These words from Anna, a 14-year-old who fled Eastern Ukraine with her family, capture the heartbreak of her young life. Now living in poverty with other refugee families in a dilapidated house in northwestern Ukraine, Anna faces a harsh new reality.
With Christmas approaching, the holidays feel like a distant memory from a life that’s been left behind. For Anna and countless others, this season brings a mix of sorrow, uncertainty and courage as they adapt to the challenges of their changed world.
Over 3.7 million Ukrainians have been displaced, enduring trauma, poverty, and daily insecurity. Anna’s mother, Oksana, recalls, “I remember how I felt looking out of the evacuation bus at the place where my children and I grew up. It was an incredibly heavy feeling of loss and uncertainty.” After a frightening period of separation, she was finally reunited with her children, who had been evacuated first. “When we reunited, the children didn’t want to let go of me for a long time. They felt so insecure.”
Families like Anna’s continue to be incredibly vulnerable, struggling with poverty and trauma as they work to rebuild their lives in unfamiliar communities. Sergiy, a Mission Without Borders family worker, shares that the grief these refugee families have experienced is deeply rooted and will require extended care and support. This is why Mission Without Borders is committed to providing ongoing aid to displaced families in Sarny, working to bring light into their dark days. And, at Christmas, we will distribute parcels packed with essential foods, festive treats, and literature on the true meaning of Christmas. He explains the impact of these parcels: “You might think it’s just a box of food, but it’s more than that. It’s the water in dry land. It’s a strong hand to keep the weary from falling.”
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