“The bomb pierced the roof and destroyed our home...”
Thanks to the support of the Family to Family project, an elderly couple from the frontline region of Kharkiv can now purchase much-needed hygiene products, food, and medicine.
“If it weren't for my crutches, I would dance with joy...”
"When we got a call on August 28 informing us that we would be receiving assistance from the Family to Family project, I said to my husband, ‘Look what a gift we have for your birthday! ’ He turned 72 that day. I couldn't believe that someone had thought of us and cared. I wanted to dance with joy. If it weren't for my crutches, I would definitely have danced," says 73-year-old Antonina Grygorivna. She and her husband live in the village of Pechenigi in the Kharkiv region.
After his second stroke, Viktor Mykolayovych can no longer speak or move independently. Therefore, all daily care for her husband falls on Antonina Hryhorivna's shoulders. Washing him, changing his disposable diapers, feeding him... Due to the constant physical strain, the woman now has serious problems with her leg joints, walks poorly, and uses crutches. Sometimes her grandson comes to help. “He never refuses when I call and ask for help,” notes Antonina.
The couple has three children. Their eldest daughter works as an ambulance doctor in Kharkiv. “She is our magic wand,” the woman smiles gently. "She comes, puts in an IV, and brings the necessary medicine. Our younger son works at the Kharkiv railway depot. When he finishes his shift, he also comes to visit. The house we live in now is his home. Our apartment in Kharkiv, where we lived before the war, was damaged by Russian shelling. A bomb pierced the roof, the bedroom window, and the balcony—it completely destroyed everything," our interlocutor sighs.
“The scariest thing is the whistle of an approaching rocket”
Here, in nature, closer to the ground, it is a little easier and calmer, the woman shares. There is no need to climb to the third floor with crutches, as was the case in the city. You can get out into the yard in a wheelchair. They have a small garden near the house. “The children plant and harvest, and I just walk on crutches and give orders,” she jokes.
She tries to escape the harsh reality with jokes. Because when you have to endure seven or eight attacks a day, it's very scary. "You've probably seen the destruction at the entrance to Pechenigi... The scariest thing is the whistling sound when a rocket flies. My husband is very frightened by the explosions. I sometimes go to meetings with volunteers and psychologists. I listen to stories about how to relieve stress. These conversations give me strength. They tell me: you have to live, you have to hope. And we hope. We are waiting for our victory... I can't go and weave camouflage nets because I can't leave my husband alone for long. But I sewed more than 100 pillowcases for our defenders. Volunteers brought the materials, so I got to work. I have a manual sewing machine at home, which helps me out.
When they received their first payment from the Family to Family project, Antonina Grigorievna says she “ran” to buy her husband some treats. Only those allowed by his doctor, of course. Because she really wanted to cheer him up. In general, the funds are spent on the most urgent needs: medicines, disposable diapers, household chemicals. The children help as much as they can, but prices are rising rapidly, so there is never enough money for the most necessary things.
“If necessary, we will do everything we can to help them”
Antonina worked as an accountant her entire life until she retired. She is originally from the Far East. In 1949, her parents, already having four children, were forced to flee the post-war famine. So they left their native Malynivka near Chuhuiv in the Kharkiv region and set off into the unknown. There they had four more children. Antonina was the sixth child.
Her older brother, who was involved in land reclamation, brought her here to Ukraine. "As a girl, I dreamed of seeing how apples grow... There are no apples in the Far East. I saw them. And I met my soul mate. Our children were born here. And now I dream that when the war ends, I will call my brothers and sisters in the Far East, because I don't know if anyone is still alive or not. Maybe they will get in touch with us someday.
We are very grateful to Polish benefactors for their help and their caring hearts. And we sincerely hope that they will never experience the fear that we are experiencing every day now. And God forbid something happens – we will do everything we can to help them. Just as they are supporting us today. May God grant us victory. Because today, the happiest days are those when there is no shooting. When you can go to sleep peacefully. But such days are almost non-existent now..."
The “Family to Family” project is implemented by Caritas-Spes Ukraine with financial support from Caritas Poland in the Kharkiv-Zaporizhia Diocese and the Lviv Archdiocese. The project provides assistance to Ukrainians who find themselves in difficult circumstances as a result of the war.
