Olga Shakhnovskaya
Chair of the Board of Trustees
MW SHAKHNOVSKIY FOUNDATION
‘My Way’: The title of Frank Sinatra’s famous song – abbreviated to MW – features in our Foundation’s logo for a good reason. The idea of setting off with determination along a chosen path – although perhaps not the same one as Sinatra – is extremely close to our hearts, as is another line from the song: “I did what I had to do.” It is indeed a strong sense of duty that has led the Foundation to take this path. In our case, a sense of duty towards our society and, specifically, a part of society which – by anyone’s rules, be they God-given or man-made – we must surely protect at all costs.
It is alarming to realize that the question of how to save the life or create the necessary conditions for the rehabilitation of a seriously ill child could sometimes be resolved as a matter of routine, and yet so often the opportunity to do so is not seized. The enormous potential of European medicine gives hope even in cases when it seems that all the options have been exhausted. However, an absence of funding, information, or organizational capacity often means that a successful outcome cannot be achieved.
It doesn’t have to be this way. We are only too aware that the number of children’s lives that can be saved is hanging in the balance: a function of the variables of time, energy and material resources, in an equation that is working itself out every day. It is our responsibility to ensure that this number grows.
For some time now, this has been my path. Perhaps you will come with me.
