I remember that we were very tired that day. We visited Roma camp in Mukachevo at first. Then we visited Khust where OP staff built a line for the production of cinder block for Roma people. Then there was another camp … There were so many Carpathian roads, meetings and impressions, that it would be enough for a week. But the trips are short, and there are so many needs…
Anyway, we are going to pizzeria in the evening. It is impossible to visit Mukachevo and taste no pizza there. They cook it very well. You begin to slow down only after the second piece and start regretting for eating much. And it is really hard work to keep your eyes open after eating the third piece. And you do not want to leave.
– It is ok, – Olga Buznitska laughs – Sashka will wake you all up now!
– Who is Sashka?
– He is one of our students. He is an orphan. He is as quick as wind. You will see him with your own eyes now…
At first glance, Sasha doesn’t look like wind. He is not tall but skinny. But his face is shining like Moses had. He has alive eyes and special smile…

He didn’t keep silence for a second. And we really forgot about us being tired. He looked like common Roma guy but his words and emotions were bursting out of him like from geyser. He didn’t look like a miserable person pressed by his orphanhood. You couldn’t tell that he was working all day long as a cook in the kitchen feeding hundreds of Roma kids with lunch. You can’t say that he is disadvantaged: he speaks several languages, has good clothing and shoes and eats pizza with great pleasure…
– Is he really an orphan? – I asked later.
– Yes, he is. But he is a special person. He enjoys life and shares joy so much that he seems having no other cares.
Later, I saw Sasha in the camp. They have a church there. They provide activities for the kids every day. There is a soup kitchen where the children are fed. Go there and … the first person you see is Sasha. It is impossible not to notice or not to hear him. He fills everything with himself wherever he sits, stands or goes. He fills everything with positive attitude and life…
I could not believe when I learnt that Sasha was seriously ill. I thought it was impossible for any disease to capture this lump of joy, these eyes and smile

– And he is the same in the hospital. – I was told. – Just kidding… Just laughing…
I have never heard the name of Sasha’s disease before. They say that there are just a couple of hundred people with such diagnosis in Ukraine. But the majority of these people are already elderly ones. There is something wrong with the intestinal tract. His organism rejects one of his bowels. It becomes weak and tears and pouring all its contents into the stomach.

He suffers from constant fever and terrible pain. He gets droppers, injections and pills all the time. He had a surgery in Uzhgorod and then suffered from fever and pain again… Sasha is only 40 kg of bones and skin now. But he laughs and jokes anyway. He says: “Do not worry, nothing aches!” He is bent on his bed suffering from spasms but comforting us at the same time. He already can’t make a few steps but he jokes even about it. Isn’t it funny when you are reeling and then falling down?!
Doctors do not understand where the Roma orphan got so many friends from? Why all of them want to help him? Why do various people stay near his bed all days and nights long? “Emmanuel” Association \ Orphan’s Promise pays for the medicaments and medical treatment. Even the doctors from Hungary offer their help…

I have no answer. All I know is that God is the Father of orphans and widows. Jesus, Whose Name Sasha constantly remembers in his prayers, presses the boy to His heart and gives the Roma orphan incredible strength to live and laugh even when death draws this guy by the collar of his shirts.
Pray for Sasha … Help if you are able to help, because his medical treatment costs a lot of money. And no matter what happens, even the shadow of grief may not fall on your face. Rejoice. Do you hear? Live! Breathe in every minute and every moment. The way Sasha Gorvat does. Simple Romani boy, an orphan from Transcarpathia.
Gennady Novikov, the press center of “Emmanuel” Association
If you want to help Sasha, you can transfer financial support through  web site or inform us of you desire to become a partner of “Emmanuel” Association by phone 0800-50-77-50.