The war ruined all of their plans. They still had so much to do!

When the war came into their village, Svitlana decided to fight instead of giving up.

“The war is not a reason to abandon the household or stop caring for the family or my granddaughter. Although, I must say, there was a period of 9 months that almost broke us. It was back in 2014. There was continuous violent shelling and we couldn’t even tell how many days exactly we were hiding in the basement and how many hours we spent there until the shelling stopped”.

 “We couldn’t live like that anymore and our whole family moved into my daughter’s tiny one-bedroom apartment. We lived in a very tight space and often experienced hunger –  my husband was not paid his salary for 9 months. I remember finding a miniature cabbage one day; it was smaller than my fist. I was so happy because I could make some soup. It was enough to eat some soup without meat and not to die of hunger. That’s how our life was. Fortunately, as the shelling became less violent, we returned home”.

 “For the last two years, Emmanuel has been distributing vegetable seeds in my frontline town. This really made me happy!

Thanks to the rich harvest, I make preserves and I have enough for our family and I am even able to share with those in need. You can ask Erika, the wife of our local pastor – how many jars of preserves I have brought for the needy. I am very grateful to those generous people who didn’t forget about us and gave us this support to save us from hunger! The seeds are just wonderful and we are now provided with food for the whole year!”

Thanks to the “Something to Eat Every Day”, Svitlana’s basement is now full of preserves for the upcoming winter. This year, she has prepared over 40 jars of pickled zucchinis only and she has even a bigger stock of preserves of other pickled vegetables and sauces.

“I know that there are always those who are poorer and hungrier than us!” Svetlana concluded her story. This is how the war has taught people to appreciate simple food and even to share it with others when there is even a slight excess.

The SEED (“Something to Eat Every Day”) project is implemented with the support of “Orphan’s Promise Ukraine”.

You can also become an agent of good changes in the lives of people of war by making a donation here.

By Anna Chaban, CBN-Emmanuel