By Balint Kosa | Project Manager of Ukraine Project
Thanks to your generous support, we are continuing our relief efforts in Ukraine and Hungary. This report looks at the challenges kitchen points are facing. Since there are many people who rely on our kitchens to secure their meals, we are going through trial and error to overcome the challenges and continue to provide support.
Impact of rising prices and increase / decrease in internally displaced persons
In Zakarpattia Oblast, western Ukraine, we have been running kitchen points in five villages since last year. A total of more than 200 meals are provided to internally displaced persons (IDPs) and host communities 2 times a week.
Recently, the price of vegetables has been soaring, and I think the price has increased by about 20 percent. Potatoes, in particular, cost twice as much as they did at the start of the project. It's a blow because potatoes are an essential ingredient frequently used in Ukrainian home cooking. In addition, the price of meat has also increased, so we have been forced to take actions such as reducing the portion a little.
We have also expanded the number of eligible people by a dozen in response to the increasing number of IDPs. As the number of IDPs continues to rise and fall, adjustments need to be made to suit the situation at the time. We are constantly investigating which villages have seen a change in the number of IDPs.
While the cost of running kitchen points has increased, donations collected in Ukraine have decreased. The kitchen points also uses money and food donated to the Greek Catholic Church, a cooperative organization. But donations have been hampered by the large number of refugees living outside Ukraine and the continuing economic hardship caused by the war.
Future prospects
When we try to provide assistance to Ukraine under wartime conditions, we are exposed to a variety of repercussions, and we often find ourselves in trouble as there are many things it doesn't work. What keeps coming to mind at such times is that the people who actually live in Ukraine are the ones really in trouble. I wish we could support even part of that burden.
Kitchen point is now being prepared in another village. Although the completion is behind schedule, construction and interior preparation are almost complete and assistance is expected to begin soon. Although the situation is difficult due to the soaring prices of foodstuffs, we will continue to make improvements, such as expanding the coverage area and stabilizing support.
Links:
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
Support this important cause by creating a personalized fundraising page.
Start a Fundraiser
