On our last blog post, we introduced you all to our newest friend Kristina.
It is now my pleasure and great honour to introduce you to our oldest friends!!!
I first met Olena and Anna, who are sisters, on my first Aid Mission way back on the 28th May 2022. Our intention was to load up with supplies and then drive North of Kyiv into the newly liberated territories. Completely by accident, we stumbled onto the village of Olyzarivka, where we met up with Olena and Anna for the first time!
The rest, as they say is History!
We asked Olena to tell her story in both words and pictures, which she kindly did. These two amazing women really are true forces of nature and are a constant source of inspiration to us all! Over to you Olena!
Good evening, Elliot and your entire family. I want to write today about our volunteer activities. There's never enough time, as school has already started, there is a lot more work to do, and on top of that, there's the potato harvest!
Hello to all my British friends and the people who are helping us in this cursed war. Many of you know me and my sister Anna from Elliot's and David's posts. I'd like to tell you a little more about what we do. When the invasion started, the orcs occupied our village just two days later. We endured a terrible occupation for 35 days, completely cut off from the world. We lived for 70 days without electricity, and 35 days in the cold basements with children under constant shelling... To say it was difficult and terrifying is an understatement... It's hard to remember all of that, but it's our history that will forever stay in our memory. Now we're fighting for the right to live peacefully under the peaceful sky of independent Ukraine. It's a very difficult struggle that takes thousands of innocent lives. And standing aside here is simply impossible!!! The desire to do something arose even when we were under occupation, but at that time, we didn't have such an opportunity. Perhaps just moral support for each other. After our village was liberated, volunteers started to come to our village and bring us various aid. It was necessary to organize people and distribute everything to the people who constantly came to my house to get food, medicine, clothing, etc... We used to drive elderly people to their homes with my husband, those were very special moments.
There were many volunteers, and accordingly, a lot of work. Many kilograms of aid had to pass through our hands, but no one considered the time and health, we were just doing our duty. The main task was to help people. I met many volunteers, and I'm still in touch with some of them ❤. In May, I met the guys from Ukraine UK Aid for the first time; I remember our first meeting in detail ❤. Very often, the guys from the BF "Mind" helped us, and we worked together for a long time, helping our military and people in the newly liberated territories. After we recovered a bit from the occupation, we started helping people in the Donetsk and Kharkiv regions straight away. We gathered many people around us and started working as a large team to help those in need. We collected tons of food supplies and sent them to people because we understood what occupation meant. So we worked the whole summer, at a frantic pace with no rest.
In our thoughts, there was already a desire to help more the military, but at that time, it seemed impossible to me. But the main thing was the desire!!!! With the onset of autumn, we began making trench candles for the military. It was a powerful project that involved many of my fellow villagers as well. We made 11,000 candles for our defenders and handed over hundreds of knitted socks made by our women. And during all this time, we didn't stop collecting food aid and other necessary items for the front line. We started collecting bed linen for the hospital because the need for this was always immense.
When the need for candles subsided, we needed to think about how to continue helping the guys!!!! Anna and I decided to make "Fruit Snacks" for our defenders, and we named it "Fruit Vitrebenki." We involved our children in the process, and they really enjoyed it. The project continues to this day, like most of our projects. Next, we started actively drying herbs, berries, and fruits for tasty soups and porridge at the frontline. It was many kilograms of greens that we harvested and dried. It was a mega-process that required a lot of time and attention. We did it!!! It was an amazing summer team effort, all for the sake of VICTORY!!!! We organized a crazy canning season for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and we succeeded!!!!
For a year and a half, we have been constantly collecting supplies for the military and various aid, gathering bed linen, clothing, and medical supplies for the hospital. In such a frantic rhythm, we work every day as a large team of like-minded people to help our guys on the front line. Now we have started weaving camouflage netting to protect our equipment and soldiers. We also started helping children in the Zaporizhzhia region, and we keep sending packages with treats and necessary aid to our defenders.
Thanks to our British friends, we assist our military on the frontline with cars and many other essential items as well medical supplies.
Furthermore, Anna and I continuously collect a large number of artworks for auctions in the UK. This is just a part of our work; much remains behind the scenes. Of course, none of this would be possible without people who support us!!! It's a collective effort of many individuals, and we thank everyone who cooperates with us. We believe that victory is coming soon!!!
But for now, we carry on...
I just wanted to add that I am immensely grateful to my entire family for their understanding and tremendous support in our volunteer activities.
