Hope for those who are considered “untimely”

Project: Providing multi sectoral humanitarian assistance to the population affected by the conflict in Ukraine

Stories of people

Stories of people who received help within the framework of the project, which is implemented in partnership with the international organization World Vision and the financial support of USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA) and Acted.

The stories are recorded from the words of Svitlana Butuchel, a project volunteer in the Bashtan community, Mykolaiv oblast.

Nowadays, there are categories of people who, as they often say in times of war, are “untimely.” Having collected information from social security institutions, the volunteers and employees of the foundation decided to intensively cover, in addition to the usual categories, people aged 70+ and people of 1st and 2nd degree of disability. And, as the fund’s employees share after that, there is no time to look for a more sensitive and touching group of the underprivileged.

In September, an elderly woman with IDP status from the Kherson oblast applied for humanitarian aid from the fund, and shared her life story. Grandma takes care of two grandchildren by herself. The children’s mother died a long time ago. The father was raising children, but this year he got sick and died. The woman lives with her grandchildren in a village not far from the city. They live in a temporarily rented house. The grandmother is engaged in raising her grandchildren and does everything to ensure that the children have everything they need.

“They are everything to me. And I am everything for them. They don’t have anyone else in the world except me,” the woman shared.

The queue of dozens of people willing to receive help that day stretched from early morning until late evening. The old woman waited patiently. And then with trembling hands, hastily wiping away tears, she accepted packages with help. At home, her only relatives in the world are waiting for her – her two grandchildren, and today they joy will fill their rented house.

Hanna Pylypivna lives in the city of Bashtanka with her husband. They are both retired. Since the beginning of the war, fighting in Bashtanka and outside, during constant shelling, they remained in the city. They also took in Hanna Pylypivna’s older sister, who was evacuated from the occupied Snigurivshchyna, to their house and are helping her to this day. In January 2023, Hanna Pylypivna and her husband lost their daughter. The three older people rallied before the terrifying face of the great war outside and the personal grief of losing a child.

“The pension is only enough to pay for the utilities. We buy the cheapest food. Sweets? Oh, what goodies, children…” – the old women shared the circumstances of their lives.

Silently, quietly, with eyes full of tears and grateful smiles on their lips, they enjoyed the coffee, tea and chocolate that the volunteers treated them to. After receiving food and hygiene kits, elderly women sincerely thanked the donor for such important and necessary help.

Oksana Ivanivna is also a resident of Bashtanka. Oksana Ivanivna is a person with limited physical abilities. The woman has a 2-degree disability and great difficulties with mobility. Due to a chronic bone disease, Oksana Ivanivna moves with the help of two sticks and hardly leaves the house. She, like many other people with disabilities visited by our volunteers, needed special attention.

“You must be angels..? — Mrs. Oksana was wiping the tears that came to her eyes with a handkerchief. “I can’t come alone, and I don’t know where, so you flew to me…”

The woman was pleasantly surprised by our concern and sincerity of the humanitarian staff, receiving food and hygiene kits that were delivered to her home.

The category of cancer patients touched our hearts in a special way. People who spend all their finances, all their savings to fight a serious illness, often have nothing left to meet their basic needs. During the war, society’s attention is focused on other segments of the population, who definitely deserve it. But cancer patients most acutely feel abandoned and doomed at such a time. So they received humanitarian aid with great gratitude. May these gifts, in addition to their direct purpose, also become the positivity they so need for their full recovery.

In total, during the 2nd phase of the project “Providing multi sectoral humanitarian aid to the population affected by the conflict in Ukraine”, more than 13,000 people received food and hygiene kits. Among them were families of fallen soldiers, families of prisoners of war and those with various degrees of concussions, elderly and people with disabilities, cancer patients and other vulnerable segments of the population.

“Maybe we’ll survive?” – asked one of the grandmothers, looking trustingly and hopefully into the volunteer’s eyes, tightly pressing the aid package to her chest.

“We will survive, grandmother. We will all survive for sure,” the girl promised her, who instantly felt a lump in her throat. But none of those eyes, which are looking so hopefully for the views of their benefactors, shouldn’t notice this…

We express our sincere gratitude to World Vision and USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance for the opportunity to help the people of Ukraine in such a difficult time.