Help keep the Ukrainian refugee center safe.

Date : September 30 (Fri)

Place : ‘Patria Lukoil’ Ukraine refugee shelter, Moldova

Interviewee: Mrs. Galina, resident of the Patria Lukoil refugee shelter

Peacewinds Korea team interviewed Mrs. Galina, who is living in Patria Lukoil shelter. She came here on June and has been in Moldova for half a year. She has a son, and now he guards the Ukraine. She said that her son sent her here to Moldova and she plans to stay in the shelter until her son calls her back.

And here is what she said to us that day:

“There is a very fierce war going on in Ukraine right now. Today (September 30th) we were bombed again and people in the 10th and 9th floor apartments were killed.

My son sent me here. He is in Ukraine guarding Nikolaev and Odessa regions now. I message him, but I always get a short reply as ‘Mom, things are still the same here. I'm doing well. Don’t worry'. Because they’re not allowed to talk about war and the situation there. It is prohibited.

We have everything here in shelter. Managers always ask if we need anything, but in fact, what we need the most is a home to return to.

My house in Ukraine is still there, but there are people here whose homes are destroyed completely and those who have nowhere to go even of they go back. Almost everything hospitals, apartments, cinema are destroyed in Mykolaev. And yesterday the museum was vandalized...

I wanted to go back in May and spend my birthday with my closest people there, but as you can see, I'm still here. I didn't expect to be here this long.

I can't believe war has been going on for 7 months already. People I know there in Ukraine say that they are afraid to go to sleep at night because of air-raid sirens that come every day and every night. They also said that they take anti-anxiety pills and medicine to calm themselves. 

I can't get my phone out of my hand. Every day, I spend the day thinking, ‘What message will I get from my son today, how is it going there now’.

I deeply hope we will win and will be able to go home by winter. I want to celebrate the new year at home with my family and neighbors. Everyone here is waiting for the day they can go home.”

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Not only accommodation and food supply is needed for refugees, but also mental care are extremely important because when you move away from their original place of residence you also lose a place to rely on emotionally. Nobody knows when war will end, but we, Peace Winds Korea, promise to take care of these people as much as we can and to do our best to provide a safe and secure environment for them until they can go back home.

Thank you.