The war is particularly challenging for those who cannot move independently and depend on the care of others every day. People with disabilities in frontline communities often require more attention, support, and special care. Among them are the parents of Tetyana from Chernihivska Oblast, who returned from Kyiv after the full-scale invasion to care for them. Both of them have a Group I [severe] disability.
“They are 74 and 70 years old. My father had polio as a child, and my mother has a disability after an accident. A few years ago, they could still walk a little on their own with a cane or crutches, but age is taking its toll: now my mother doesn’t get out of bed at all, and my father rarely moves around, only in a wheelchair,” says Tetyana.
Despite frequent air alerts, shelling, and power outages, she changes her parents’ clothes, their absorbent pads, washes bed linens, prepares food, and manages their hygiene every day, all while working and raising her daughter. The woman says she spends about 15,000 hryvnias a month on care products — absorbent pads, laundry detergent, cleaning supplies — not including medication. But recently, she received individual hygiene packages and kits for people with special needs for her parents from the team of the Lifesaving: Protection, Shelter and WASH for War-Affected Regions project.
“This is a great help for our family. For daily care for bedridden parents, you need quality laundry detergents, absorbent pads, creams, wipes, adult diapers, and large quantities of everything at that. A pack of absorbent pads, for example, costs over 100 hryvnias, and sometimes one isn’t even enough for a day. When I unpacked the kits from your foundation at home, I was very happy because they contained exactly what I use,” says Tetyana.
According to her, this assistance not only helps save money that can be directed toward her parents’ treatment but also provides moral support, which gives her the strength to carry on.
“It is incredibly valuable that your team does not forget about people with disabilities, who often have no one to rely on at all, especially here in this frontline town. The items are, without a doubt, very important, but it is much more important to realize that someone else cares about your parents,” she expresses gratitude.
The project is implemented by the Charity Foundation “Stabilization Support Services” in partnership with the charitable organization Malteser International, with support from Aktion Deutschland Hilft.