Published: 24 July, 2007, 05:06
Edited: 7 September, 2010, 14:07
The world is her playground, but Russian supermodel Natalya Vodianova has come back home with some new designs, to ensure that children enjoy their playtime. The model, now one of the richest in the world, is planning to build 500 playgrounds throughout t
Russian-born Natalya Vodianova may only be 25-years-old, but she's a supermodel, mother, wife and philanthropist.
With her children's charity, the Naked Heart Foundation, she's on a mission to build 500 playgrounds throughout Russia. And four of them have already opened their doors for children.
“What we're trying to do is create an atmosphere of safety, colorful, beautiful environment for children to exercise what they're good at, and that's play. And also create an environment where everyone is the same and equal. No one feels left out, except adults with their beer and cigarettes,” Natalya Vodianova said.
And it's perhaps the model's childhood that points to why she's compelled to do this.
“Natalya comes from Nizhny Novgorod. She's Russian, she comes from a very simple background and spent her childhood living in a poor suburb of Nizhny and most of her playtime was outside, as most of the kids, without any structure or security around her and she was just playing on the street or in the basement of a building,” Valerie-Anne Creps, Naked Heart Foundation representative, explained.
Natalya worked, as a child, selling fruit on the streets, to help her family out of poverty. But that was before she was spotted by a modeling agency. Now, according to Forbes Magazine, she's the seventh highest earning model in the world.
Natalya's life is a real rag to riches story, which has evidently inspired her need to help children less fortunate than herself. She says she's come back to Russia with love, and with hope. Her playgrounds, she says, will give children a chance to dream, and to imagine a better Russia.
Natalya Vodianova says she's using her fame and fortune to serve the needs of Russian children.
“As a Russian child I grew up understanding that no one cared about me, including the government. By working with the government we're trying to change that concept because it's a negative feeling. If you feel, no matter how much money you have, if you feel loved, if you feel cared for, it triggers a different mindset, look this is for me,” she said.
According to the Naked Heart Foundation, there are 6 MLN children living in poverty in Russia.
Lydia Bugaryenko from Megion in Tyumen region is one of them. She says before this playground was built in her city she had no where to spend her free time. She's grateful, she says, for Natalya's charity.
“Natalia is nice, good, beautiful. We all like her very much. She has a very good attitude to everyone here and she's so kind to children. That means a lot to me, she's a good example for me,” the girl said.
So, Natalia Vodianova's not only a model, but a role-model. She may be the face of Calvin Klein, but she seems more inclined to capture the hearts of Russian children.