HOW IT WAS
This is the story of a family living in Sarny, western Ukraine. They are enrolled in our Families-in-Crisis (family sponsorship) program. Father Pavlo (39) and his wife Tetyana (36) have four children, ages 2 to 17. Before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, they lived quietly and worked hard to provide for their family.
With the assistance of MWB, Pavlo had managed to set up a small business building mechanisms for tractors, and they kept chickens in their yard, as well as grew some crops to provide for themselves.
And then February 24th happened, and their lives were split into two parts – ‘before the war’ and ‘after the war’ – and the family themselves have been torn apart as well.
“In March, a rocket hit a military base in Sarny,” Pavlo said. “The next day, my wife said that she wants safety for the children. Soon afterwards I took her, our four children, and my cousin and her two children by car to the border of Ukraine. Volunteers then took them to the Czech Republic.”
Now Pavlo alone stays in the family home, and as a mechanic, he is doing a lot of work repairing military trucks.
Pavlo said, “This is my contribution to Ukraine’s victory. As the father of four children, I could have gone abroad together with my wife and children, but I felt that I didn’t have the moral right to do that. My place is here, doing everything possible for peace and for Ukraine, for the opportunity for our children to live under a peaceful sky.”
