24/08/2026
Friends, we did it!
Last week, on August 18, an interesting and significant event took place in the city of Novy Rozdil in the Lviv region. For the first time in the life of the organization, a local group of children living with type 1 DIA and their parents was gathered. The meeting took place as part of the development of our SVOYM project, the main goal of which is to establish interaction and mutual assistance in local communities. The event received the loud name “Keep the Five!”, which fully corresponds to the goals of the event.
We tried to make the meeting take place in an informal, pleasant atmosphere and leave only pleasant memories and feelings. Parents and children from 5 families gathered for the meeting. And this is a fantastic result, because in Novy Rozdil there are 8 children with DIA 1 registered. At the same time, two of the eight do not live at the place of registration. So, almost everyone who was in the city was present. The meeting place was kindly provided by the Inclusive Resource Center of the Novorozdil Council, where the event took place. For two hours, during the information part for parents, children had the opportunity to color a specially created poster, assemble and prepare a kite for launch. During the meeting with the children, psychologists from the Center worked, creating a positive mood around.
At the end of the meeting, children and parents received gift packages prepared for them by our friends from DiaDim, SaharokShop and Tovary bez sugur. We are incredibly grateful for the gifts, which became a very pleasant end to the entire event.
There was also an interesting part when children wrote their dreams and wishes on the ribbons for the kite. When the kite returned to the ground, we collected children's wishes and hid them in envelopes placed on the poster. Now we have a so-called "wish list", where each child determined what they would like to have as a gift. So, if someone from the Novorozdil community wants to make a pleasant surprise for a child, we know exactly what to offer. We really hope that with the help of caring fellow countrymen we will be able to make the children's dreams come true.
What were we trying to prove with this meeting? We are proving that only joint actions of interested parties can lead to changes in our lives. It seemed, but what happened? People who have a common problem gathered. They sat, talked and dispersed. No, friends! Everything is much more important.
Now in Novy Rozdil there is a group of parents who are able to declare themselves, able to define a common goal, outline desired goals and do something to achieve them. These are no longer just personal problems of one family, but a common need. This is a significantly different level of communication and ability. Everyone has strength and time, has relationships and influence on others and loved ones, everyone can be useful. When people unite, their opportunities grow geometrically.
By the way, we already have an agreement with the leadership of the Novo-Rozdil community to disseminate information about children with DIA among friends and partner organizations of Novo Rozdil outside Ukraine. And this is new communications, new relationships with donors and many other interesting and useful things that can blossom from this. Well, these are already certain actions that the community can give to its children.
Of course, all this is possible when there is an active person in the community who will find the strength and desire to create conditions for such an association. Novo Rozdil is lucky - there is such a person there. We are incredibly grateful to Polina Korpan for her ability to be the person who can set goals for herself and confidently achieve them. It was thanks to Polina that we managed to hold the first meeting, during which parents and children got to know each other personally, heard about the opportunities that our fund provides and the prospects for the development of our interaction.
Thus, the “first swallow” is already in the sky! As we planned, using the example of the Novo-Rozdielska community, we will create a positive example for other communities where we work. Currently, there are more than 200 such communities. We invite everyone who wants to hold a similar meeting in their community to contact us. We will help organize the meeting, provide all the necessary materials and pay the expenses. Dear parents, who have the strength and desire to unite and lead people. We will be glad to hear from you.