Dear Sponsor,
My name is Valeriia and I am 11 years old. I live in a village. My dad is in the military and he defends our country. My mom doesn’t live with us and she doesn’t work.
My best friend’s name is also Valeriia! She lives in Malyn. We are friends because we have the same name, and that is funny. I like playing Roblox. At Christmas, I eat tangerines and lots of sweets.
I am in 6th grade and I go to school by bus. I stay there for 7 hours. I like school and all the subjects, like math, Polish, Ukrainian, and history. My favorite subject is PE.
I like eating borscht, buckwheat, sausages, cheese sandwiches, cutlets, salads, fish, tea, and juice.
In my free time, I love drawing and cooking.
When I grow up, I want to be a surgeon, a cook, a firefighter, and also an artist.
I want to thank my sponsor for being so kind and caring. Thank you for helping my family and me. I would really like to know you better.
I can’t wait to hear back from you.
With love,
Valeriia
Caseworker Comments:
Meet Valeriia. She is a gentle, polite, and responsible young girl with a calm spirit and a bright imagination. She loves Arts & Crafts and has a remarkable talent for drawing. Her creativity shines through everything she does, and she dreams of a future where her gifts can flourish. At home, Valeriia helps her father and older brother by preparing meals and keeping the house tidy. Despite the hardships she has faced, she remains a happy child with a radiant smile and a hopeful heart. She attends school, loves the Ukrainian language, and finds joy in expressing herself through art. Her older brother studies online, and together the children do their best to support their father. They are grateful to be in a safe place, but their situation is fragile. What they urgently need now is stable material, social, and spiritual support to ensure their future is not lost to hardship.
The Kryvoruchko family is living through extremely difficult circumstances. The children are now cared for only by their father, as their mother has battled long-term drug and alcohol addiction. Just a month ago, she was officially deprived of her parental rights, leaving the children without stable care or proper living conditions. When social services intervened, the father was granted custody. But at that time, he had no home of his own, no financial means to provide even basic necessities, and was serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Their situation was partially alleviated when a kind Christian woman offered them a small, old house in the village, free of charge. This act of generosity saved the family from homelessness.
When the father first brought the children to their new home, they were in a heartbreaking state — dirty, without warm clothing, and lacking even the most basic essentials. Their previous life in Malyn had been marked by poverty and neglect due to their mother’s addiction, often leaving them without food. The house they now live in is old and in need of renovation, but the father keeps it spotless. It has two rooms, a kitchen, and an indoor toilet, with both cold and hot running water. The children’s beds are broken and had to be reinforced with nails just to hold together. Heating is a constant struggle: part of the house is warmed with firewood, part with gas. This is costly, but necessary to keep the children safe and warm through the cold months.
The father does everything he can to provide for his children, but without outside support, it is nearly impossible. He suffers from vision problems and previously worked digging graves at a cemetery — a physically demanding job that never provided stable income. Out of desperation, he signed a contract with the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Though he is currently serving, he is expected to be discharged soon, as he is the sole guardian of two minor children. His salary is low, and the family receives no state assistance. HART Program staff have already visited and offered some help, but the family’s needs remain overwhelming.
The Kryvoruchko family urgently needs support through HART’s Child Sponsorship Program. Sponsorship will provide Valeriia and her brother with basic necessities such as food, clothing, and safe bedding; educational opportunities so Valeriia can continue school and nurture her artistic talents; a stable home environment where the children can grow up feeling secure and cared for; and spiritual support to help them find hope, faith, and the possibility of a transformed future.
