I managed an event company for 20 years. "Events. Figaro" in Mariupol — the most successful among similar companies in the city. Twenty years of continuous celebration: events, surprises, happy faces. Mariupol prospered, everything was bright and colorful, like in a good movie.
The holidays were replaced by constant stress and terror. On March 11, two bombs fell on our courtyard. When I opened the door to my apartment, I saw my neighbors dead, the same neighbors with whom I had been warming tea on a bonfire just a minute and a half earlier. This turned my whole understanding of life upside down.
I gathered my family, stepping over bodies and blood on the stairs, put them in the damaged car, and drove to the center. I had one goal—to find gasoline and break through the front lines. I knew that staying was pointless.
A friend let me into the bomb shelter — a movie theater «Komsomolets»There I saw 300 people—gray, dirty, standing in line for food. Of them, 150 were children.
I was stunned. Devastated. I wanted to leave as soon as possible.
We left on March 14. We spent the night in a safe village. That night, I couldn't sleep. The image of those children haunted me. It felt as if they were my own daughters. I realized I had to go back.
On March 15, we were back in Mariupol. We hired a bus. Then a second one. A third one.
Every evacuation is a risk. Fear. When your body won't listen to you, you want to hide. But you go — because your children are there.
We transported people through shelling, minefields, and checkpoints. We negotiated with villagers to temporarily shelter our refugees.
My partner and I went seven times. We evacuated 1,500 people.
When we were forbidden to travel further, I realized that helping the children was only just beginning. Evacuation is the first step. But these children need healing.
The children of Mariupol have been through hell. They have seen death, loss, and destruction. They are deeply traumatized—psychologically, emotionally, and spiritually.
They need more than just food. They need their childhood back.
I grew up in Mariupol, in Novoselivka (not a very prosperous district of Mariupol). My childhood was also difficult. And I know for sure: if you don't love children, they will repay that lack of love a hundredfold.
No amount of money or food parcels will change society. Only love, sacrifice, and dedication will.
That is why we have created a program of children's rehabilitation camps.
And today we have a dream to have our own rehabilitation center.
The war will end someday. But the trauma will remain for generations.
Children who are now 8 years old will carry this pain with them at 18, 28, and 38 — if we don't help them now.
We're here for the long haul. We are building a system that will work for decades:
2026–2028: Scaling – 10+ camps per year, 1000+ children, strengthening the team
2028–2031: Our own year-round rehabilitation center for 200 children, a permanent professional team of psychologists and therapists
2031–2035: Expansion to adolescents and young adults. Create a sustainable rehabilitation system for thousands of children for generations to come.
Educator-psychologist-interpreter
Educator-psychologist-interpreter
Medical worker
Educator-psychologist-interpreter
Volunteer driver
Volunteer driver
Volunteer, driver, teenage ministry leader
My faith gave me the strength to take my children away under fire. Christ is the center of everything.
The best rehabilitation techniques, qualified specialists, the best places on the planet for this
We accept all children regardless of religion or family status.
Every hryvnia counts. You always know where your money is going.
This is not a one-time event. It is a lifelong calling.
Everyone's help is important
Hundreds of children are waiting for love, healing, and the return of their childhood. Will you be one of those who help them?
“If you don't love children, they will repay that lack of love a hundredfold. Let's love them together.”
— Askold Kvyatkovsky, founder of the foundation
