Today, on International Charity Day, we would like to share the story of one of our colleagues, Svitlana Avramova. It is a story about how every act of kindness can become the start of an endless chain of good deeds. All it takes is the desire of one person to help another so this person can support someone else tomorrow.

Svitlana lived an ordinary life near Bakhmut with her husband and parents. But everything changed in 2014. At the time, she was pregnant and expecting a daughter. Even in this condition, she had to hide in a shelter from artillery shelling. Her daughter was born after the war had begun. As a result, she doesn’t know what silence is or what it means to live under a peaceful sky. Since then, Svitlana herself has constantly suffered from stress.

However, February 24, 2022, brought even more challenges for the Avramov family. In April, they decided to go to relatives in the western part of the country but quickly returned because spring household chores awaited them. Yet, living in such hell became increasingly unbearable. That summer, they lost electricity and water. The well was far away, and they cooked food on a fire. Russian troops were getting closer. Shells flew through their home, and one narrowly missed hitting the house. Svitlana was hit by shrapnel, but luckily, it was just a bruise.

The hardest part was comforting their daughter. How do you explain to a child what’s happening? How do you make her not afraid? To calm her, Svitlana and her husband hugged her. Then, her husband remembered that there were some Japanese fairy tales in the attic. These came in handy when shells were falling from the sky.

We don’t know how much longer the family could have endured had it not been for the day when they witnessed the death of a neighbor. That was when they made the final decision to evacuate. Fortunately, the family came across Save Ukraine volunteers who helped them reach Bakhmut. There, the Avramovs personally met the head of our organization, Mykola Kuleba, who had traveled to the city during those difficult days to help people escape. Together with him, the family traveled to Kyiv.

But our mission didn’t end there. During the trip to Kyiv, we learned that Svitlana had experience in social work. One of our Hope and Healing centers needed such specialists, so we immediately offered Svitlana a job.

Today, Svitlana is part of our large Save Ukraine team. She now saves lives and gives hope to those in need. It is the true power of charity—it creates an endless chain of kindness.

So, let’s not wait for the right moment to do good. Let’s create it every day.