Beautiful and indomitable Ukrainian mothers: how was the evening "Mama Special 2023"

To have a victory, to be barrier-free in Ukraine, to have a happy family photo session - such are the dreams of mums who bring up children with disabilities. Recently, a special event "Mama Special 2023" dedicated to women who have children with disabilities was held in Kyiv region. The event was organised by the Charitable Foundation "Pray to Live". Cerebral palsy, autism, Down syndrome, etc. The children of these mothers live with such difficult disabilities. Together they go through a number of trials every day. This evening it was the mothers with their children who were to be the real stars and queens of the evening, despite the fact that pop stars were also invited.

The Mriyu Zhyti Charitable Foundation was founded in 2014. Its charitable activities aimed at providing social and financial assistance to children with disabilities, accelerating the solution of their problems and restoring their health. The director of the Charitable Foundation is Iryna Popovska. In 2021, she organised the Mama Special event for the first time. The Charity Foundation has been helping children for many years. However, few people celebrated the hard daily work of the mothers. Irina Popovskaya decided to remedy this situation. "Mama Special" is a way to celebrate women, thank them for their hard work and provide socialisation for them. It also makes it easier to develop a community of women raising children with disabilities.

In 2023, the Mama Special award was held for the second time. Unfortunately, last year, due to a full-scale invasion by Russia, it was not possible to hold the event. Irina Popovskaya admits:

Last year I was afraid, I didn't want to risk the safety of children and women. And this year. It's already difficult for women, so we decided, despite everything, to do this event. I wanted to make this event so that once a year they feel like goddesses, queens. That's the point of the event.

The event was held in a country hotel complex. At the beginning, the guests were welcomed by an exhibition of paintings by a young painter Daniil Nozdri. The guy is only 13 years old. But he has already had six solo exhibitions, charity auctions. In addition, his works are kept in several Museums of Ukraine. After 24 February 2022, the main themes of his paintings were Ukraine, victory, military and de-occupation of Ukrainian territories.

Afterwards, the guests of the event were welcomed by performances of Ukrainian artists. Andrew Krechet, Fellini and others performed their works in front of mothers and their children.

However, the real stars of the evening were, of course, the mothers themselves. The culmination of the event was a fashion show of evening dresses. The mothers turned into real models who paraded around the improvised catwalk, showing their beauty and confidence. Of course, many of them participated in such a fashion show for the first time. But all of them here demonstrated their ability to cope with any challenge. The audience applauded and the children were delighted.

Yulia Sereda is one of the mums who took part in the Mama Special 2023 event. This year she joined the event for the first time. She moved to Kyiv together with her son Daniil from Kharkiv. She shares how she got to the event:

We got a funny story. The nominee was supposed to be different. But she had a sick child. So they called me. I am a Kharkiv resident. I've been living in Kiev for a year.

She says she wants to organise the same event in Kharkiv when she returns there. Yulia shares that at first she thought of going abroad. However, her soul remains here. That is why she and her son remain in Ukraine, despite the daily air alerts and rocket attacks by the Russians.

Another mum who was at the event that evening was Victoria Chernenko. She came to the evening with her son Mark. They lived in Kherson, fell into the occupation, but managed to get out of there.

They travelled by their own car. They were 4.5 months in the occupation. The child began to lose weight because of the stress. We could see everything that was happening in Chernobaevka right from our window. The child lost 7kg. I wanted to wait for our people in Kherson. But the child urged us to leave. It took two days to leave.

Victoria's husband helps the military to repair cars at the service station.

Victoria's family also remains in Ukraine.

Iryna Popovska, director of the charity fund "My Life", says that children and their parents need psychological support. They also need support from the state. After all, now the number of children with disabilities has increased in the capital due to the fact that many IDPs have arrived.

Irina admits that for 9 years her foundation was financed by donors and patrons. However, after 24 February 2022, the situation changed. All funds are now channelled to the front. However, the problems of children have not gone anywhere. They still need help. Now the financing by patrons of Irina Popovskaya's charitable foundation has fallen from 99% to 30%. Therefore, they had to master new methods of finding money. Now they're working with crowdfunding platforms. They're applying for grants. At the same time, they continue to work with businesses and look for new partners.

When asked why mothers do not go abroad with their children, despite the difficult situation in Ukraine, Irina answers:

Because they are Ukrainian women. Because we realise that it is thanks to women that our country holds on. We protect our land.