Providing books to Ukraine’s disadvantaged children

Last Friday the organizers of the all-Ukrainian charitable project Providing Books to Children – the Ukraine-3000 international charitable foundation, Hrani-T Publishers, the Friends of Children Society charitable foundation, and the Vitaniia Christian youth organization – paid a visit to Ternopil. This is the beginning of an almost year-long tour of Ukraine.

During this time the project participants, supported by many business and media partners, including The Day and some well-known figures from the world of culture and sports, will be popularizing books and reading among socially disadvantaged children and teenagers, such as residents of orphanages, refuges, family-type children’s homes, and prison colonies for minors.

The activists will also create children’s libraries and replenish book collections in children’s institutions throughout Ukraine. The project’s motto is “Let’s Take Care of Ukraine’s Intellect Together!”

Approximately 350 books of different genres and intended for all ages have been delivered to the Ternopil charitable foundation Caritas, the municipal refuge, and the Faith and Light Society for mentally handicapped children. Most of the books were published by Hrani-T. The project organizers also purchased books from The Day‘s Library Series for upper-grade pupils. Our bestsellers Ukraina Incognita, Dvi Rusi, and Wars and Peace will come in handy during compulsory and optional history lessons.

“We now have 27 children between the ages of 3 and 18,” said Natalia Mysula, director of Holy Family Orphanage. “They are orphans and children whose parents were stripped of their parental rights. Holy Family is a non-state-run refuge operated by the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church. And since we are not funded by the state, we are not always in a position to acquire books that are necessary for children’s development. And here we have received so many wonderfully designed books for children in preschool and the junior, middle, and upper grades! Fiction, educational, and translated literature!

“But the main thing is that people care. Both children and teenagers long for human warmth and care. It is good that this book project is not a one-time affair: we’ve brought some books and that’s the end of it. Soon we will be welcoming volunteers from Plast and other youth organizations that are involved in the project. Our children will be reading books with them, and then they will exchange impressions,” said the orphanage director.

I remember a story told to me by an acquaintance that used to give away her books to orphans. A little girl asked her, “Is this my book now?” When my friend said yes, she clasped the book to her chest and sat quietly thinking about something for about 10 minutes. Until that moment the girl had never had anything of her own.

After Ternopil the book project will travel to Kherson oblast and from there to Ivano-Frankivsk.