For over a year, villagers of frontline Bakhmutka village had to live without water and electricity supply.

The old wells in the village went dry and there was no water, even for general use. Volunteers would bring drinking water to the village, but it was never enough to satisfy the needs of the villagers.

«We can’t do laundry; our gardens are dry. It’s very difficult for us to live like that», — shared the locals. The officials promised to renew water supply but nothing happened in reality.

CBN-Emmanuel has been providing help to the villagers of Bakhmutka for several years now – by brining them food, water and installing wood-burning stoves in the houses of elderly people. Several months ago, «Emmanuel» received a grant from International Foundation «Pope for Ukraine» Initiative and allocated a part of the received finances to build a well for the villagers of Bakhmutka.

When the staff of CBN-Emmanuel and «Pope for Ukraine» Initiative came to Bakhmutka for the first time, brining the team of builders to start looking for a place to dig a well, the locals couldn’t believe their happiness!

«The builders were great! They worked even when it was over 40 degrees Celsius outside», shared the villagers of Bakhmutka.

And now, just a month later, the people are waiting in line to get some water!

“The electricity supply has been renewed, now we have water too! It’s like we are leaving the «prehistoric» life style!”  They are smiling and there is a hope for a better future in their eyes.

We are grateful to Pope Francis and all caring Catholic Christians who answered the call to help the conflict-affected population in Donbass!