Faces behind the figures.

Alexander once had a complete family — a father, a mother and two brothers. Then loss came, one blow at a time. First his father died. Then his younger brother passed away. Grief overtook his mother, and she turned to alcohol. Alexander and his older brother, just one year apart, were left alone in an empty apartment, hungry and cold, while their mother disappeared for days.

Eventually she fell gravely ill and died. The two boys were placed in an orphanage. There they met the woman who would become their foster mother — Mama Ira. She gave them a family, a home and a future in Odesa.

In 2018 Alexander started school, enrolled directly into third grade based on his age. While his classmates already knew how to read and write, he was learning letters and numbers for the first time. Mama Ira sat beside him, patient and steady, helping him catch up.

In 2025 he completed ninth grade and enrolled in the Mechanical and Technological College in Odesa, studying electrical engineering. His motivation is personal and patriotic: Ukraine is still at war. Explosions still shake cities. Schools, homes and hospitals are being destroyed. Alexander wants to be one of the specialists who helps rebuild them — and he dreams of a Ukraine where every home has electricity.