Messages from Children and Parents

 

“Sheredar is the best place in the world!”

 

 

“My son participated in Sheredar rehabilitation programme in September 2013. At first, both me, a mother who has always been near her son, and Vitalyi, who has never gone far from home alone, were very nervous. But at arrival Vitalyi called me and told that he liked the way they were met, the food was very good and the cottages also. At home he was all the time telling me about Sheredar. How he made friends with many other children, how he rode a horse, how he made photos and a film, how he did crafts, and many other things. After Vitalyi told all this, his first question was: “When will I go to Sheredar again?” Vitalyi made a lot of friends, they exchanged phone numbers and are in contact now via mobiles or emails. I am very happy that my son communicates with children from other cities. I am very grateful to Sheredar for the rest and entertainment they organized for our kids, and to the Poter Net Charitable Foundation for telling me about Sheredar.

 

 

“Thanks for inviting me to Sheredar. I loved riding horses, a game room and, especially, Sheries for their kindness and tenderness. Thanks to all those who created such a wonderful camp. I do want to go there once again! I send my love to Sheries Ira, Nadya, Misha, Sasha, Masha, and Liza. I really want to meet them again!”

 

 

“Thank you for the greatest camp in the world! Thanks to all Sheries and Masters for all! Thanks for the workshops, kindness, warmth, love, and embraces. I love you all very much! I miss you all a lot. Thanks to Michael Bondarev and Terry Dignan for a little life called Sheredar. Here gather all good-natured, kind-hearted and good humored people. Kids, Sheries, Masters and wonderful doctors whom you will never meet in an ordinary hospital. I love and miss you all, we will see again for sure!”

 

 

“I liked Sheredar a lot! It was never bored there, we always had fun! I loved bow-shooting and horse-riding. But most of all I liked the discos; I have never seen anything like this. Besides, the Sheries at Sheredar are very kind and cheerful! I did love Sheredar!”

 

 

“Thank you a lot! It was so cool at Sheredar! The Masters always entertained us and the Sheries always supported and helped! I loved riding horses, painting t-shirts, making soup, painting candles, creating a cartoon, shooting, making a film, dancing at disco, taking interview. It is an absolutely different world where you do not need to be worried and sad! Where each day is bright and memorable! Where each minute is so intense that you have no time to be bored! I hope to go there once again! Thanks.”

 

 

“It was very cool!!! I do not want to go home! I will come back for sure! There were horses, bow-shooting, handiwork, discos, film making, theatre studio, and many other interesting things at Sheredar. It was the best week of my life!”

 

 

“I decided to share my impressions of Sheredar. It was cool!!! Everything was on a higher level. I liked everything: bow-shooting, horse-riding, and workshops. The discos were just great! And when I am thinking about the food, it makes my mouth water. I liked to make our own cartoons. It is so interesting! I liked Terry also: he is very smart and funny. All the Masters and Sheries were very kind and interesting. I got a lot of positive emotions. Thank you a lot!”

 

 

 “I liked everything a lot. Most of all I liked making a film. I made friends with Danya from the Plashes of Light team and with the counsellors. The counsellors were so kind!!!”

 

 

“There was no time at Sheredar to miss home. Each day I was high spirited! I liked tricks and handiwork. I send my love to my Sheredar friends, Anastasiya and Ekaterina.”

 

 

“I liked the food and creative activities. The counsellors and kids were great. I made friends with two Nastyas, Angelina, Dasha and Rustam. Please, send my love to the best counsellors in the world!”

 

 

“It was wonderful at Sheredar! I was very cheerful! Most of all I liked the Theatre and Do-It-Yourself Studios. I made friends with all the children and counsellors from our Friendship team. I send my love to them!”

 

 

“I am happy I was at Sheredar. It was great there! I liked everything: handiwork, final gala-concert, and food. I miss our counsellors. I send my love to Natasha, Tanya, Inna, Masha, and Kristina.”

Natalia Rozova and Artem Gryaznov

 

“Our dear volunteers and all other people working at Sheredar! My daughter and I are very grateful to all of you for inviting us to Sheredar and for the wonderful June 1 holiday (Children’s Day)! Anastasiya really enjoyed the holiday: the whole evening she was telling me about the interesting competitions and performances, horse riding and different games. Thank you very much for the attention you give to our children. My daughter always gets more confident, cheerful and self-assured (that is very important for us) after such events. Thanks a lot once again!!!!”

 

 

“Our dear volunteers and all other people working at Sheredar Foundation! Thank you so much for inviting us to Sheredar! On June 1 you invited us to a wonderful holiday, Children’s Day. Artem loved everything a lot: the competitions, horse riding, funny football match, and the unforgettable bikecar. He also liked the way the eggs were cooked at a stump. Thank you for thinking about our children! Atrem loves Sheredar. After the rehabilitation programmes he recalls Sheredar a lot and becomes more self-confident. Thank you a lot! We really want to meet with all of you again!”

 

 

 

“My daughter Olesya was at Sheredar in April 2013. At first I troubled a lot about her, because it was the first time I let her go all alone, and besides it was just after a serious disease. However, I stopped worrying soon and, having heard about Olesya’s impressions, I understood that I had made a right decision sending her to Sheredar. Here is Olesya’s story: ‘I loved horse riding most of all. My horse was called Jam. I also liked archery. It was fascinating to make candles and soap. We had discos with interesting games at the evening. I made new friends: Egor, Artem, and Anastasiya. I keep remembering our Sheries: Marina, Tanya, Vika and Anastasiya. They are very kind and cheerful. I thank them so much! I really want to go to Sheredar again.’ I would like to express my thanks and gratitude to everyone who organized the rehabilitation programme for their work, care and attention to the children who really need it!”

 

 

“Thank you, guys, a lot for the pleasure my child had! The first thing I’ve heard from Kolya was: ‘I want more!’ When we came home, he ran straight to computer to show us his photos. He was telling us stories about the programme during the whole evening. He was so impressed by the archery that he even missed the cartoon studio of which he was a bit sad. But he is happy that he still took part in creation of a cartoon and he is waiting impatiently for the result. He also enjoyed the swimming pool and horse riding a lot. He talked about food also: it was so tasty! We would like to express our special thanks to the medical staff for their attention to children’ health. Well done to all of you, guys! The work you do is very important! Thank you all!”

 

 

“My son, Sasha Matrosov, is back home from the centre. He was so happy and emotional, he had so many stories to tell! What he liked most of all were horse riding, archery and swimming pool. He made a lot of new friends and the volunteers were taking care of them during the whole week. They made their life brighter and more cheerful. When they had to part, Sasha was a bit sad. He didn’t want to part with his new friends and volunteers. Thank you a lot for taking care of my son!”

 

 

“Dear Gift of Life Foundation staff members! My daughter, Anastasiya Rozova, came back home from the programme you had organized. We would like to thank you a lot for the wonderful week! During the whole evening Anastasiya was telling us how she rode horses with other children, participated in creativity studio (by the way, we really liked her handicrafts), made cartoons, went to archery classes, swam in a pool... All this became possible thanks to the rehabilitation programme that you organised for our children who had suffered so many difficult, painful and frightful things. Thank you a lot for your kind hearts! Every child was accompanied by a volunteer who was always near, who helped if any problem occurred, cheered up and took care. Even though Anastasiya doesn’t like to be out of home for a long time, she didn’t miss home at all! Once again Anastasiya and I are telling you all great THANKS!!!!!”

 

 

“Dear friends, I would like to thank with all my heart the Gift of Life Foundation and the volunteers who were with children from 17 to 24 November 2012. Zhenya is very happy, just two days have passed since his coming back from the programme, but we are already sure he will remember those emotions and impressions his whole life. It was the first time that Zhenya was out of home and I as a mother was very nervous, but I troubled for nothing! I have no words to express my eternal gratitude to you. My son has gained a priceless experience of self-dependency. You do very important things. I can feel tears gathering in my eyes while writing these lines. Only parents whose children are ill can understand how it is important for our kids ‘to be like everybody else’. Thank you a lot for the warmth and care, for the possibility of social adaptation for our children!”

 

 

Anya Girich, 13 years:

“When we arrived to Sheredar, we were met by fairy-tale heroes. We quickly got acquainted with other children. My friends were Masha Stepanova, Ira and Olya (she is from Sankt-Petersburg). The counsellors were with us every day: they taught us to play different games and to bow, we rode horses and made cartoons about a giraffe (to make a cartoon we had to draw, paint and cut paper heroes, and then we moved them in front of the camera). We leant how to make things with our own hands at hand-made studio. I made a small clay hedgehog. One night we together with the counsellors were searching for the hidden treasures that were indicated on a special map. We had a lot of fun and there were always interesting people with us. I’m very happy that I’ve been there and I really want to come back one day!”