On 24 February 2022, the lives of Ukrainians changed forever. Millions of people went to the country’s west, looking for shelter. Very soon, local communities became overburdened, providing at least basic living conditions for the newcomers. Many of them lost everything and were pushed into the unknown. NGOs helped the state to overcome these challenging social circumstances mostly with accommodation and basic necessities for internally displaced persons (IDPs). With this article, we begin a series of materials about Ukrainian NGOs that, thanks to the EU and UNDP funding under the EU4Dialogue project, help internally displaced people and the communities that host them to survive this difficult time and move on together.
“People we were able to help are the most important result of my work,” says Luidmyla Ravliuk
Liudmila Ravliuk, 46, the head of the NGO “Together for Successful Business,” leads us carefully to one of the shelters in the Ladyzhyn community of the Haisyn district in the Vinnytsia Oblast. Soon, we reached a former school idle for several years as children went to another school in the neighbouring village.
Dmytro, 9, from Vuhledar, Donetsk Oblast, who has lived in this shelter with his younger brother Demian and their parents for a week, runs out to meet us. There is some firewood on the veranda of the former school that the boys’ father prepared in the morning. It is warm in the rooms where the family lives. The brothers run barefoot along the corridor, opening each door out of curiosity. They are holding soft toys that Liudmyla gave them.
“We do like it here. Most important is that the children are now safe.”
Dmytro Potapov, father of Dmytro and Demian
The family did not want to leave their home. Dmytro volunteered a lot, helping to deliver humanitarian aid to women and children in Vuhledar. One day, during the shelling, he was wounded in the leg and had to retreat and search for a safer place for the whole family.
“People deprived of their homes and jobs found strength and came to our community. They did not go further; I can’t imagine myself walking in their shoes. These people deliberately stayed in Ukraine and now adapt to new conditions. They dream of returning and are waiting for their homes to be de-occupied,” says Liudmyla.
Thanks to the financial support of the EU and UNDP, the NGO “Together for Successful Business” is setting up two shelters in the Ladyzhyn community. Another shelter in the former kindergarten, “Vinochok,” is in the village of Hubmyk, Ladyzhyn community of the Haisyn district.
“We bought furniture, some basics, mattresses, and blankets, and now we are about to sign a contract with a supplier of home appliances. This building was renovated and equipped at the expense of the city budget,” says Liudmila Ravliuk.
Mattresses, blankets, pillows, bed linen, ironing boards, and sets of pots and pans were recently delivered. Soon, new members of the community will live here.
“People we were able to help are the most important result of my work. We gave the children a thousand sweet gifts on Christmas Eve, and we heard “thank you” a thousand times. It was the most precious gift I received in my life. This way, I make my contribution to our victory. I do what I can do in my place with the available resources,” says Liudmyla Ravliuk.
“On 24 February, my daughter woke me saying the war had started. I was unable to grasp it fully”, says Liudmyla Ravliuk
The NGO “Together for Successful Business” was founded in 2020 and worked with small and medium-sized local enterprises mainly by providing consultations on financial reporting. Since 24 February, the NGO has provided comprehensive support to internally displaced people.
“On 24 February, my daughter woke me up saying the war had started. I was unable to grasp it fully”, recalls Liudmyla. “I used to write grant applications at work and suddenly have lost this ability. For the first time, I couldn’t write anything for about a week, not even a simple sentence on social networks.”
At the beginning of March, Liudmyla came across a Facebook post with information about the grant competition to support internally displaced persons in Ukraine announced by the EU and UNDP. The deadline was two days away, and Liudmyla applied on the very last day.
“I once saw how hot meals for displaced people were served in a local cafe; all the villagers were helping, some carried potatoes. I would cook potatoes once every two weeks, not a fan of them at all,” smiles Liudmyla. “But I am indeed keen on writing applications for financing. With the support of the EU and UNDP and the first grant, we engaged 50 volunteers who worked all day long and cooked more than 11,200 hot meals for the displaced people.”
At the same time, the NGO arranges various integration activities for IDP children: master classes, creative workshops, and quizzes. Most of the events are held in the administrative building of the Ladyzhyn Arboretum. When it got warmer outside, they moved to the park’s summer theatre for a paper show.
“This paper show brought them so much joy! Almost 14-year-old teenagers were as happy as smaller kids, a surge of positive emotions. We arranged a soap bubble show in the summer theatre and invited children’s animators,” says Liudmyla Ravliuk.
“For two months, we lived without electricity and communication.”
Svitlana Virkun from Kherson Oblast
Svitlana Virkun, 38, from the Kherson Oblast brought her children to the Ladyzhyn Arboretum in the spring, and the April rain was a downpour. Svitlana hurried to pick up her youngest daughter Zhenya from class and left her umbrella at home. She asked Liudmyla Ravliuk to let her wait out the rain and began to help the organization actively.
“Svitlana was six months pregnant when we met her,” Liudmyla recalls. “She immediately started helping us, bringing children whose parents could not attend our workshops. When newcomers from the Kherson region arrived in Ladyzhyn, she instantly brought them to us, identifying them amazingly. She drove alone, leaving the baby behind, through fields and unknown villages without paved roads. Even in the rain, she went through the field with nothing but a direction.”
Svitlana was fond of military uniform and math since childhood and worked as a military accountant before the full-scale invasion. By February 2022, she lived in a military town in the Kherson region that was occupied very quickly. Svitlana was pregnant with her third child at that time.
“For two months, we lived without electricity and communication; there was not even sugar. We charged our cell phones in the car. But the car was hidden so that it would not be taken away, like others, especially diesel ones,” says Svitlana. “I waited for bread next to some guys for six hours. And when the bread finally arrived, these guys wouldn’t give me the way. Everyone is affected by the war, they said.”
In April, the Virkun family managed to evacuate, and they immediately went to Ladyzhyn, because Svitlana knew someone there.
“Life goes on, and when you regret a step, you live in the past. But we must live today and move forward,” says Svitlana Virkun from Kherson Oblast
The most precious thing Svitlana Virkun managed to take from home and always keeps to herself is her class E license for drivers. Before the full-scale invasion, Svitlana’s husband worked as a truck driver, and she dreamed that one day they would become a couple that works and travels together.
“I believe a woman should not be afraid of difficulties and be equal to men. A class E license for drivers was my long-standing dream, and I got it just before the invasion. Therefore, it was so important for me to keep it,” says Svitlana with her precious driver’s license in her hands.
In Ladyzhyn, Svitlana combines volunteering with maternity leave. She provides psychological support and helps the NGO “Together for Successful Business,” organizing events and sorting and distributing humanitarian aid.
After the victory, Liudmyla and Svitlana dream of rest and travel.
“The place where you are now is the best place your guardian angel has chosen for you in the heavenly office. I wouldn’t change anything, and I don’t regret anything. Life goes on, and when you regret a step, you live there. But we must live today and move forward,” Svitlana Virkun believes.
The NGO “Together for Successful Business” is one of the organizations that received support within the “Civil society response to the needs of women and men, especially hard-to-reach and vulnerable groups” programme, supported by the EU and UNDP under the repurposed funds of the regional EU4Dialogue project to address the most urgent needs of war-affected communities in Ukraine. The EU4Dialogue project aims to contribute towards building a durable foundation for peace by creating better socio-economic conditions and improving human security for war-affected communities.
Text: Marharyta Lubkova
Photos: Artem Poznanskyi
Disclaimer: This story was produced with the financial support of the European Union and UNDP under the EU4Dialogue project. Its contents do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union and UNDP.