They survived the Russian occupation, lost their home, and then were forced to leave their native village. All this the children of the family-type orphanage from Volokhivka, Vovchansk community, had to experience. The pupils of the family-type orphanage from Volokhivka village moved to a new home. Now they are living in Bryhadyrivka in Izium community. Volunteers of the “Adults to Children” charity foundation provided them with home. The house in Volokhivka was hit by russian shells, the family had to leave, says Olha Artemenko, mother-educator. “Several rockets flew straight into our yard. The windows and walls were broken. Only part of the roof remained, we have to cover it. The house became unfit for living. The sheds were destroyed, and the car was broken,” — the mother-educator recalls. The main thing is staying alive. We are now here, in Ukraine. The children would not smile once while we were under the russian occupation. Olha says that the russian military began shelling Volokhivka in the fall, when the village was liberated. Before that, the family with 10 children had lived in the occupation for six months. “One bar of chocolate cost 200-250 hryvnas (5-6 USD), or even 300 hryvnias (7.5 USD). And you can’t buy meat at all. They were afraid to say something wrong, and to hide all Ukrainian symbols, because for that the russians took people to the assembly plant building and tortured,” — Olha’s pupil Oleksandra Basova says. In the near future, the family is going to have Internet access in their new home, so that children can study online. The family is arranging life in the new house. For now it is impossible to come back to Volokhivka: “Let’s not lose heart, the children are helping, my children are doing well.”
Source: Ukrainian Public TV
