Emmanuel Association continues to publish the stories of  people living in Eastern Ukraine. Here is another story from my recent trip to Krasnogorovka.

My new friends is an elderly lady “Grandma Toma”.
During the whole time of war, the 82-year-old Grandma Toma never left Krasnogorovka.

“I stayed here all the time. Where could I go? To be able to go somewhere, you need to have cash. How can I go somewhere with my pension of 1000 UAH (less than $50)? Where can I go? Nowhere…»

Her daughter’s apartment was destroyed, so they spent the previous winter together.  Now Grandma Toma is all by herself.

When the shelling would start, she would lay in her bed. “I never went to the  basement to hide. I would even open the window and look out to see where they were firing… I already survived in one war, although I was a child at that time”, shares Grandma Toma.

There is a potbelly stove at Grandma Toma’s kitchen. It was installed last winter when the weather was freezing. Grandma Toma is so happy to have it. She can fire up the stove and the the apparment will be warm in no time. However, she has to pick up wood by herself. “While I still can do something by myself, I have to go out and gather wood. I can’t afford to pay someone to do it for me. What can I do? My pension is not enough».

Grandma Toma’s apartment looks like a warehouse full of firewood. Every free space in her apartment is covered with wood. She is preparing for a freezing winter.

Saying good-bye to us, Grandma Toma asks me to come visit her again. She loves to talk to people. Unfortunately, there is no one to talk to.

…

I am thankful to God for knowing people who really care about somebody else’s pain. I am thankful to Emmanuel Association and Galyna Kucher, to the “Good News” Church of Slavyansk and Peter Dudnick for the potbelly stoves which are life saving for the people of Krasnogorovka. I am thankful to Church of Christ the Savior and Sergey Kazachenkoе  for helping people who found themselves in real trouble.

Thank you for caring enough…

We just remind that “CBN-Emmanuil” continues to help the people from the South-East of Ukraine.