MEET
DANIELA
“IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO STAY,”
Daniela* was a pregnant mother of one serving in the military when the bombs began to fall on Ukraine. After the balcony of her rented flat was damaged by bombing, she travelled home to Donetsk. “It was impossible to stay,” she says. She was seven months pregnant.
The station was being shelled even as she boarded the train. On her journey home, she caught a fever and was taken to hospital by ambulance where she was diagnosed with Covid. The hospital was without power and lacked the resources to treat her, so even though she was very unwell, Daniela was immediately discharged. She couldn’t access medicine; most pharmacies had closed, and those that were open only accepted cash. Daniela only had money on her bank card, and ATMS had no power.
With her husband still fighting in the army, Daniela and her fifteen-year-old daughter Kira* travelled to the Kyiv region, where a friend found accommodation for them. The family was without electricity for two weeks. Daniela gave birth to a little boy, and they had to travel to the city to buy boiled water. When several rockets flew close by, it was time to leave.
“BUT WHERE TO MOVE TO?” DANIELA PONDERS. “THERE WAS NOWHERE TO GO.”
They moved several times before a cottage was recommended to them. Daniela had hopes of building a pleasant home for her children with a vegetable garden. She paid a lot of money, but when they arrived at the cottage, they found a house broken in two parts, with no gas and which had not been cleaned “for maybe 30 years”.
They finally found suitable shelter in a nearby village where they finally have shutters on the windows, electricity and even the longed-for vegetable garden with herbs, potatoes, corn and onions. “People treat us well here,” Daniela says.
Daniela is now volunteering at the local humanitarian centre and Kira is studying remotely; most of the teachers have left and the school is not open. Kira is struggling to cope; “She has lost a lot of weight,” Daniela worries. “She’s depressed and stressed – she’s not herself.” After she finishes school, Kira hopes to return to Kyiv to continue studying. As for Daniella, she says: “I want to go home. I will go home.” Despite her resolution, she is unsure if she will have a home to go back to, and is concerned about not being able to afford housing.
Lumos is helping families like Daniela’s to survive by providing humanitarian aid such as food as medicine as well as cash vouchers that can be redeemed for whatever the family most needs. We’re also helping children like Kira by delivering educational resources, mental health support, and helping families access local services.
“The help from Lumos was unexpected,” Daniella shares. “Come again, I’ll give you tea, coffee, and I will bake you a cake.”
*Names changed to protect identities.