Stories on the roads of war.

From the first days of the war, the “Zhyttelyub” fund decided that now not only Ba and Di, but all Ukrainians need our help. We have opened humanitarian hubs in various cities, and our lifebuses have already traveled hundreds of thousands of kilometers with humanitarian missions. In the spring, we were the first to arrive in the de-occupied towns and villages. We distributed and distribute food, clothes, hygiene, even pillows and blankets to everyone who needs it.

But!

We have never neglected Ba and Di. Some of them lost children or grandchildren. Someone was left alone because of the war. And for some, this war is not the first. Today, in the “roads_of_war” section, we will retell several April dialogues with Ba and Di from the Chernihiv region.

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In the spring, we brought food not only to the villages, we also visited the homes of elderly people. In one of these, in a Chernihiv village near the edge of the forest, we met Kateryna. 94 years old, small, thin, on crutches. He smiles and perfectly understands what is happening.

– My children are already dead, but I have their portraits on the wall in the room here, – she points with her hand to the old nursing home. – Everyone wishes me a long life, but I say that I don’t need to wish it. Life is too long anyway. Let the war end better. Who knew I would live to see another one…

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Another village where our life bus arrived first.

– Guys, are you sappers? – Dee in a large captoss quickly limps towards us.

– No, we are volunteers! – we answer.

– Eh, we have mines here – at every step, we need sappers! – now Dee walks more slowly. – Where is the aluminum, we cleared the mines ourselves, and left the iron mines to them.

– Well, first the volunteers go, and then the sappers – we laugh.

And then we laugh together.

In the border villages of Chernihiv Oblast, Ba and Di speak a mixture of Ukrainian and Belarusian. But they know exactly which of the languages ​​is their native language.

– Thank you guys for your work! And let Ukraine win! – we hear from people in the humanitarian queue.

One of the Ba – a warm blue flowered scarf, wrinkled hands rest calmly on a stick – tells how she communicated with the occupiers.

– That’s why I say this: “My children live in Gomel, why are you here to kill me?”. And he stands, shaking his head, unable to answer…

Ba told us her winning story, proudly raised her head and went home with a package of products. Ba proved to be braver than the invaders. Like other 40 million Ukrainians.

In April, the Enjoying Life Foundation visited the villages of Kyiv and Chernihiv regions immediately after their liberation. Therefore, our volunteers were the first to whom the frightened locals told what they experienced during the terrible weeks of occupation. We decided to collect all these stories in one section under the hashtag #roads_of_war. To remember what was done on our land and with our people. And to ensure that Ukrainians are an unbreakable nation of lovers of life.

On this gloomy April day, the life bus arrived in the village of Yagidne in the Chernihiv region. It was under occupation for almost a month. And the photo of the basement door of the elementary school, where more than 300 locals lived all this time, went around the world. It even visited the horrors of war exhibition in Davos.

A senior man approaches us with a bag of flour, cereals, and canned goods. Gray tousled hair, deep lines around pale blue eyes. A cap on the head. He speaks loudly and waves his hands. And when we finish distributing aid, he takes us to the same basement. Where, together with his family and three hundred other locals, he lived for 25 terrible days in March.

The toilets in the basement filled up quickly, so people used buckets, cans, and bottles.

March 31 is written in a separate line on the calendar painted on the door. In large block letters, this date is signed with the main words: “OURS HAVE COME.”

Soon, our dear ones, our unbreakable lovers of life, very soon OURS will come to all occupied villages and cities. Soon we will circle the date in the calendar in the life of every Ukrainian. In the meantime, we help with all our life-loving forces.

In the first days after the liberation of the Kyiv and Chernihiv regions, the humanitarian headquarters of Enjoying Life Foundation worked around the clock. Day and night, 75 people in different parts of Ukraine collected, packed and delivered aid. We went to the most remote villages, where no one reached. We didn’t have time for fear, sleep, food, loved ones. There was no more time for posts of course. But now we can and want to tell you about our spring travels and the people we met. Although sad, all these chronicles and stories that we have heard along the #war_roads must be written down.

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When: End of March – early days of April 2022.

Where: Irpen, Ivankovichi (Kyiv region), Nizhyn, Bobrovitsa (Chernihiv region).

Vika is a teenager. Like all teenagers, when she meets, she should talk in her ear about the guys or complain about her girlfriend. But Vika lived in occupation for a month. Therefore, she sobs uncontrollably, finding refuge on the shoulder of our volunteer Roman.

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“They were raped and then tied up. And they dragged them bound around the village. I knew them! I knew! I couldn’t help it. They were killed. They killed two girls, – Vika chokes on words. – And these … (Vika does not name the russian military in any way) they threw grenades into the cellars. They didn’t even ask if anyone was inside. But sometimes there were people there – they hid there!

Vika tells how the owner of the village shop was shot dead in front of women and children, in front of elderly people. Why? Because he decided to distribute food to people who did not have what to eat. The military did not need his goods. They wanted his life. After the murder, they just left. After this incident, women carried food home. Especially where the men were. Because men of all ages who dared to go out into the street were killed.

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In those still cold days, the volunteers of the “Enjoing Life Foundation” brought to the de-occupied villages not only water, bread, potatoes, food for children, and animal feed. We brought our arms to hug, shoulders to lean against, and ears to listen. Together with bread, we carried hope.

Vika from one of the villages in the Kyiv region should not know all these stories. And we cannot change the past. But we can listen and share the pain in half. Vika went home with a smile and bags of groceries. And we went further along the #roads_of_war.