Olesya

Olesya is from Mariupol. In the first days of the war, Olesya, her 13-year-old sister Anya and their mother found shelter in the cramped cellar of their grandparents. There, Victoria - Olesya's mother, read books to the kids to distract them from the explosions. And the girls drew a house to build when the war ended. After all, they no longer have their own.

In mid-March, when Olesia's family was about to get into the car and leave the city, a shell flew nearby. Fortunately, everyone remained unharmed, but since then, the girl has been very disturbed by aeroplanes.

Now, Olesya is Kyiv. maya gave the first-grader a tablet that helps to study in school remotely. And when the siren sounds, the little girl takes it to the shelter. In a personal convo, Olesya said that she dreams about the end of the war and about the toy dog Patron🐶

Zoryana

On the night of February 24, 2022, Zoryana's parents were requested to immediately join the army as they are military service workers. But Daria, Zoryana’s mother stayed at home with her daughter because she was pregnant.

It was dangerous to stay in their house in Kharkiv, so girls immediately set up a place for themselves in the cellar of their own yard. Underground life lasted until May. All those days they had many conversations and drawings. On one of them, Zoryana drew herself, her mother, her stepfather, and her unborn little sister, with a large flag of Ukraine on the top.

In May, Alisa, the younger sister, was born, and stepfather Vladyslav died at the frontline. In September, Zoryana went to school, and before that, her mother asked the "Maya" fund for help, because it was very hard to buy everything she needed for a kid to study. The first-grader received her backpack: the tablet became irreplaceable for online learning, and she was no less happy with  pencils and felt-tip pens — she still loves to draw very much.

Oleg

On the morning of February 24, 2022, Oleg was planning to go to kindergarten as usual. But when it became clear that the war started, he, together with his parents, 86-year-old granny and 2 dogs, moved to a private house with a basement. They stayed there for a month and a half after Kherson was occupied.

When an opportunity to evacuate appeared, the family went to Lviv through mined locations and passing numerous roadblocks.

Oleg with his father, mother and dog Olivia managed to reach Lviv. There the little kid went to the first grade of the school. Learning takes place in a hybrid format, and a tablet is required for this. Oleg dreamed of it for a long time, but his parents could not buy it because they lost their jobs due to the war. So they asked "Maya" foundation for help. It happened that the school backpack with the long-awaited tablet was delivered to Oleg precisely on his birthday. "It was very touching." — his mother Darina recalls.

Polina

Polina is 6 years old. From the first days of the war, together with her parents, she moved to the school building to live, which became a shelter for them and for other 250 of Mariupol residents. It was exactly the school that our hero planned to go to for her 1st grade.

They spent more than three weeks there without light, with a minimum amount of food and water, without leaving the shelter under the constant sounds of explosions. To leave Mariupol, Polina’s  family had to pass 25 military checkpoints. Fortunately, they were able to leave for a safer city. Girl miss her home: Polina remembers going to the ballet and also the cat Donut and her grandparents, who are still in Mariupol.

After this terrible experience, some health problems appeared. Nevertheless, Polina continued her dance classes, and went to the first grade. This is where maya appeared in her life  — provided tablet is necessary for online studying.

Oleksandra

On the night of March 6, 2022, Alyona, the mother of 6-year-old Sasha and 15-year-old Tolik, had only a few minutes to gather them: a convoy of enemy vehicles entered their village and they must run.

She recalls: “That night we walked 20 km until we were picked up by other evacuees. We are glad we survived, but unfortunately our house is completely destroyed."

Little Sasha often recalls her home and cannot understand where toys are, her pillow and why she cannot eat apples from their  garden. In the new house, the girl helps her mother in the garden, bake something and takes care of her ducklings Dusya, Marusya and Kesha.

When the time for Sasha to go to school came, mom was happy with the help from the "Maya" fund. The tablet became especially necessary, because after a constant stay in a cold shelter, the girl gets ill and then needs to study online. Also, the tablet helps to keep in touch with her friend who left to Berlin because of the war. They even sculpt something together via video calls.