Volodymyr, the farmer: Cultivating new land, cultivating hope

Volodymyr, the farmer: Cultivating new land, cultivating hope

Volodymyr had always been a man of the land. In the Popasna district of Luhansk, farming wasn’t just his livelihood—it was his life. Every furrow plowed, every seed planted held the weight of generations of work. But when the war came crashing down on his doorstep, he was forced to abandon everything. With his family,…

Returning childhood to a Zaporizhzhia community shelter

Returning childhood to a Zaporizhzhia community shelter

With 22% of the population being internally displaced and over 5000 of them living in community shelters, the city of Zaporizhzhia is in dire need of accommodation. Those that had to leave everything behind are not picky, but the need for improvements is felt in most of the temporary accommodations housing internally displaced people with…

Speedy Stepania: The Superhero of the Carpathians

Speedy Stepania: The Superhero of the Carpathians

Life in the picturesque villages nestled at the foothills of the Carpathians in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast can be challenging, especially for the elderly. But thanks to the incredible dedication of social workers like Stepania, things are getting a whole lot brighter. For over 20 years, Stepania has been the go-to person for residents in three neighboring…

Fostering resilience in a community shelter for displaced people

Fostering resilience in a community shelter for displaced people

As the war goes on in its third year, Ukrainian civil society organisations do everything they can to support the people suffering from it. Believing in the power of community, Hungarian Interchurch Aid – in cooperation with Ukraine Response Consortium partners World Vision and ACTED and with financial backing from USAID, have introduced community-based grants…

New refrigerators to feed the hungry

New refrigerators to feed the hungry

Food, home, chance! – the Emmaus-Oselya Community’s goals echo Hungarian Interchurch Aid’s motto. Standing firmly against social indifference, the community’s social centre with its complex portfolio of assistance works tirelessly to guide the homeless people in their care back into society. One of the most important helping activities has now become a bit easier to…

Fostering resilience through rediscovering joy and play: psychosocial help for a Donbas community

Fostering resilience through rediscovering joy and play: psychosocial help for a Donbas community

Enduring the tragic consequences of war for almost 9 years now, the people of the Donbas are struggling for their mental health, too. Supported by ACT Alliance and Hungarian Interchurch Aid, Caritas Kramatorsk has been at the forefront of this effort. By establishing spaces of creativity and youth development in Kramatorsk and the villages surrounding…

Mental & Spiritual Healing on the Foothills of the Carpathians

Mental & Spiritual Healing on the Foothills of the Carpathians

In the magnificent mountains surrounding Drohobych in Western Ukraine, there is a quiet but steadfast force at work: faith. Supported by ACT Alliance member Hungarian Interchurch Aid through its Flexible Smal Grants programme, Father Ihor and his Greek Catholic Caritas group have created a spiritual and mental refuge for the many displaced people arriving to…

Return to happiness: Summer camps for displaced children in Ivano-Frankivsk

Return to happiness: Summer camps for displaced children in Ivano-Frankivsk

Far from the concrete jungle, embraced by the forest, rivers, and in close proximity to the mountains, a recreation centre is hosting a summer day camp for children. We are near Ivano-Frankivsk, a city in western Ukraine, where many displaced people found a new home after fleeing the war in the east of the country….

A safe space for displaced children

A safe space for displaced children

Made up by containers, the shelter “modular city” in Lviv, Western Ukraine has become a safe haven for about 1,000 Ukrainians fleeing the war in the east. The neat and modern shelter is also home to many kids – which can be immediately noticed upon entering its courtyard and playground area. Children on rollerblades, bicycles…