News

The banner of Mariupol has arrived at the capital of Poland.
The former street kids left the borders of Ukraine within the worldwide bike tour “ The World without orphans” and they continue their way along Europe. The first European country has become a friendly Poland

The participants of the worldwide bike tour entered the city of Lviv
The participants of the worldwide bike tour entered the city of Lviv in the 11th of July and about 50 cyclists rode through the city center of Lviv within the bike action around the world “Ukraine and the world without orphans”.

Around the world with the mission of adoption
The cyclists from Mariupol are making a bike tour along the countries of the North and the west of Europe

On bikes around the world: the participants of the bike action «Ukraine without orphans» have arrived in the city of Rivne.
On bikes they ride to Europe. During the next 2 months the children will overcome 300 miles. A small group of enthusiastic young men who used to be orphans in the past travel around the world and call upon all people to fight against orphanhood. Today within the bike tour the cyclists reached Rivne.

The next stage of the bike action “Ukraine and the world without orphans” has started in Kiev.
The team of the cyclists consists of the kids from adoptive and foster families, from adoptive and foster parents and the graduates of orphanages.At the press conference the initiator of the bike tour and the founder of the charity fund “Pilgrim”, the adoptive father of 32 kids, and currently the chaplain of the Ukrainian army, Gennadiy Mokhnenko informed that this stage of the bike action will go through 10 countries and will last about 2 months.

The pilgrims are entering the new life
For the staff and for the children of the “Republic Pilgrim” the graduation is a special experience and an important stage in the rehabilitation of difficult teens. When looking at smart suits and beautiful dresses, nice hairstyles and solemn look of the guys the teachers wonder – it is hard to believe that they cope to finish school. Many of them never used to study some of them dropped the school due to their amoral conduct and also because they missed lessons or didn’t do well or even were a step from getting to jail.

Steve Hoover: “Almost Holy” is a film about the activist who does whatever is possible in the collapsed system
“Almost Holy” or “ Crocodile Gennadiy” is a film about the Mariupol priest Gennadiy Mokhnenko who saves homeless children giving them a place to stay and a chance to start their life afresh.

Review: ‘Almost Holy’ Demonstrates a Pastor’s Tough Love for Street Kids in Ukraine
A good example of how a charismatic figure doesn’t automatically generate a deep or compelling documentary, “Almost Holy” follows the efforts of Gennadiy Mokhnenko, a pastor in Ukraine. He snatches homeless children off the streets — many are addicts — and takes them to Pilgrim Republic, the rehabilitation center he founded in the city of Mariupol.

A chaplain and an adoptive father of 8 kids Albert Khomyak: “Serving these kids I am serving God”.
Albert Khomyak used to be a manager of the rehab center for adults where he was helping drug addicts and alcoholics to solve issues to do with addictions and for them to start new life. After one of the services where he heard about the subject of adoption he came to the conclusion: it is better to take a child to your family and teach him before he gets into trouble and then one won’t need to correct him when he is grown up and in trouble”.

«Almost Holy» in Ukraine.
Within the cinematographic festival Dokufest, the premiere of the film about the head of the charity fund “Pilgrim” and pastor of the Church of Good Changes, Gennadiy Mokhnenko, had a great success.

Ukrainian street children have completed a six-year unprecedented round-the-world bicycle action “The World Without Orphans”.
The last 5 thousand kilometers passed in 3 months in 12 states of the United States of America from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean. The team of Pilgrims led by pastor Gennady Mokhnenko completed the round-the-world tour, claiming that the dream of a world without orphans moves across all countries and continents, and this process can not be stopped.

Graduation of new generation of pilgrims
Every year many children from the “Republic Pilgrim” children are graduating, and not only graduate from school, but also successfully complete the path of rehabilitation and are ready to return home. If, of course, there is where to return.

From a homeless guy from an ATO zone to a minister of sport of «Republic Pilgrim»
Artem is now 11 years old and he lives in Pilgrim for a year already. Earlier in his life a boy lived in a village Mirny with his mum. His mum had problems with alcohol addiction so Artem spent his free time wandering on the streets, being all too himself and having no appropriate care. When the war in East Ukraine started, a situation in a boys’ family didn’t change much – he was seen on the streets even while there were bombings!

The last 5000 km of round-the-world tour «World Without Orphans»
Former orphans and kids from children’s rehabilitation center «Republic Pilgrim» are preparing to finish a round-the-world bike tour called «World Without Orphans» and on the first days of May this year they will go to North America. Starting from Los Angeles, California and ending in Miami, Florida state, they will overcome few thousands kilometres on their bikes, proclaiming their wildest dream, telling people about the value of the family for every single child in this world. Participants of this tour hope to prove the society that a Global Orphans Crisis – is just a myth that can be overcome by providing support for adoptive families, promoting adopting orphans or directly taking children to their families.

«PilGrill» for orphans and refugees.
Mariupol Charity fund «Pilgrim» realizes the biggest rehability project in Ukraine for children and teenagers who got into difficult situations in life, does work in a sphere of adult rehabilitation, helps elderly people who have no place to live and no facilities to survive. Because of the military situation in Eastern Ukraine it also doe some work with those who were forced to move away as refugees, and helps peaceful citizens in a war zone.

The friendship of the police and the Pilgrim
Robbery, burglary, car thefts and drugs are not just crimes but also a reason to get acquainted with policemen. The majority of the kids in the center “Republic Pilgrim” at their early age have already had the negative experience of meeting the police as a result of the offences they committed.