support from a Smith Family team member, who takes the time to understand the child’s specific needs and can link families to appropriate services
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* Poverty in Australia, 2020, ACOSS/UNSW Report
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This content was produced in association with The Smith Family. Read our policy on commercial content here.