A Painting Finds Its Owner: An Evacuation Story from Dobropillia
Every evacuation story is unique. They are rarely accompanied by laughter, usually there are tears and heavy hearts. That’s why we decided to share this particular story, one that reflects the unbreakable spirit of Ukrainians.
Usually, Ksenia, a social worker at Caritas-Spes Sloviansk, sees fear and tears in people’s eyes when she arrives for an evacuation. But one evacuation in July from Dobropillia began with laughter.
“I arrived at the location, the grandson started carrying things out, and then an elderly couple came outside — and suddenly both of them started laughing. I was surprised, but thought: people react to stress in different ways,” Ksenia recalls.
During evacuations, she usually wears her hair in a braid. So she was even more surprised when the man carried out a painting and said: “This is for you.” Ksenia felt awkward and didn’t want to accept it, but the couple insisted.
On the way, the woman explained the story behind the artwork: “My husband isn’t an artist, but he loves to paint. Sometimes inspiration comes to him, he sits down and creates something, and later the painting finds its future owner as if it was made for that person. A new painting always means we’ll have a new acquaintance. He painted this one just before the evacuation and said it would probably find its owner in Dnipro, in our new home. Then he asked me: ‘And when will be the man for evacuation?’ I told him it would be a woman. He looked at me and said: ‘Then I think the painting has already found its person.’”
The couple had lived their whole lives in Dobropillia. Their only daughter had died, leaving only their grandson, who helped with the evacuation. They were deeply grateful for being evacuated with their belongings, as it made adapting to a new place easier and helped them save resources.
We too are sincerely grateful to Caritasverband Paderborn for making it possible to save people from territories where life has become unbearable due to constant shelling and where every minute counts as if it were the last.
