On August 26, 2011 the pupils of Volnyansk boarding school and children from Volnyansk large families left for Kyiv to have an excursion. They were eager to walk along the famous streets of the hero-city, and receive a cultural and educational programme there.
The children were accompanied by the boarding school teachers Dubchak Viktor Leonidovich, Stetsiura Olga Leonidovna and “The Happy Child” Charity Foundation representatives Anton Bondarenko and Yuliya Akhtman.
On the way to Kyiv
Kyiv met us with warm sunny weather and busy crowded streets. Joining the common stream of impulsive motion our group got on the electric train to Boyarka. The Kyyevo-Sviatoshynsky “Family”orphanage headmistress Kosovskaya Galina Vladimirovna was already waiting for the children there. The orphanage staff came to work on their days off specially to meet, feed and shelter the Volnyansk children. Well, one must admit that the saying is right: “you vessel is going to sail right according to the name you give to it”. Everyone in the group noticed such tender, soft and really family attitude to children.
Meeting with the Kyyevo-Sviatoshynsky “Family orphanage” staff
The Kyyevo-Sviatoshynsky “Family orphanage” headmistress Kosovskaya Galina Vladimirovna presented the children’s attendants with the T-shirts
We started our first day in Kyiv with the ride on the subway. Having walked along Khreschatyk – the main street of the capital (according to one of the legends its name was originated from “Khreschatyi Yar” – “The Crossed Ravine”) and the central square of the city – the symbol of Ukrainian freedom – “Maydan Nezalezhnosti” (Independence Square), we went to the National scientific and natural history museum of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. The geological, paleontological, zoological, botanical and archaeological museums are comfortably settled in one building in Bogdana Khmelnitskogo street, 15. The administrator-guide of the National scientific and natural history museum of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Martsuk Svetlana Nickolayevna met the children there and instructed them how to behave in the museum.
Walking along Khreschatik
At Cossack Mamay monument
The organ grinder at the entrance to Children Puppet-show Theatre
The entrance to the National scientific and natural history museum of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
At the Zoological Museum
The children and Anton Bondarenko are at the Zoological Museum
The administrator-guide of the National scientific and natural history museum of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Martsuk Svetlana Nickolayevna
Then we went down to the subway station “Pochtovaya Ploschaad” (Post Office Square) to have a ride on the Kyiv funicular railway. This rare kind of transport is both a symbol of the capital and a monument of the XIX century.
The funicular railway
Impressed by the capital sights and a little tired we came back to the orphanage.
The next day we went to the Kyiv Zoo which is the largest in Ukraine. The children could see plenty of interesting things there. There were aviaries with exotic animals and birds, giraffes and bears, deer and lamas, bison and raccoons, crocodiles and turtles – it’s impossible to list them all! All the animals were very beautiful and funny!
At the entrance to the Kyiv Zoo
In the Kyiv Zoo
The Kyiv Zoo pelicans
There are park amusements for children in the Zoo. The administration let the children have a ride on the Ferris wheel for free. A magnificent city view opened from the top of it.
In the evening we went to the Mariinsky Park – one of the oldest and the most picturesque parks of Kyiv. The park is famous for its palace of the same name and the building of Verkhovna Rada which is not far from it.
The children, Anton Bondarenko and Yuliya Akhtman at the monument to Gnat Yura – the founder of the Ivan Franko National Academic Drama Theatre
At the monument to the Ukrainian actor Nickolai Yackovchenko and his dog - dachshund Fan-fan
St. Michael’s Cathedral
After resting a little and having a snack we went to the building created by a Kyiv architect Gorodetsky. The Art nouveau House with Chimeras got its name because it is decorated with sculptures of fairy tales creatures. There is the Administration of the President of Ukraine building next to it. We admired this architectural work of art and took some pictures, and then went to the railway station. Even good things come to their end one day – and we had to return home.
At the Administration of the President of Ukraine building
The Staff of “The Happy Child” Charity Foundation expresses their sincere gratitude to:
The “Family” orphanage headmistress Kosovskaya Galina Vladimirovna for warm welcome and care.
The deputy director on science and museums of the National scientific and natural history museum of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine – Chervonenko Oksana Vladimirovna.
The administrator-guide of the National scientific and natural history museum of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Martsuk Svetlana Nickolayevna.
“The Happy Child” Charity Foundation staff is grateful to the administration of the Kyiv Zoo for letting the children ride the Ferris wheel for free.
We are grateful to all those people who are not indifferent and donate for children’s excursions. We wish you health and happiness, long life, good luck and prosperity!
