**DAVYD REQUIRES BOTH REGULAR AND MEDICAL SPONSORSHIP**
Dear Sponsor,
My name is Davyd and I am 9 years old. I live in a town. My dad’s name is Vitalii and he works in the Police Security Department. When he is home, he helps me and my younger brother Bohdan with our homework. My mom’s name is Antonina. She stays at home, cooks, cleans, and takes us to our clubs. She always helps us.
I have 4 brothers. Two of them live away, and I miss them a lot because I see them only once a year. At home I live with Kyrylo and Bohdan. Kyrylo plays soccer and biathlon, and Bohdan is always happy and makes us smile.
I go to school by bus, even though it breaks down a lot. I am in Grade 4. My favorite subject is Math. I like school because I have many friends, and we help each other with homework and play games.
At home, I play the violin for my family and help my mom clean and cook. I love her food, especially pastries, meat, pelmeni, and pyrizhky. In the summer, I dance in charity concerts and go to Christian camps. I love learning Bible stories and reading the Bible.
My favorite holiday is Christmas. We decorate the tree together, and I play a Christmas song on my violin. We sing carols and sometimes visit relatives.
Dear sponsor, thank you so much for helping my family. I am very grateful to God for you. I would be very happy to get a letter from you. May God bless you.
Your friend,
Davyd
Caseworker Comments:
Meet Davyd — a bright, warm‑hearted, and remarkably resilient child. He loves reading the Bible and attending Bible study classes, and his favorite school subjects are math and physical education. He enjoys singing, dancing, and playing the violin, and he helps at home by cleaning his room and washing dishes. Davyd attends a dance studio and studies violin in Grade 4. Despite everything he has endured, he dreams of becoming a thoracic surgeon, inspired by his own medical journey.
Davyd’s childhood has been shaped by extraordinary challenges. On November 21, 2018, at just two years old, he was diagnosed with leukemia. Over the next two years, he underwent intensive treatment in an oncology hospital, including 30 chemotherapy sessions. By God’s grace, he overcame the disease. Doctors say that after five years of remission, a child is considered fully recovered. Four years have passed, and his doctors remain hopeful.
Yet the long‑term consequences of treatment continue to affect his daily life. Davyd now lives with secondary monodeficiency, an esophageal stricture caused by scarring, and a hiatal hernia — all complications from chemotherapy. He suffers from frequent infections, often becoming ill every month. The damage to his esophagus required surgery, which led to the hernia he now has. He remains under constant medical supervision and takes medication regularly. These ongoing health needs place a heavy burden on the family.
Davyd is part of a large, loving family. There are two children from the mother’s first marriage and three from the second. The parents have been together for 17 years, and their relationship is strong, stable, and caring. The father once worked as a farmer but now serves as a driver for the Police Security Department. The mother cannot work because Davyd’s health requires constant attention.
The family’s living conditions are extremely difficult. They currently live in a small, old, rented house with two rooms, a kitchen, and a narrow corridor. There is no bathroom; the children bathe in a basin, heating water in pots and carrying it inside in buckets. The toilet is outside. Heating is provided by a kerosene stove because they cannot afford firewood, so they heat the rooms only at night to save fuel.
Their situation became even more tragic when their home in the Kyiv region — once their own property — was looted and destroyed by Russian forces. They cannot sell it or use it to rebuild their lives. Before the war, the family farmed, owned land shares, and had agricultural machinery. All of it was stolen. They entrusted their land shares to acquaintances who promised to pay the taxes, but without formal documents, the family was left with a large tax debt. As a result, the father’s salary card is blocked, and his entire income goes toward paying off this debt. A Total of 21,000 UAH ($672 CAD) in debt remains.
With the father’s salary withheld, the family survives almost entirely on Davyd’s monthly disability pension of 3,250 UAH ($108 CAD)— barely enough to cover basic food, let alone medical needs.
The children are well cared for, clean, polite, and attend school regularly. They participate in free extracurricular activities and receive medical care whenever possible. During visits, they are friendly, though understandably quiet. The parents are attentive and responsible, doing everything they can despite overwhelming hardship.
Another child, Bohdan, faces his own challenges. He has a speech development delay caused by the trauma of living under occupation. The family spent a month under Russian control — their home was only 17 km from Belarus and among the first to be seized. They eventually fled. Bohdan now receives therapy from a speech therapist and psychologist and struggles with hyperactivity.
All the children require periodic immunological examinations (8,505 UAH / $200 CAD) and testing for hereditary angioedema (8,970 UAH / $210 CAD). Davyd also needs a CT scan. These costs are far beyond what the family can afford. They must sacrifice even basic necessities to cover medical needs.
Since relocating from the Kyiv region on April 17, 2022, the family has moved three times within Berezhany. Rent prices have risen sharply due to the war, and most available homes are occupied by displaced families. Because of Davyd’s health, they must live in the city rather than a village, making housing even harder to find. The parents made small cosmetic repairs to their current rental, but the conditions remain extremely modest.
The rooms are tiny, the furniture is minimal, and one of the children sleeps in the kitchen. Water must be carried from the yard, and bathing is done in a basin. The house is kept clean, but the lack of basic amenities makes daily life exhausting.
Right now, the children are growing up without stable nutrition, without the medical examinations they urgently need, and without the security every child deserves. The family is deeply involved in their church community — the mother attends prayer breakfasts and women’s ministry, and the children attend Saturday Bible classes. Their faith remains strong, even as their circumstances grow more difficult.
This family urgently needs comprehensive support. Support from HART’s Child Sponsorship Program would help provide stable nutrition, essential medical care, and safer living conditions. Their story is one of resilience, faith, and love — but also of profound loss and hardship.
They are one of countless families whose lives have been shattered by war, yet they continue to fight for hope. Supporting them means giving Davyd and his siblings the chance to grow, heal, and dream again.
