Without a stationary laundry, Ms. Iryna from Snigurivka, in the Mykolaiv region, cannot imagine her life now. She comes here almost every week. She washes everything: bed linen, outerwear, hats, and everyday items for her family.
“I really like the laundry. It is located in the city center, so it is very easy to get there on foot. In my opinion, they have quite powerful machines there. After washing, the clothes are so clean, they smell nice, and white clothes are really white, not gray. You can’t get this result by washing by hand. So I’m very happy. In such difficult times, especially for our family, the laundry is a real lifesaver,” — says the woman.
During the years of full-scale invasion, Iryna’s family has suffered a lot of grief — they lost their home and all the property that she and her husband had worked hard to earn, and they almost died during one of the shellings.
“Before winter, we bought a house in Snigurivka. We moved from the village, thinking we would start a new life. We celebrated New Year’s Eve and waited for spring. But then the war started. It was very scary in Snigurivka. There was shooting day and night. My husband, son, and I hid in the cellar, and that saved us. A shell hit the house. We had nowhere to live. So we quickly packed up and returned to the village. But we didn’t stay there long either. During one of the shellings, another shell hit the house. We had to move again. We went to a neighboring village. However, it seemed as if misfortune was following us and would not let us go. Another shelling left us homeless for the third time. To be honest, we didn’t know what to do anymore. It was as if some kind of black streak was haunting our whole family,” — Ms. Iryna recalls with despair.
Left practically on the street, Iryna’s family decided to return to Snigurivka and try to repair their house, which had been damaged by the shelling.
“When we arrived in Snigurivka, we couldn’t believe our eyes. The house was almost destroyed — there was no roof, windows, or doors, the walls were damaged, and in some places completely broken. But the most shocking thing was waiting inside. Snigurivka had been under occupation for 10 months. So when the enemies retreated, they took everything they could see. Some things in our house survived the bombing, but the enemy soldiers took them. We were left with nothing. They even took the preserves and empty jars from the cellar. There was coal and firewood in the shed next to the house. They took that too. We never thought that such a thing could happen,” — says Iryna.
The woman is currently unemployed. The sole breadwinner in the family is her husband, who was lucky enough to find a job. The family spent almost all of their earnings on rebuilding the roof of the house and replacing the windows so that they could somehow get through the winter. The only household appliance the family has is a boiler to heat water. But it is of little use now, as the power is often cut off in Snigurivka.
“A washing machine is a dream for me right now. It is very difficult to wash by hand, but it is good that the laundry is working and helping us. It’s so nice when strangers care about you. Thank you! We’ve been through so much that sometimes I even think it’s impossible for one person to have so much misfortune. But I hear much worse stories from other people. That’s why I think we have to keep living. We’re all alive, and that’s what matters,” — emphasizes Iryna.
The stationary laundry in Snigurivka operates as part of a project implemented by the charitable organization Stabilization Support Services Charitable Foundation and the German humanitarian organization Sign of Hope with financial support from the German Federal Foreign Office (GFFO).