By Iana Dashkovska | Project Leader
Dear friends,
thank you for helping to provide children and their family members with free accommodation at the Dacha!
Today I would like to tell you about 9-year-old Makar. This boy has been on treatment in Kyiv for almost a year. When he receives a chemo cycle or any other therapy, he goes to the hospital. For the rest of the time, Makar lives with his mom at the Dacha. His older sister Ania stays at home in Zaporizzhia, 600 km from Kyiv. She really misses her mom and her little brother. Kids like her often feel left behind and may ask questions like “Are you still my mom or only Makar’s mom?” It’s true that in such a situation mothers tend to devote more time to children who are seriously ill. That’s why we always encourage inviting their family members to the Dacha where they can spend time together. Ania comes to her mom and to Makar regularly and she is happy to be here with them here.
Now only 6 families can get a room at the Dacha. Recently, we have announced the construction of a new bigger center for 15 families. The construction has started but we face a problem that we never expected: the neighbors don’t want to see our Dacha. They don’t want children with cancer in their neighborhood because “they will infect their own children, spoil the aura and reduce the cost of their real estate”. They say “your kids have one or two years left to live and we have our whole lives ahead of us”. Just the same what Makar’s classmates may say when they speak via Skype: “Are you still alive?” That’s what they probably heard from their parents stereotyping.
We know that childhood cancer is not a death sentence. And we believe that every child should have a chance to live. All together we are trying to do our best that kids could have happy childhood memories playing here at the Dacha and forgetting about their disease. And these kids may really forget everything about treatment and pain but they just remember “a big beautiful house” where they had lots of fun. That’s what Sonia told us when she came for a visit as a teenager a few years later after her Dacha experience as a little kid. That’s why we are sure that with your help we will overcome all the obstacles to create a special place where kids can be just kids. Even if they are fighting against cancer.
Thank you for your contributions that make Dacha possible!
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