Ukraine War Relief

From the Frontline…

Olha Tenischeva-Bedenko, a Social Worker for Crisis Mobile Teams in Schastia

"Our cat found a shelter under the bath. We went there to get him out and soothe him, but we ended up staying in the bathroom, with our cat soothing us as we soothed him."

Gunshots and explosions in Schastia blared since the beginning of the war. The sounds of them, constant, rapid-firing toward civilians, woke Olha up at 4 am. She called people in other parts of the town, who all said they were seeing fights and hearing numerous gunshots. After a few hours, phone connection and access to the internet were lost- Olha and her husband lost the ability to receive information about what was occurring. Shortly after, electricity, gas, and freshwater supply were cut off. Despite the dangerous conditions, the couple tried to look through the windows of their home to see what was going on outside. Each time they did, they saw more fires and damaged buildings in the town.

Later in the afternoon, Olha heard a grinding noise. Looking through the window, she saw a tank with the Ribbon of Saint George- an emblem of three black and two orange stripes, widely used by Russian military forces. “It was disgusting rather than scary to me. I did understand that I couldn’t stay in the town invaded by Russians any longer, but it was obvious we could not even leave our home safely”, remembers Olha.

The first thing my husband and I did after seeing the emblem was to remove all chats, apps, and numbers from our phones. “Our town is quite small, everybody knows everybody, and we were considered a very pro-Ukrainian couple. We deleted everything to keep all our contacts safe”, explained Olha.

All day they hid in their bathroom. Olha remembers, “Our cat found a shelter under the bath. We went there to get him out and soothe him, but we ended up staying in the bathroom, with our cat soothing us as we soothed him. That evening it got quieter in the town. People started to go outside and make fires to cook dinner. My husband and I could barely think about food, so we stayed home. However, we later realized we were running out of freshwater. At 6 am we had to leave the flat to gather some water from small street pumps connected to the town’s water conduit. When we approached the pump, we saw another tank with the Ribbon of Saint George, and we felt despair.”

At the very next moment, there was a miracle- Olha and her husband saw a close family friend of theirs. He was also in search of freshwater. He told them that his flat was damaged significantly and he would be leaving the town as soon as possible. They asked if they could carpool with him. With little time to gather their belongings, Olha and her husband grabbed their cat and some documents before leaving the town. There was a long trip to meet their children, with many days searching for shelter and running from shelling zones. Olha managed to call the head of the mobile team in Schastia only once.

Our specialist Olha, and her husband, are relatively safe now. She is recovering from illness and says that she will soon be ready to continue her duties and consult individuals as before.

Maryna, a Crisis Mobile Teams Specialist in Kostyantynivka

"While basement shelters provided some safety for Olena and her children, they still had to deal with the cold, lack of food and water, and constant stress."

Maryna, one of our Crisis Mobile Teams staff, recounts the story of a former client, Olena. Olena, the single mother of three children, aged 10, 5, and 3 years, called HealthRight on a mobile team's phone number. When the war started, she was in Lysychansk in eastern Ukraine. Olena and her children sought refuge in basement shelters when military actions became more severe. In those underground shelters, Olena, like many other town citizens faced a number of problems: a long stay in the cold weather, a lack of food and fresh water, and constant stress, which caused health implications for both her and her kids.

"Whenever there was an opportunity, the mobile team specialists provided assistance and supported Olena with psychological help and words of encouragement," shares Maryna. Our mobile teams also managed to find the contacts of the local volunteers who first provided Olena with a humanitarian pack of bare necessities. These volunteers also organized moving her and her children to a quieter, safer location. At this point, both Olena and her children are safe. They are constantly provided with psychological assistance to cope with PTSD and to ease Olena's, and her children's, adaptation to present-day challenges.