Ukrainian orphan crisis: Olga Kurylenko's heartfelt appeal
There were tons of beds next to each other with nothing besides them. There were no toys, no books, just empty beds. It looked like a cemetery. I just could not believe there were human beings there, says Olga Kurylenko, the star with Ukrainian roots, who describes her visit to Kyiv.
Olga Kurylenko, the star of "007 Quantum of Solace," shared her experience visiting an orphanage in Ukraine with journalists from the British newspaper "The Times." Her visit reminded her of the profound poverty she experienced growing up.
Olga Kurylenko on the Ukrainian orphanage
- These are kids under the age of one who have just been abandoned - she tells "The Times." - They are growing up without love, nobody is hugging them or touching them in a compassionate way - the actress recounts.
Kurylenko, who serves as an ambassador for the organisation Hope And Homes For Children, admitted that her visit among Ukrainian orphans reminded her of her own early life. - I didn't have a father, and my mother had no resources. We ate grains, but we ate them together. Together we could dream and talk about what might happen when I grew up, and that perhaps I could achieve something in life. And I did - she said. - That made me realise that poverty is one thing, but living without love is entirely different. It's better to be poor but loved by someone than to be wealthy without love - the actress added.
Kurylenko and the charity organization raise awareness of the many children worldwide who end up in orphanages for various reasons. The organization states there are as many as 5.4 million abandoned children.
"My mother raised me in Ukraine on her own, where single mums experience alarming rates of poverty. I was one of the lucky ones. Sadly, so many less fortunate single parents are coerced into putting their children into orphanages. Locked up alone, they can face torture, sexual violence and trafficking. @europeancommission, why are you allowing Ukraine to backtrack on shutting down its 700 state-run orphanages? They must fund new social services instead - strengthening families to stay together," Kurylenko wrote on the organisation's website as early as 2021.
In the same year, she shared a photo with her mother on her Instagram account.
Olga Kurylenko was born on 14 November 1979 in Berdyansk, then part of the Soviet Union. Her father had Ukrainian roots, while her mother, Marina, was born in Russia. Her parents divorced when she was three, and she had no contact with her father. She met him only when she was eight. At 15, she moved to Moscow and a year later to Paris, where she signed a contract with a modeling agency. She graced magazine covers and appeared in music videos, making her film debut in 2004.
