Vira from the frontline town of Maryinka is the last one of her family who is still alive after 5 years of war – she lost everything she had in these long five years.

First, she suffered in an accident involving an military vehicle. She had multiple fractures of legs and arms leaving her disabled. For the last five years she has been living in a terrible fear of constant shelling. Five projectiles fell in her backyard and one hit her house.

In 2017, her husband died. And, lastly, on October 3, 2018m  she found out that her grown-up son hung himself and her whole world shattered. Her young, beloved, kind and promising son, committed suicide – he couldn’t endure regular shelling any more.

Unfortunately, Vira’s house is located in a very “bad” position – right on the contact line. When there is a shootout between the two warring parties, bullets and splinters fly through Vira’s yard.

“No words are enough to describe how horrible I feel  – I feel complete despair, pain and emptiness at the same time. And a bitter, even a little childish resentment: What is wrong with me? What have I done? Why is death so merciless to me? These wounds will never heal.

I want this war to end finally and I want this terrible cold to stop. I am really afraid of winter. After all, the gas supply in our town has been damaged with bombs for many years now and I am afraid that I might freeze to death in the winter”, – Vira shared with us struggling to restrain her emotions

To this day, the woman experiences shelling; the windows are broken, the gas heater is not working, the house is cold.

Emmanuel’s team delivered Vira solid fuel for the whole winter season and installed a solid-fuel heater in the framework of its winterization project for persons with disabilities supported by Ukraine Humanitarian Fund. 

Her house has not had any warmth for a long time and now it will be warm again. From Vira’s smile we could see that she felt some warmth in her heart too.

By Anna Chaban