He is only sixteen years old, but Andrey Kostetsky from Ukraine has already taken on the role of both father and mother to his seven younger brothers and sisters.

When both his parents died, leaving eight underage children with nothing, Andrey had to fight to keep his family together. Their 80-year-old granny needed to be taken care of too.

Andrey says the children could have been separated and been distributed among different orphanages – but they didn’t want that. They wanted to stay together. So they wrote a letter to the Mayor of Mostysk.

Mayor Igor Chipko says that letter reduced many of his staff to tears. The people of the town tried to help the children survive by digging into their own pockets.

“We put a new roof on their house and changed the windows because the place was impossible to live in. But there was only so much that we could do. Andrey has worked hard to prove that he can be a guardian. He's an amazing boy, a role model,” Mayor Chipko said.

And so the family stayed intact. Their aunt became an official guardian. But she lives in a different town, which makes Andrey the lone parental figure at home. They also have an 80-year-old granny, but she needs as much care as the youngest of the children.

Five of the children spend weekdays at a boarding school. The other two are being treated for tuberculosis. On weekends they return home. Even though the house has got no running water, gas or electricity, it's where they feel safe and happy.

“When I come home, I always think that mom's here to greet me. But then I realise that she's not with us any more. But I feel her presence anyway,” Andrey’s sister Marta says.

The authorities have given them a plot of land with a gas supply and have promised to build them a new house in the next couple of years.

Despite having no parents, the children have high hopes for the future. The girls dream of becoming hairdressers and the boys want to drive. The Ukrainian authorities have awarded them the title – the Pride of Ukraine.