Since the beginning of the year, our Foundation has started registering people in Mykolaivska and Khersonska oblasts to receive multi-purpose cash assistance under the Providing Multi-Sectoral Humanitarian Assistance to Conflict-Affected Populations in Ukraine project, implemented by the Charity Foundation “Stabilization Support Services” together with the humanitarian organization CARE Ukraine and the Response Consortium with financial support from the USAID Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance (BHA).
Financial assistance is very important for Ukrainians who have suffered losses from the war and have found themselves in a difficult situation. Firstly, the money can be spent on basic necessities, and secondly, it supports the local economy, as it is mostly spent in their communities.
“It is especially valuable for us to support the settlements that rarely receive help from charitable organizations because they are remote from the center of communities and districts as well as from major roads. Some villages are in ruins, and the roads are so bad that it takes three hours to travel 100 kilometers. But we find ways to get there and provide help,” says project manager Anna Nikolenko-Bayeva.
In order for the people of Kherson and Mykolaiv to receive help, we first need to collect the necessary data and documents from them. To do this, our team is constantly traveling to the regions. However, the journey to them is often very difficult and time-consuming.
“There are virtually no roads, the potholes are up to half a meter deep, and the fields on the roadsides are mined. It usually takes us a long time to cover even short distances,” shares Nadiya Aleksandrova, a registrar in Khersonska Oblast, “When we arrive in some settlements, it often seems that no one lives there. Most of the houses are roofless and shot up, their fences destroyed. There are also villages where no one lives anymore. Driving through them is heartbreaking.
Our registrars reminisce with sadness about a recent trip to Oleksandrivka in Khersonska Oblast, a once large, beautiful village with a renovated beautiful school and kindergarten. Now, all of this has been destroyed by deliberate targeted fire. What struck our team the most was the condition of the locals, many of whom had survived torture and spent months in cellars. Most of the people who stay in these villages are those who find it difficult to leave: either elderly people or mothers with children who have serious illnesses or disabilities.
“The people of Kherson are very happy to receive the money, because most of them plan to spend it on restoring their homes so that they can finally live there or on medical treatment,” says Nadiya Aleksandrova. “Despite everything, people have a lot of hope for the future and are looking forward to our next visit, asking again and again with warmth in their eyes whether we will really come to them again. These very eyes give us the strength to overcome obstacles and difficulties along the way.
