Galina Sergunina is a 34-year-old woman who is internally displaced from the frontline town of Aleksandrivka. When the war came to her home town 4.5 years ago, she moved to a safer town of Ugledar with her two sons. Galina’s husband had left her with the boys and she had to care for the family on her own. While experiencing all of the terrors of war in her home town, she had to look for a place to live and a new job.
Having moved to Ugledar, Galina met a decent and kind man Serhiy who worked at a local mine. Serhiy was attracted to Galina and Galya fell in love with the guy who became good friends with her sons and was a hard worker. Love comes even to ordinary people living in small villages even during war. Soon, beautiful twins girls Vitalina and Katya were born in the family.
Unfortunately, both girls were born with congenital heart disease -an open arterial window. Vitalina also suffers from hip dysplasia, leg muscle shrinkage and clubfoot. Katya, on the other hand, has problems with the lungs and suffers from so-called “heart cough”.
“My husband works long hours at the mine, – Galina shares. – They don’t even pay his salary on time. The last time he received a salary was only 30% of his wage from two months before. Of course, with these small money we can’t afford to pay for Vitalina’s surgery.. And doctors insist that she should have one as soon as possible. We can only hope for a miracle, – for someone to pay for the surgery. Otherwise, we are helpless…
Other than that, we have a happy family. When you have in a good family like ours, neither war nor illness look too terrible – it’s only because you get all of the support from the loved ones. I can even say that it was thanks to the war that I found my new husband and had these precious baby daughters. And my sons are the best! The elder son Dima is only 14, and he loves sports! He even participates in soccer championships, so we expect him to have a great sports career. And our junior son Vanya is my biggest helper and housekeeper! He helps to clean, does dishes and helps to cook. He is able to repair anything at home. While I’m still running around the house, he can fix a broken charger or the electric point when needed. I am very lucky with my family! The only thing that lacks to make my happiness full, is that I want my girls to be healthy”.
CBN-Emmanuel representative brought a food bag for the Surgunins family. Not that their father receives only 30% of his salary at the mine, this is a great support for the family. Thanks to your donations, we have a chance to visit the most vulnerable families living on the frontlines of eastern Ukraine and bring them food. If you want us to continue, you can donate any amount by visiting this link.
Anna Chaban for CBN-UKRAINE
