Every childhood should be filled with warm memories and playful days … a life of wonder, possibility, love and joy. Childhoods like the ones you most likely might remember.
Instead, over the past decade, we’ve seen the childhoods of so many of our young neighbors filled with war, famine, natural disaster and heartache. Their toys lay strewn across broken roads covered in debris, their homes have been reduced to ruin and rubble, and their days of carefree play outside are gone.
Their childhoods have been interrupted.
Your compassion is critical to restoring joy to children’s lives.
… children like Diana Yurchenko, whose little world was turned upside down when Russian troops invaded her homeland of Ukraine. Diana was enjoying a fun visit to her grandparents’ house when the war broke out. It began like any normal visit you may have had with your grandchildren or grandparents.
One minute, Diana was being lovingly spoiled by her grandfather and her grandmother, Lidia. Moments later, her grandparents were using their bodies as human shields to protect little Diana from shrapnel.
One day, Russian soldiers invited residents to come out of hiding to receive supplies. Because Lidia needed food and medicine for her granddaughter, who she loves so much, she took the risk.
Yet “just two hours later, shells and cluster bombs started to fall, and many people were wounded there,” Lidia said. She and her husband barely escaped.
A visit to her grandmother Lidia’s house quickly turned to horror for Diana when her Ukrainian village was attacked.
After this horrifying attack, they fled their home to the forest. There, they hid in the basement of a ranger cabin — living off the land and donations from people in the town — until they received word their town was liberated and returned home.
Sadly, this false sense of freedom was short-lived. The very next day, there was a massive explosion in their yard. Lidia felt the great responsibility of keeping her granddaughter safe. “I couldn’t hold it [together] any longer,” Lidia shared. “I started crying and said, ‘I can’t go through this anymore.’”
You can imagine the heavy burden Lidia carries as she worries for the safety of her granddaughter. And feel the fear young Diana has every day, wondering if her world will ever be safe again.
Diana participates in art therapy to deal with the trauma of violence she’s experienced.
Thankfully, Lidia, her husband and Diana fled to a safe haven where Diana can rest her head peacefully at night — without the threat of bombs. She can also participate in art therapy programs with other children who experienced the trauma of seeing horrific violence and feeling unimaginable heartbreak at such a young age.
By sharing your blessings today, you provide safe shelter, warm meals and therapy services for children like Diana and their families who are traumatized.
Your love is reaching your neighbors in need no matter how far...
…like young Micael in Peru. Micael also lives under the love and care of his grandparents who worried they couldn’t provide him with enough nutrient-rich food to give him a healthy start to life or teach him valuable lifesaving skills like farming.
Yet, thanks to generous and caring people, like you, who want children to have bright futures and happy childhoods, Micael’s grandparents were able to learn sustainable ways of growing food, raising livestock and earning an income.
Micael’s future is bright because of the kindness of neighbors like you. Once facing constant hunger, your love lifted his family out of poverty and taught them sustainable ways of growing food.
His grandmother, Eusebia, is thankful for your support, which has transformed their lives. “I feed my children, myself,” Eusebia said. “The same in the greenhouse. I have my food, my chard, my spinach, my lettuce ... My hen is the same way. I sell eggs. I feed my children. That’s how I live.”
Your generosity helped Micael’s grandparents lift themselves out of poverty and bring joy and hope for a bright future into his young life.
No child should ever have to battle hunger like Micael or violence like Diana…
…but sadly, young Aichata’s childhood is being interrupted by both.
She and her family were forced to flee violence in their hometown to live in the Segou Region of Mali. But their move to find safety has brought nothing but pain and tragedy.
Aichata’s childhood has been interrupted by both hunger and violence.
Aichata’s only brother died, and her mother is suffering from a debilitating illness that traditional healers in the area can’t treat.
With her mom often unable to work, Aichata and her sisters go hungry and aren’t growing properly due to the lack of nutrient-rich food. “When the children don’t get food, they get sick … I have to then rely on God,” said Aichata’s mother.
Will you be the answer to their prayers?
Your giving heart allows children like Diana, Micael and Achiata the chance to feel the joy of childhood — just like the children in your life that you love so much.
Together, we will persist until your love reaches every neighbor.
