Volyn region actively hosts the internally displaced persons from Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia regions. The flow of the displaced persons is constantly increasing, especially many people are coming now from Nikopol and Enerhodar.
During August, we distributed 200 food and 250 hygiene kits from CARE in four communities in Volyn region. According to Kateryna Lutsenko, our coordinator in Volyn region, it is better to bring both types of humanitarian aid to remote villages at once in order to meet all the basic needs of the displaced persons.
“Normally, we choose the communities ourselves, contact the heads, discuss the dates and venue of distribution, find out which other charitable organizations help them,” says Ms. Kateryna. “In some settlements, we were the first to bring food and hygiene products, so people were very grateful for the help.”
Our coordinator was impressed by the extent to which employees of local authorities take care of the displaced persons: “Heads of territorial communities know every family that they host. Before distribution of humanitarian aid, they call everyone and inform them about our arrival. If someone didn’t come, they find out the reason, and if necessary, they themselves bring the kits to remote corners of the villages.”
Kateryna Lutsenko says that usually the displaced persons come to villages to their relatives and friends. It also happens that a person settles down, and then invites his/her friends and family, who also become IDPs in this community. Some cannot afford to rent a house in the city, so they are looking for someone who is willing to host the displaced persons in villages. There are also many religious communities in Volyn region, whose volunteers actively evacuate citizens from the combat zone and accommodate them in the premises of their own religious centers and houses of believers.
We are grateful to Ms. Kateryna for her work! And we continue to distribute humanitarian aid in most regions of Ukraine.