By Mai Yoshida | Director and Chief of Advocacy Team
Dear friend,
I hope this message finds you staying safe and well. Thank you again for your incredible support of Terra Renaissance’s work. Your generosity has made us bring needed assistance to those in need.
Now we are strengthening our support within Ukraine. Zakarpattia, near the border with Hungary, hosts 500,000 internally displaced people(IDPs) from other parts of Ukraine. In this region, we operate 5 kitchen points to provide meals to IDPs and vulnerable people in the host community as a CSC activity*.
*Cash for Social Contribution (CSC) is a support program that provides refugees and displaced persons with opportunities to make social contributions (manufacturing and providing services) that they can make while respecting their independence as much as possible, in return for which Terra Renaissance provides cash payments.
Nataliya, a young mother from Ukraine who fled from the Russian invasion, knew how to touch all our hearts. Her story is so heartwarming about what she has been up to. Let us share the story with you!
Nataliya, is an 18-year-old single mother with a 2-year-old girl, Anastasia (alias). She fled from Dnipro with her family because her hometown was bombed. She also has to protect her child from war alone, as her father has to stay in their hometown as an army reservist.
She told us if there was no war, she would finish her school in cooking; however, in this difficult situation, she almost abandoned her passion and hope to work in the kitchen and told us that her dream would not come true anyway, so there was no point in holding on to it.
After we heard her thoughts, we decided to offer her a job as a chef at one of our kitchen points, and now she works in the kitchen twice a week with local people.
Dishes in the kitchen are creative and made with the materials available that day - The meals she cooks are served to other IDPs and vulnerable community members, making them happier and warmer.
The local elderly, in particular, perceive the meals as a lifeline. So there is nothing but gratitude. But of course, some refugees are grateful but want to eat their own favorite flavors (local cuisine)
This is the very first job Nataliya got in her life!
Nataliya stated: “It is not my dream job that is worth living for, but I have to earn an income somehow for my daughter and family, and people in the kitchen are kind, so I am very grateful for the opportunity. I am also happy that the local people eat the food I helped to prepare.”
She seemed a little proud as she spoke of this. Although Nataliya has been in the most difficult situation in her life, we believe that she also has the strong power to live and create her future.
Your contributions make it possible to open their future in the most difficult time in Ukraine. Please stay with us and be together with Ukraine.
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