Five years…exactly five years ago I clicked on the “The Children of Zaporizhia” website and instead of the career as a journalist I had dreamt of, I got “my children”. And all my conversations with people (friends or strangers – it doesn’t really matter) somehow always come to “The Children of Zaporizhia” – a project I cannot imagine my life without.
I remember how five years ago I dialed the number of Albert Pavlov , a volunteer who helped children sick with cancer in Zaporizhia. “I want to help!”, I said to Albert. “Okay, come along!”, he replied. “But there’s a little problem. I am a wheelchair user”, I told him in a carefree, playful way. After a minute of silence Albert asked me the only question “What can you do?” If I only knew myself!!! The only thing I knew at that moment was that I wanted to help these children!
Our first public event was called “A Smile Against Cancer”. This event was attended by many journalists. You have probably heard the joke “Rabbits are not only a valuable fur…”? So, that could easily be applied to me as I spoke in front of a camera. Cameramen had to retake the episode of me three times as I had to say just three simple sentences. My speech was either “too lightly digestible” or like some “dietary fat”. I also remember the moment when my wheelchair couldn’t fit through the doors of the apartment where the event was filmed. Therefore, Albert had to carry me in his arms.
I remember our first thousand hryvnyas (124 US dollars) raised for purchasing quartz lamps for a hospital department. Vladik Volev is the first child we managed to save from chemotherapy complications. After this first euphoria of success, we had to come down to Earth again. We are not gods and children still go on dying despite our supreme efforts.
There was a little blond boy in his mother’s arms at the hospital yard – Danijil Pshenichny. Several days before our meeting, Albert shocked me by telling me the sum of money required to save the boy’s life – $65, 000 US dollars. “You’re crazy!”, I replied. “We will never manage to collect such a huge amount of money!” Albert’s reply was calm “If we don’t find this money, the boy will die”. As soon as I saw Danijil at the hospital yard, I had no doubts left. We had to do everything possible and impossible to give this child a chance for life!
I remember December 2006. We asked the children in the hematology department what gifts they wanted from Ded Moroz (Slavonic Santa Claus). Andrjusha Fenogenov said, “I want a helicopter that can fly”. Although the boy’s mom drew her little son back by saying, “Andrjusha, Ded Moroz doesn’t have such a helicopter”, the boy firmly responded, “Mom, Ded Moroz has everything. You just write to him, write!” Vovka Shkryabko confessed “I actually do not believe in Ded Moroz. But to be on the safe side, tell him that I want a big nice car”.
There was a New Year’s party at the hematology department. ”Look here, it is flying!!!” – confirmed a happy Andrjushka. “Yeah, you drive your wheelchair better than a car”, summed up Vovka trying to teach me, such a silly girl, how to operate his car with a remote control. There were many happy children’s smiles. Honestly speaking, I was deathly tired at that moment. I knew, however, that my fatigue would be soon over, but the sweet memories of those sparkling eyes with, “Look here, it is flying!!!” warm my heart even now, five years later.
I remember our first attempt to raise awareness of the problems of cancer-stricken children with the help of leaflets. Most people reacted this way: “Do children also suffer from cancer?” One must help improve understanding of some basic concepts and only after that, can one expect support.
At one of the competitions I was speaking about our charity work. I dislike being in the public eye, so I presented my report without any pause, with my eyes fixed and my hands hidden under my trembling legs. The presentation displaying our children saved me from a complete failure since people were watching it instead of looking at the zombie-like Iryna Gavrisheva.
Spring 2007 marked the registration of “The Happy Child” Charity Foundation. Our team basically consisted of four people. According to the regulations there were two executive positions – chairman of board and a president. As the president should be “mobile”, this position went to Albert and I was proudly appointed to be a “Chairman of the Board”. Although there were only three people in the executive position, I was still a chairman. :)
In September 2007 during my conference in Dublin, I showed a picture of myself and five children from our hematology department. I did not speak English very well, so when they asked me, “Who are these children?”, I replied, “They are my children!” I could not help noticing the big eyes around me. “Ira, do you really have five children?!” I did not understand what confused them so much (I always call the children we support “my children”), so I added, “No, I actually have 25 children!” (the number of children in the hematology department). My reply caused a real shock. But when we cleared up the misunderstanding, everyone laughed for a long time.
Igor Podgorny (the article in Russian) – we were supposed to collect 11,000 hryvnyas (1,368 US dollars) within two days for him. We appealed for help everywhere we could and in different ways. Doctors grumbled, “You won’t buy this medicine in time, so let’s treat children who still have a chance”. But we managed! Contrary to their beliefs, Igor completed an effective and modern therapy.
New Year’s party in 2008 at the hematology department – Vovka Shkryabko, who adored me, offered me candy with the words, “It’s for you. Happy New Year! I have nothing else I can present you.” He looked down shyly. I hugged him. This was the first gift from “my children” after a year and a half of my work. I was moved to tears.
Nastya Sizonenko – the first child with a non-cancer diagnosis whom we decided to help. We had great doubts about whether we should really support her case. Could we cope with something more than hematology?” It was becoming more and more difficult to refuse non-cancer little patients however. Moreover, the prognoses for some such patients were in the same way negative as in cancer cases.
The 2nd of July, 2008 was that long-awaited date of Danijil Pshenichny’s bone marrow transplant (more than 130, 000 US dollars were collected for the boy’s surgery). This boy is really dear to me and it seemed that I would give anything and everything to ease his severe ordeals. He showed me his handcrafts through a webcamera, sent me smiley Skype messages and felt worried about my own coming surgery. Once, when I tried to cheer him up with the words “Danijil, you’re so strong and brave”, he replied, “I don’t want to be strong! I want my pains to be over!” These words cut my heart like a knife and made me cry helplessly in front of my computer.
August 2008 – Vladik Tikhonov. This boy urgently needed a bone marrow transplant. We were eagerly searching for money with the help of charity street events. I danced in my wheelchair to the beat of the drums in front of a crowd near the “Ukrajina” department store. I had to entertain people and, thus, keep their attention before the main show started. Big boards, city lights, newspapers, TV, banners. But the world economic crisis and the foreign currency downturn devoured money faster than we collected it. Sadly, it was too late for Vladik. I felt nothing, but emptiness and a great desire to quit our charity activities.
“To Live Tomorrow” , was a holiday held for children who had won their battles against cancer. It’s too early to say that they’re completely healthy. They had to go through challenging times. I could not recognize all of them when I looked at the group of children. It filled my heart with great joy to see all of them smiling in a hall full of colourful balloons instead of hospital wards.
It was Summer 2009 and I did not take my eyes off the Dnipropetrovsk airport doors. The doors soon opened and I saw my lovely Danijil Pshenichy!!! He came back home as a hero!!! I could hardly believe in this miracle. Danijil was sitting on my knees and hugging me, and that was not a dream but reality. The transplantation surgery was over and Danijil is now an ordinary, healthy boy! This made me feel as if I had wings! The dark highway road, the feeling of complete and utter happiness, and the thought that “what we do is not in vain” is engraved in my memory forever. It was well worth the effort to save Danijil alone!
The next year and a half was a tough period for me. My serious health problems hindered my work. And when I finally solved my personal issues and came back to the office of our Charity Foundation, one of our new employers asked me “Who are you?” So, I had to explain to her that I had been her “boss” who finally showed up. :)
What is “The Children of Zaporizhia” for me? It’s not work. It’s not a hobby. It’s rather my way of life. It’s when you can get a phone call any moment and you start searching for money, medicine, clinics for a child you never saw before. It’s when victories alternate with great disappointments. It is life among weird people who want to make this world better not by words alone, but by real actions!
I’ve changed a lot over these five years. Our team has also changed a lot. Now I give interviews without retaking. I speak in public and briskly wave with my hands and make jokes. I don’t dream of saving the whole world anymore. I’m a gloomy realist and cynic. I’m aware of the fact that I am just not able to save the whole world, let alone even half of it. But I know that it’s really possible to save one person or at least to try to do that. And it’s definitely worth it! It’s worth at least trying!
I love my job in the Charity Foundation and I see that my work effectiveness has increased a lot over five years ago. However, I often sadly recollect the time when I just joined the charity group as a volunteer, visited the hematology department and knew its life inside out. I recollect my smiles and tears with the parents of ill children. I miss that time very much. It’s awfully boring to be a serious “Chairman of Board”. The job is not in my nature. But there’s no way back…
These five years were special for me. These years differ from the years before. What would my life be like if I hadn’t clicked on the link sent to me by a newspaper office? I cannot imagine it today. Although my fantasy is quite rich, it’s definitely not rich enough to imagine what I’d do without “The Children of Zaporizhia” being in my life. I realize that I would probably not have so many tragedies and disappointments, but then again, I’d never experience so many victories and happy moments. I have no regrets about joining “The Children of Zaporizhia” team and spending five unforgettable and wonderful years there!
