The hands of Aljona, Denis, Ada and Lara (from left to right).

ALJONA (20)

I can see the light even when it is dark. I can sense the difference between day and night.

My hands are very sensitive. I can no longer wash dishes with hot water.

I like to play games, such as building pyramids. Everyone asks why I play with these things — after all, they are meant for little kids. But I do not always succeed.

I wish I had more different kinds of games so that things would feel more interesting. Grandma says that to get something, you have to give something up. That is how life is.

I wish there were more things to do and that I could simply be at peace.

DENIS (30)

As a child, my favorite pastime was daydreaming. In the fall, I would go to St. Petersburg and imagine having my own headquarters. This lasted from when I was six or seven years old until fifth grade.

When I turned fifteen, my grandfather built a small summer house on his property just for me — it was perfect. I wanted to grow up quickly from a very early age. Having a “headquarters” where I could live my own life and set my own rules felt like part of that process.

I can’t stand conflict. I’ve always tried to be equally polite to everyone. But I sometimes wonder: can calmness be a negative trait? And is dialogue a way of stepping out of one’s comfort zone?

ADA(3)

I don’t want to sleep!

Never ever!

I want to cook pasta by myself!

I can make pancakes and paratha. I cook for my mommy. 

LARA (30)

I wouldn’t have been able to dream if I hadn’t tried things and said “yes” to opportunities. How can you dream if you don’t even know what to dream about? You just have to give things a try.

I graduated from school, moved to Kyiv, and from there went to China. I worked at an advertising agency, but it all happened by chance — it didn’t really feel like my calling. So I started to think about what else I could do. Maybe become a doctor?

Through a friend, I got the chance to shadow a doctor at a hospital for a week, I realized that this profession wasn’t for me either. Later, I signed up for a free online programming course. I decided to give it a try, and it completely hooked me. I enjoyed it so much that I enrolled in a distance-learning university program. My husband also works in IT. He was offered a job in Estonia, and we thought: why not? Let’s try it. That’s where Ada was born, and now we’re expecting our second child.