USAID/Ukraine’s “Forged Together” campaign aims to show how Ukrainian volunteers find creative ways to overcome challenges caused by Russia's war, forging a stronger, more resilient Ukraine. Follow the #Forged_Together campaign @USAIDUkraine on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Save Ukraine is the largest organization in Ukraine devoted to evacuating people from active combat areas. In addition to helping people get out of harm’s way, the USAID-supported organization provides individuals and families with comprehensive assistance, offering humanitarian, medical, legal, social, and psychological services. The organization has even opened day care centers and an online school to help displaced children catch up on their schooling and receive psychological and social support.
Olena Bezreka, a volunteer and project manager with Save Ukraine, told us more about the organization and their efforts to support the people of Ukraine.
“I didn’t make the decision to become a volunteer, it was the only option I saw,” Olena says when describing the start of her journey as a volunteer. “From the very first days of the war, our job was to help people solve any issues, evacuate them to safer places, help with accommodation, and provide humanitarian aid.”
Olena shared with us the impact that Save Ukraine has made since the start of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine: evacuating more than 95,000 people from combat areas; provided more than 132,000 with telephone consultations (the Save Ukraine hotline is supported by USAID); and delivering humanitarian aid to nearly 155,000 people.
Save Ukraine’s complex and multi-level work requires outside support, and Olena is very grateful to USAID for providing resources. At the beginning of the full-scale war, the Save Ukraine hotline was available only for evacuation issues. Thanks to USAID support, the hotline has become one of the few information portals in Ukraine that provides emergency assistance on evacuation, housing, legal and psychological assistance, humanitarian aid, sexual violence prevention, help finding people who have been illegally deported to Russia, day care for children, and other support for those in need.
“USAID provided us with equipment for uninterrupted operation of the hotline, and the number of operators has increased to 32,” Olena says. “We also created chatbots on Viber and Telegram. Hotline operators received preparatory training with instructions, which significantly improved the efficiency of their work.”
Thanks to USAID support, Save Ukraine was also able to open the day care centers in Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Kherson to help displaced families. The centers are fully equipped with new furniture and appliances, educational materials, interactive floors, interactive whiteboards, and toys.
All of Save Ukraine’s volunteers, including Olena, are committed to preserving the country for future generations.
“The Ukrainian dream after the war is a powerful, independent, and prosperous Ukraine for the people who live here,” says Olena. For her, this depends mostly on the country’s children. “The successful future of Ukraine is our children! They are the continuation of our family and our country. We hope that every child will return to normal life as soon as possible and then will successfully restore lost learning. After all, a high-quality education for our children today is a happy life for the whole country tomorrow.”
