TEMPORARY BECOMES PERMANENT
Stories of ShelterBox humanitarian aid recipients.
- We think we are bringing victory a little closer. This is our contribution, because we cannot… Well, some of us can, some of us can’t be armed. So everyone is trying to bring the time when we will return home closer. Because most of us there are IDPs.
Olena is from Kharkiv. Since March 2022, she has been living in Stryi with her family as an IDP.
- Well, it is partially destroyed, really (ed. housing in Kharkiv). The heating system is destroyed and there is no water supply. Otherwise, physically, it is more or less intact. Well, for now,’ is how the woman describes her home in her hometown.
When we moved to Stryi with my daughter, husband and mother, the biggest problem was sleeping places.
- My daughter slept for six months on a futon on the floor in a corner… it wasn’t even in the room, because it was one room, but it was a place for a wardrobe, a corner blocked off for things. And she slept there because she said: ‘I can’t be in the same room with you, I need at least a little space. And she found it. And I put a couple of mats there for her, and threw in a sleeping bag. The bed that my husband and I used to sleep on in the previous apartment was also terrible. It was all crushed, it was an old sofa. And after a while, my shoulder hurt, his shoulder hurt, and it was a dream to lie down somewhere and not fall over like that, but just lie down normally. Good mattresses are a very useful thing. That’s why we are very grateful to the organisation for this help.
Thanks to good sleep, the woman jokes, there’s strength for volunteering. She and her daughter knitted camouflage nets, made trench candles. But since her daughter is soon to take the National University Entrance Exam, she’s forced to spend more time preparing for university. Her husband volunteered, but mostly worked remotely to financially support the family. This is the second time Olena is not only a recipient of aid from ShelterBox but also helps distribute humanitarian aid, assisting the Community Foundation “Ridnya” and other IDPs involved in the project.
• In February 2023, I photographed the distribution process and monitored the distribution of blankets. It was my first collaboration. I was both a recipient and a volunteer. And the second time with ShelterBox was assistance in November 2023. We conducted surveys among those in need, what they need, to whom. We filled them out. And we received our set for the family. And I told the girls that I could also help them. And it was such an experience. It was snowing again, and we visited three different small towns that day. And I was at the distribution, and the girls were registering. It greatly accelerated the process.
Volunteering, Olena communicates a lot with other people who have been forcibly displaced. Many, like Olena’s family, face misunderstanding from locals who rented out apartments, expecting them to need more things than regular tenants.
• When we arrived at the apartment and I saw that there was a sofa but no bedding, nothing, I asked, “Will there be bedding?” And they said to me, “Didn’t you take your own bedding?” It was a big problem because some didn’t understand, those who rented out the apartments, that people were partially coming without anything. Many were in a panic. We didn’t think we needed to bring bedding, cups, spoons because we were more concerned about how to take out the snails, the hamster, and the guinea pig.
Hygiene kits were quite useful. The team of the National Philanthropy Development Network agreed with ShelterBox that at least one aid kit should be purchased from a Ukrainian supplier. We believe it’s important to support Ukrainian business and the economy. Hygiene products in the kits were from Ukrainian manufacturers.
• The most useful are hygiene products because they run out quickly. Things like soap, toothpaste, shampoo. It’s something that’s constantly used. It seems like it’s disappearing little by little, really, big money is going. Especially for women’s hygiene products.
In the new city, the woman on one hand wanted to find work, but on the other hand, hoped they could soon return home.
• It’s very difficult to find work in Stryi or it’s low-paid, minimum wage work. As I said, by economizing, I can save money. I don’t spend as much on cosmetics, women’s stuff as I would like. I even forgot about manicures. – the lady jokes – I only buy the most necessary. So far, we lived on my husband’s salary, and he was laid off in December. While he’s looking for work and I’m looking for part-time work, we’re considering some of your proposals (projects of the National Philanthropy Development Network). And as I said, the employment center connected me to help with a small project. I’ll help them with paperwork.
Although Olena’s family is always ready to rush and return to their native Kharkiv, numerous shelling of the city stops them. “Temporary” becomes permanent, and they consider starting their own business. They’re thinking of starting mushroom cultivation. Since there’s a participant in the “Dreams in Action” project, which supports social female entrepreneurship, who grows mushrooms and makes mushroom jerky, we shared the social media of this enterprise. Hopefully, the family will be inspired and take the risk to start something new. The “Dreams in Action” community of participants is open to helping those in need.
