"We saw how people were changing, when they saw that they were being cared for"

I was a coordinator of a mobile distribution team of the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation. The Foundation’s volunteers showed courage and risked their own lives. We often had to hand out survival kits and provide humanitarian aid under shelling. We went to populated areas and saw a lot of destroyed houses and roads. We saw downhearted, crestfallen people who were disconnected from the outside world.

We delivered humanitarian aid to about 100 populated localities. We travelled under different weather conditions, in different seasons. We handed out the humanitarian aid under rain and snow, and under shelling. We worked in bulletproof vests and experienced the blast wave. It’s very scary.

It is very difficult to single out one particular event during all this time because we learned hundreds of tragic stories and knew these people in person.

Families lost their family members and relatives under shelling. People became disabled and lost a roof above their heads. In Opytne and Pisky villages, people lived without electricity for more than six years. Only in 2021, power supply to them was resumed.

We tried to do everything in our power to help the most vulnerable ones. Children, old people, single mothers, disabled people. In addition to handing out survival kits, we helped, supported with a kind word because it is very important for people.

When we made our visits, we saw a lot of destroyed houses, roads and despair in the eyes of people, we saw their poverty. But there was also a positive point in this – we brought them hope and compassion. And we saw how people were changing before our eyes, when they saw that they were being cared for.

They were waiting for us very much. They counted days left till we would come again and bring survival kits (food packages) for them.

Seeing with your own eyes so many events that swept before us every day, you become morally stronger, you value your life even more.

You really want to have a peaceful sky over your head and want to see people being healthy. And I would like to thank the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation for saving millions of lives. Thanks to my fellow volunteers! We had a very close-knit team. We helped each other in different situations.

Without kind soul and open heart, it is impossible to do this work, which is done by the staff of the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation.

I dream about peace. I dream to see everyone healthy and to see peace. And then everything will be fine.