In Mariupol volunteers decided to help doctors to fight against the coronavirus epidemic. Leaving their peaceful affairs people of different professions, which sometimes are very far from medicine, entered the battle with a dangerous epidemic.

It is difficult to overestimate the influence of the “Republic Pilgrim” on lives of kids and adolescents who found themselves in difficult life circumstances, who lost their relatives or become addicted to alcohol or drugs. The story of eleven-year-old Daniel was no exception. A single mother found herself with two kids in a difficult situation: the house in which the family lived in the village of Granitnoye burned down, there was no permanent job, the mother tried to improve her life, but the kids at that time were left on the sidelines and were often left to themselves. That is why Daniel was forced to look for food for himself, did not attend school, with his fellow accomplices committed petty thefts, cut off available metal, penetrating into the territory of the metallurgical plant.

In Mariupol the pastor  and founder of the rehabilitation center “Republic Pilgrim” Gennady Mokhnenko has taken 34th child into his family. The newly adopted son’s name is Artur.

Due to the extended quarantine, the pilgrims’ summer vacation is significantly different from the usual program.  The kids and adolescents were not able to travel this year, they couldn’t make tourist outings and conduct cultural tours. However, life in “Republic Pilgrim” is going on.

Policemen of Donetsk region have been taking care of the kids of the center of children’s rehabilitation “Republic Pilgrim” for a long time. Today, 35 children of different ages live in the institution. They all need special care and human understanding.

The second half of the school year in the Republic Pilgrim. The Center of Children’s Rehabilitation Republic Pilgrim was in the quarantine mode as  all educational institutions. But in the face of uncertainty the ninth graders were still able to complete the next stage in their lives and had an unforgettable graduation party.

Spring at Pilgrim, like in the rest of the world, turned out to be difficult.  The unstable economic situation in Ukraine has noticeably shaken due to the coronovirus pandemic. Food prices have been raised abruptly, many people have lost their jobs, and means of living have declined. The citizens of the state of former street kids also felt a serious crisis. The solution to the problem was the development of a small subsidiary farm in order to be able to provide the kids with food from their own land plots.

The holiday house for the former street kids. This project at the Charity Fund “Pilgrim” has long ceased to be the project for recreation and picnics. Today it is an integral part of the subsidiary farm in the village of “Pilgrim”, which can grow into a real farm that can significantly improve the nutrition of the children and wards in other projects of the fund.

The coronavirus pandemic did not bypass the Children’s Rehabilitation Center “Pilgrim Republic”. The kids are in quarantine and it undoubtedly changed the rhythm of life of the kids, teachers and the charity fund as a whole.