We are a private charitable organization founded by a family that lives in Switzerland and works for Ukraine.
Our team: Marina Kuklich-Rapold, founder of the Frosya charitable organization; her husband Andreas Rapold; her brother Yurii Kuklich and his wife Tetiana Kuklich.
We want people to understand the importance of caring for defenseless creatures. Each person can make their small contribution to make this world a little brighter — and believe that good can be done just like that, without any benefit, and that miracles happen. Our Frosya wants to give you this faith.
What follows is Maryna’s own story, preserved from the organization’s first website.
I was born and lived in Ukraine, in the city of Kryvyi Rih. My love for animals appeared in childhood — but back then I could not even dream that helping defenseless animals and people would become part of my life.
The first time I felt how giving fills you with incredible energy: one day my little son and I decided to bring a couple of kilograms of sweets, together with his clothes and toys, to the children’s home near our house. When we handed the bags to the children, they were so sincerely happy and grateful that I felt a real lift. From that day an idea settled in me: how wonderful it would be to build them beautiful rooms and throw a celebration they would remember for life. At the time I had no means — I was raising my son on my own.
I dreamed of building something good for those deprived by fate, of opening a shelter for animals. It took about ten years for these dreams to start coming true. The universe heard me.
We bought a piece of land for a shelter in Kryvyi Rih. By that time we already had our dog Frosya, whom I had brought to Switzerland — so I decided to name the shelter after her. But the shelter never opened: the paperwork dragged on for about three years. While its fate was being decided, my hands were itching to build — all the more since I had gained some renovation experience: in Switzerland we had restored a house more than 300 years old.
In time my life changed and I moved to Switzerland — and my dream of doing something useful for Ukraine only grew stronger.
Living in Switzerland, I saw a very different attitude towards animals than in my homeland. Sadly, even in the 21st century many people treat animals cruelly. Over these years my husband was deeply touched by the problems of Ukraine and learned that one must share what the universe sends.
My brother and his wife live in Kryvyi Rih and oversee the construction work while I am in Switzerland.
That is how the idea came to build a playground near the house where my late mother once lived and where my brother lives now. My brother and I made a mini-project. We had never done anything like it, but we decided to try. That is how our playground-building chapter began and how the “Puppy” playground appeared in Kryvyi Rih — with a photograph of our beloved dog Frosya, after whom the organization is named, crowning the entrance arch. The children’s joy at the carousels and the sand under their feet was indescribable.
Then I began looking for children’s institutions that needed renovated rooms or a new playground. That is how I learned about the home for children with disabilities: they badly needed a playground accessible by wheelchair, with a gazebo to hide from rain and sun. The construction coincided with the lockdowns and took longer — but the playground was completed.
The next place we found, as they say, wherever God would send us. That is how we came to the Baby’s House, home to children from birth to age four who have no parents. We built four separate playgrounds for different age groups and threw a festive opening where fairy-tale characters entertained the children.
Building the children’s playgrounds
The dream of an animal shelter never went away. Together with a volunteer caring for stray animals, the organization built “KotoHatka” — a warm shelter house for cats. And to change attitudes towards animals, Frosya social billboards appeared across the city.
Today helping animals is daily work: sterilizing stray animals, buying feed, paying for treatment. The organization publishes all results in its records.
The next project had long been on the way: several rooms for the youngest group — for sleeping, eating and playing. The design was almost ready, and in March I was going to travel to Ukraine to prepare the construction. It was not to be. The war crossed out all plans and dreams — as it did for millions of Ukrainians.
Beauty can wait now; the main thing is to survive — for people and for animals. So we changed our work for the period of the war.
The English and German versions are translation drafts awaiting owner review.
In loving memory
Founder of the Frosya charitable organisation. Her love for animals and commitment to helping others continue through every project.
It was Maryna’s idea, her love for animals and her desire to help that became the foundation of the Frosya organization. She lived in Switzerland and kept helping Ukraine.
Maryna’s work lives on in every project of the organization. Her brother Yurii and his wife Tetiana carry on the work in Kryvyi Rih, while the family in Switzerland supports the organization. Sterilization, feed, animal treatment and wartime help continue — under Frosya’s name and with the love it all began with.
Марина Кукліч-Рапольд
Founder of the organization
In loving memory
Андреас Рапольд
The founder’s husband, supports the work from Switzerland
Юрій Кукліч
The founder’s brother, coordinates the work in Kryvyi Rih
Тетяна Кукліч
Yurii’s wife, helps on the ground
Source: the organization’s official website
The old site had personal pages of the organization’s friends. We will carry them over only with each person’s own permission.
All activity is financed exclusively by the family’s own funds. We accept no donations and run no public fundraising.
Because we depend on no donors, we decide ourselves where and whom to help — and we listen to our heart.
Every figure on this site is computed from published activity records. Totals are never typed in by hand.
We do not fundraise and do not accept donations. The organization is financed exclusively privately.
