“improving the quality of orphan lives”

An Orphan Smiles is a group of dedicated volunteers who are very concerned about the plight of Ukrainian orphans. They directly help and sponsor children in orphanages of Ukraine.

We cooperate with sponsors for more than 3 years already. During that period, we sent many packages with books for sponsored children in Mykolaivka and other orphanages of Ukraine. All books were quickly received and enjoyed by kids.

In May 2008, our manager Victor had a meeting in Kramatorsk with a group of sponsors from the United Kingdom and the USA. We agreed to continue our cooperation further to supply Mykolaivka Internat with new fiction books and new study books that they need for the educational process.

We understand importance of the mission of An Orphan Smiles for Ukrainian children and always offer essentially cheaper prices for charitable literature.

If you are a sponsor of An Orphan Smiles or a similar charitable organization, just ask for what you want and we will advise you as to the kind of books or other things the kids will be interested in.

Ukraine is a country situated in Eastern Europe. It covers a territory of 603,700 sq km. Ukraine borders on Belarus, Russia, Moldova, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania. In the south it is washed by the Black Sea and the sea of Azov.

In Ukraine there are 24 administrative regions, the autonomous Republic of the Crimea and 2 municipalities. The capital of the state is Kyiv with its population of 2,645,000.

More than 70 thousand rivers and streams intersect Ukraine, the most important of them being the Dnipro, the Dnister, the Southern Buh, the Desna, the Siverskyi Donets, the Prypyat. The third longest river in Europe, Dnipro is the main river in Ukraine on the banks of which a number of big industrial cities are located.

The territory of the country is largely flat (95%) and only a small part of it (5%) is mountainous. The largest mountain system is the Carpathian Mountains which extend for more than 270 km and have the highest peak Goverla (2061 m). Ukraine is a land of scenic beauty with broad expanses of seas and rivers, green carpets of fields and meadows, grassy rolling hills and wooded mountains. Ukraine enjoys generally a temperate continental climate. And only the southern coast of the Crimea(SCC) is a subtropical zone. The average January temperature varies from -7 C in the north-east to +4 C on the SCC, that of July, respectively, +19 C in the west and +24 C on the SCC. The annual precipitation, being 300-600 mm approximately, is distributed unevenly throughout the territory of Ukraine.

The capital of Ukraine is Kyiv. One of the biggest cities of Europe, Kyiv has a population of 2,645,000. Its area covers over 700 sq km. Stretching along the picturesque banks of the legendary full-flowing Dnipro (the Dnieper River), it stands at the crossroads of major internal and transnational railroads, highways and air lines. Kyiv has two airports: for national and international flights. It is a big railroad junction and a river port on the Dnipro. From Kyiv you can make a non-stop voyage to the Mediterranean and to the Atlantic Ocean aboard "river-sea" ships. City transport includes metro (underground), buses, trolley buses/cars, cable cars or funicular and taxis.

The core of a big branchy tree as Ukraine is, Kyiv has a history rooted deeply into ancient times. According to an old legend it was founded at the end of the 5th century by three brothers Kyi, Shchek, Khoriv and their sister Lybid who settled on the hills near the Dnipro and called their town-citadel Kyiv after the name of their brother Kyi.

Kyiv was the "mother of all Russian towns and cities", "the Promised land of Slavs, their Jerusalem, and the Dnipro - their Jordan River".

It was in Kyiv where in 988 Prince Volodymyr introduced Christianity into Rus as the official state religion.

Ancient Kyiv has given us priceless frescoes and mosaics, a wealth of museum relics, a necklace of architectural monuments such as second-to-none Kyiv-Pecherska Lavra, founded in 1051, the Orthodox holy place and their Mecca, or a precious pearl of the 11th century - St. Sophia Cathedral founded by Prince Yaroslav the Wise, the Golden Gate, one of the most remarkable fortifications of that time, St. Andrew's Church, the immortal creation of Rastrelli and the world beauty of the 18th century, and a great deal of other samples of exquisite architectural designs.

Kyiv is famous for its greenery and is said to be the greenest city-capital in Europe looking like a city within a park.

In the chain of major cities of Ukraine are such big industrial and administrative centers as Kharkiv (population - 1,598,600), the second city after Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk (1,175,600), Donetsk (1,113,500), Zaporizhzhya (894,700), Lviv (809,400), one of oldest and most beautiful and unique cities of Europe, Odessa (1,073,200), the main sea gates of the country, a charming city that is poetically called "a pearl by the seaside" and others.

Several cities situated in the sunny Crimea are excellent health resorts and ideal places for rest and recreation. These are magic Yalta with its salubrious sea air, medical mud and abundance of greenery, mild Yevpatoriya with its warm caressing sea and sandy beaches Alushta, Alupka, Feodosiya, and many others.

The official state language in the country is Ukrainian. But due to a long period of russification, Russian is still popular in some regions.

Sumy region is situated in the northeast of Ukraine. The total geographic area is 23,880 square kilometres. The population of Sumy region was 1 384 thousand persons in 2000. It borders on Bryansk, Kursk, Belgorod regions of Russian Federation in north and northeast. In whole the length of borders on Russia in Sumy region is the longest compared with the other Ukraine regions. Favourable geographical location of the region provides all conditions for its harmonious development. Seven main gas and oil pipelines (Urengoy - Pomary - Uzhgorod, Kursk - Sumy - Kiev, Kiev - Bryansk etc.) pass through Sumy region territory. The major branches of industry in Sumy region are: engineering and metal working, fuel, food and chemical industries. Now these spheres account over 90 % of the total industrial output in the region. More than 60,000 people work in engineering and metal working spheres. Engineering complex specializes in production of high technology items for chemical and petroleum-refining industries, gas transfer units, pumps, industrial pipelines valves, technological equipment for processing industry and other products. The leading Companies of the region are JSC umy Frunze NPO JSC asosenergomash JSC sentrolit JSC otordetal-Pravexand hervony Metalist(Konotop), JSC aftaprommash(Akhtyrka), oligraphmashRomny) and others. Fuel and energy complex is more than 20 % in the region industrial structure and includes Companies for oil, gas and peat extraction, electric and heat power production. Sumy region produces more than 40% of the crude oil and about 10% of natural gas produced in the country. The region leader of this branch is oil and gas producing Company khtyrkaneftegas There are 9 Companies of chemical industry in Sumy region. They produce mineral fertilizers, sulphuric acid, chemical reagents, varnishes and paints, magnetic tapes, films etc. The largest Companies of chemical branch are JSC umykhimpromand vema(Shostka). In addition, dozens of Companies for light, food and other industries successfully work in the region. Sumy, founded in 1655, is the administrative centre of the region. The population of the town is 302.1 thousand people. The main industrial potential of the region is concentrated in Sumy. More than 50 % region industrial products are manufactured there. Besides Sumy is one of the oldest cities of Slobodskaya Ukraine with a rich history and traditions. Sumy inhabitants are proud of architecture monuments, theatres and museums of their town.

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