‘Displaced people had to sell everything they brought with them at rock-bottom prices, striving to survive’

For our family, the war started in 2014. My mother and father went to live in Ukraine, in city Konotop, Sumy region. They took me there too in six months. At the time, I didn’t even hope to survive the winter – there was no food, no jobs.

My parents (both pensioners, 72 years old) were housed in a children’s hostel at the local vocational school. In 2014-2015, a lot of displaced people were lodged in that hostel. People came there without any money, and the aid given by the government was UAH 442. There aren’t many jobs in Konotop. And at the hostel, they charged us UAH 400 a month. People had to sell everything they brought with them at rock-bottom prices, striving to survive.

Displaced people did all sorts of jobs to get by, some dug graves for a pittance, some worked as tram conductors for a pittance. One girl came there with only one pair of shoes, she didn’t have even slippers for a change, so she wore that one pair all the time. I bought her some slippers.

Eventually, all those people moved away, each their own way. One guy was kicked out from the hostel. He is an orphan, came from a village near Donetsk. The lad took up every single job he could get – he dug graves for peanuts, he received that government aid of UAH 442 and had to pay UAH 400 for the hostel... He spent all his money on food and didn’t pay. A priest from the local church took him in and housed him at the monastery.

My parents are pensioners, my dad has a disability. I mostly go to work to Kyiv. Now, after the lockdown, it’s difficult to find a job.