Nine-year-old Zlata Marchenko is from the Kyiv region. The girl attends the Center for Social Services with an interdisciplinary team, which was founded by the NGO “Family for People with Disabilities”. It operates within the framework of the project “Uniting and Helping in Time of War,” implemented by “The League of the Strong” NGO thanks to a grant from the European Disability Forum and Christian Blind Mission. At the Center, Zlata receives day care services – social and psychological support.
Her mother noticed the first changes in her daughter’s development at 2 months old. The baby did not follow the toy. Various tests were conducted for several months. The doctors had different opinions. Until one of them discovered that it was a rare neurological disease: Zlata does not see objects, she only sees light or darkness.
Since then, Zlata’s mother’s struggle for her daughter’s health and development began. In one of the clinics in Poland, where the girl was undergoing an additional examination, the doctors told her mother: “You have until the age of 14-16. It’s up to you to decide what kind of vision and development your child will have.”
Upon returning to Ukraine, Zlata began various classes – swimming, massages, correction, and equine therapy.
“From 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., we rode around Kyiv to ride horses, swim, and get massages. Everything I heard, I took Zlata everywhere. She has been riding horses since she was 9 months old. Now she is already practicing a 30-minute workout on her own,” says the girl’s mother, Maria Skakun.
Today, Zlata has a team of doctors who believe in her. The girl walks by the hand and plays in the yard.
“Zlata loves apples very much. And I started to notice that she sees them and takes them on purpose. That is, my child reacts not only to light and darkness. And we are starting a new stage – wearing glasses,” says Maria.
Over time, the woman needed to work. So she started looking for a space where her daughter could be looked after and tutored. She found the NGO Family for People with Disabilities by accident.
“I am not an active Internet user. And then I went to my Facebook and came across the page of the NGO “Family for Persons with Disabilities”. I saw that they offered day care for children with disabilities. I called them,” Maria Skakun recalls.
In September 2023, Zlata came to trial classes. She still attends the social service center with an interdisciplinary team to this day.
“From birth to September 2023, Zlata was with me 24\7. Thanks to the Family for Persons with Disabilities NGO, I had time not only to work, but also to do some housework, visit doctors, be alone with myself or meet friends. And when you come to pick up Zlata and the caregivers tell you that she ate and played, you start to feel more fulfilled. Because the child is in society. I am extremely grateful. In my opinion, they have everything they need. A rehabilitation therapist, a massage therapist, and a speech therapist work with the children. They draw and sculpt with the children. And the main thing is that you can leave your child and not worry. The NGO “Family for Persons with Disabilities” has truly become a second family for Zlata and has given us independence,” says Maria.
The woman works as a lawyer, so when she had more free time, she started taking on more clients.
“I can plan my time and not depend on anyone. Because we have the Family for People with Disabilities NGO,” concludes Zlata’s mother.
The Family for People with Disabilities NGO has been operating in Kyiv for over 20 years. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the organization has been providing social and psychological support to those affected by the war as part of the project “Unite and Help During War” implemented by the League of the Strong, thanks to a grant from the European Disability Forum and the Christian Blind Mission. In particular, the project created a Social Service Center with an interdisciplinary team. The Center employs a special educator, speech therapist, physical rehabilitators, psychologist, art therapist, educator, and social workers.