Olesya, 11 years old (Illya's sister, please see previous child)
 

»Since 1. November 2014 I am with my brother Illya and my parents in Kyiv and before we lived in Makijiwka. On 2. August 2014 we went first by bus to Mariupol and from there on 7 August to Kachovka and then at the end of October finally to Kyiv.
I can remember how we were at Illya's birthday in my grandmother's dacha and suddenly something dropped down and our dacha jiggled. Suddenly we were wide awake, everything was moving and we went to the basement. We stayed there approximately fifteen minutes and when the bombing stopped, we could not sleep. In the evening our mother came to us and the next day we went back to our home and packed our things. My mother wondered where we could go.
First we went to a coffee shop and on the road we saw tanks that passed us and their chains destroyed the asphalt road. We then initially went to Mariupol and stayed there in a two bedroom apartment of my mother's colleague. In the beginning it was quiet in Mariupol and we also found our own apartment and I went to the school there.
On 5. September 2014 bombing also started there when I was at school. I called my mother and she said: ›I just got a call and pack our staff, I'll pick you up from school and we go away.‹
When my mother ran home with us during the bombing, she told us that we should lie down on the ground if something happens.
Then we drove by car to Kachowka where it was quiet. We stayed there until October, but my mother didn't liked it there because the city was too small and finally we arrived by train in Kyiv. Since 1. November 2014, we have an apartment in Kyiv and on the 5. November the school started again.
I'm rather shy, so for me it was not easy to go to a new class. I've always been waiting before the classroom door when the teacher was not there yet. Once a girl came up to me and asked me who I was and someone else pointed at me and I was a little scared.
I am currently attending the sixth grade. At first I used to have a lot of girlfriends, but they exploited my trust and therefore I have no contact with them anymore. There is only one friend who I really trust.
Sometimes I talk with my old friends in social networks and they say that now everything is fine and I can come back, but my mother thinks that it is still too early. When the bombing started, my old friends did not go to school, but took lessons on the Internet at home.
I used to play basketball, but here I have no possibility to play basketball.
My grandmother, who always made me happy, has gone to Russia, because a cousin needs her help there.
I took no toys from Makijiwka, but my second grandmother brought me my doll later. I want to go back and get my old basketball, which I love so much and miss. We always used to play basketball.
I'm still unsure what I'll do in the future. I have many interests, maybe I'll become a radio-DJ.«

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