Olga is a very nice and sweet girl sharing her warmth and joy with everyone around.
Since she was a child, the girl remembers suffering from frequent bronchitis but she never complains. Rather, she and her family became a support to others when the war came into her home town of Luhansk. Olga’s sister adopted three orphans into her family and Olga has been helping her sister with her five children ever since.

In 2014, Olya with her mother, sister and nephews had to move to Kyiv because staying in their home town of Luhansk was not safe anymore. Their dad was the only family member who stayed at home.

“Please, don’t call us refugees, it causes pity” – asks the girl weeping as she shares her stories of war.

In Kyiv, Olga heard about the medical project organized by “Pope for Ukraine” Initiative in partnership with “Emmanuel” Charity Association and decided to undergo a medical examination to find a remedy for her problem with the lungs. Although Olga had been examined before, the doctors could not find the true cause of her condition. Over time, she got used to constant pains in her breast, sharp jumps of temperature and rashes on her skin. The doctors of the “Medical Mobile Clinic” where the medical project for internally displaced persons is being implemented send the girl for a CT (computer tomography) and she was diagnosed with bronchoectatic disease of the lower part of the left lung. This is a pathology of the respiratory system, which is accompanied by irreversible expansion and deformation of the bronchi and a purulent-inflammatory process. To be healthy again, Olga needed a surgery to remove the lower part of her left lung.

On December 20, Olga came to the “Medical Mobile Clinic” to receive the needed medications which were given to the girl for free in the framework of the project.

The next day, Olga had a surgery at the National Institute of Phthisiology and Pulmonology and all expenses for the operation were covered by “Pope for Ukraine” Initiative.

 “I would never afford it by myself. I want to thank God and everyone who works in this project that I am completely healthy now. I have met some really good people in my life!”

Thanks to the medical project organized by “Emmanuel” Charity Association in partnership with “Pope for Ukraine” Initiative, Olga finally received an accurate diagnosis and had the needed surgery. The girl completely got rid of her health problem causing her discomfort now and leading to very grave problems in the future.

At the moment, Olga is undergoing a post-operative rehabilitation course and thanks everyone for her “new” health.

We are grateful to Pope Francis and all Catholic Christians from Europe who answered the Pope’s call for help the conflict-affected people of Donbass!