Together with its long-term partner organisation New Way, arche noVa is currently working in Dnipro, a city in eastern Ukraine where many refugees from Mariupol, Kharkiv and other embattled places are staying. Only a few days after the start of the Russian war of aggression, volunteers transformed the city's cultural centre into an emergency shelter.
Maria fled with her daughter and granddaughter.
In the "Kulturna Stolytsa" in Dnipro, the refugees spend the night in the cafeteria, in rehearsal rooms or on stage. arche noVa provides them with couches, mattresses, blankets and pillows. Maria, who is staying here with her daughter and granddaughter, is very grateful for this. The three women fled from Lyssychansk, more than 300 kilometres away.
Maria tells us: "Since the beginning of the war, there has been no water in our town. We fetched the snow from outside and thawed it in our flat. The internet stopped working and we didn't know what was actually happening. After a rocket hit the neighbour's house, we decided to leave our home. Now we have heard from neighbours that our flat is also destroyed."
We took the snow from outside and thawed it in our flat. After a rocket hit the neighbour's house, we decided to leave our home.
Maria is most worried about her granddaughter Sonja. "We don't want her to hear sirens or explosions." The family is thinking of going on to Poland. But they would prefer to return so that Sonja can go back to her old school. The desire to return to a peaceful everyday life unites them with more than 13 million people whom the war has already forced to flee.
arche noVa in action in many places
In view of the enormous need for help, arche noVa continues to provide urgently needed emergency aid. We have extended our project to other areas in Ukraine.
Eastern Ukraine:
In eastern Ukraine, we support people in insecure and contested areas with our partner organisations New Way, UNIT and Strong Communities. Staff and volunteers bring food, water, hygiene items, water storage or warm blankets to villages and small towns. When the security situation allows, we help people rebuild their damaged flats and houses.
Kyiv (Kiev):
In Kyiv, together with our local partner organisation UNIT, we are helping people in need financially so that they can buy food and essential medicines. Many are still holding out in shelters, including most recently many women and children who fled the Kyiv suburbs of Butsha and Irpin.
Dnipro:
A large number of people from the embattled cities of Mariupol and Kharkiv, as well as from all over eastern and southern Ukraine, are seeking shelter in the major city of Dnipro. With our long-standing partner organisation New Way, we are helping in the quickly constructed emergency shelters.
Drohobych:
Being able to perform personal hygiene even under adverse conditions means keeping a piece of dignity: Volunteers in Dresden packed hygiene kits in March. Thanks to our partner Polish Medical Mission in the western Ukrainian city of Drohobych, these packages benefited needy families as well as the local hospital.
Help for Ukrainian children and young people in Germany
For the summer holidays, arche noVa is planning special leisure activities for refugee children from Ukraine. They should help them to come to terms with what they have experienced and to establish contacts. In addition, we are opening our offers for vocational orientation and sustainability through language mediation for Ukrainian young people. Read more here
