The public organization “Zvichayni Ludi” (English: “Ordinary People”) was created by Iryna Stroeva and Anna Vovk in July 2019 in Kharkiv, Ukraine. The organization grew, and for the past three years it was actively helping disadvantaged and orphaned children, providing aid to orphanages and hospitals.
2022 russian invasion of Ukraine changed the lives of every member of “Zvichayni Ludi,” but it didn’t change their determination and desire to help those in need. Now, joined by many more “ordinary” volunteers from different backgrounds, “Zvichayni Ludi” provide food, water, hygiene products, medical supplies, and even emergency window repairs to the most vulnerable populations, public hospitals, and Ukrainian soldiers on the front lines in Kharkiv region. They deliver aid to people in shelters, subway stations, and Kharkiv territories liberated from russian occupation. Moreover, they supply local kitchens with groceries covering about 3000 meals and so far have assisted in the preparation and delivery of over 200,000 meals.
The organization aims to provide help directly to those who need it the most. To assist as many people as possible, “Zvichayni Ludi” created an effective system of forming and issuing orders and optimized the logistics between the call center and the warehouse improving packaging and delivery times. They also set up special brigades to repair windows in residential buildings affected by shelling.
University professors and students, company directors and workers, entrepreneurs and the unemployed, doctors and engineers, men and women – 150 people who call themselves “ordinary” were able to help more than 102,000 Kharkiv residents. Their selfless nature and incredible humanitarian efforts are especially valuable to those who live far from the city and don’t have access to any supplies.
Razom for Ukraine has already provided $11,000 and recently approved another grant of $19,000 to aid “Zvichayni Ludi” in their honorable and necessary mission! Watch the video below to see these wonderful people in action.
What does it mean to build a civil society? Can Ukraine become a model of new statehood where volunteer initiatives surpass the professionalism and efficiency of foreign organizations and government agencies? In the interview for Razom, co-founder and chairman of the PFVMH Supervisory Board, Gennadiy Druzenko shares his perspective.
Pirogov First Volunteer Mobile Hospital, or PFVMH, began to form after an attempt to disperse the Euromaidan in Kyiv by force on November 30, 2013. Volunteers, doctors, and medical professionals set up improvised medical brigades and later formed underground hospitals to help the victims of the Revolution of Dignity. In December 2014, PFVMH started working in the ATO zone. Over the next five years, more than half a thousand volunteers – physicians, paramedics, and support staff – did more than fifty rotations in the ATO area (later the JFO zone). They saved thousands of lives, and people started calling them the Angels in White Coats.
On February 24, 2022, russia launched its infamous and insidious war. Once again, the angels went where people needed them the most. For almost four months now, volunteer doctors, working in difficult frontline conditions and risking their lives, have been providing medical care to the victims: first in Kyiv and Zhytomyr, and since May in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts. Lending a hand to mobile military hospitals, PFVMH has now set up its evacuation and stabilization points in Chasiv Yar and Sloviansk. Evacuation carriages also reach the Luhansk region near Lysychansk.
Donors and doctors from around the world join the project and help save the lives of military and civilian victims. Medical professionals from Germany, Austria, France, Great Britain, Canada, and the US have come to do the rotations. For example, in May this year, Jennifer Malley, a California emergency nurse, was part of one of the PFVMH crews. She was impressed by the results that Ukrainian doctors achieved with minimal resources and compared russia’s war against Ukraine with the biblical David and Goliath.
From its creation until today, PFVMH has existed exclusively on non-state funds. Since April 2022, Razom for Ukraine has been assisting the hospital with tactical medicine and has provided a grant of $95,000. These funds have already purchased a bus to evacuate the wounded and transport medics and fuel. During the war, the need for mobile equipment is exceptionally high. Right now, PFVMH requires a portable X-ray ($40,000) and armored ambulances.
It is important to understand that Pirogov First Volunteer Mobile Hospital is not only about medical care but also the community and the dedication of volunteers who save thousands of people. “This is the prototype of future Ukraine. We owe it to those who gave their lives for it.” – Gennadiy Druzenko
Уроки людяності та успішного громадянського суспільства від ПДМШ ім. Миколи Пирогова
Як виглядає незалежне громадянське суспільство побудоване на принципах самоорганізації, волі та відповідальності? Чи може Україна стати зразком нової державності, де волонтерські ініціативи перевершують професійність та ефективність іноземних організацій чи державних установ? На ці та інші питання в інтервʼю для Razom відповідає Геннадій Друзенко – співзасновник і Голова Наглядової Ради ПДМШ ім. Миколи Пирогова.
Перший добровольчий мобільний шпиталь або ПДМШ почав формуватися ще 30 листопада 2013 року. Тоді, після спроби силового розгону Євромайдану в Києві, було створено імпровізовані медичні бригади, а потім і підпільні шпиталі, які допомагали постраждалим учасникам Революції Гідності. А вже у грудні 2014 року ПДМШ як системний проєкт розпочав свою діяльність в зоні АТО. За наступні пʼять років більше півтисячі добровольців – медиків, парамедиків, допоміжного персоналу – здійснили більше пʼятдесяти ротацій у зоні АТО (пізніше зона ООС). Вони врятували тисячі життів і отримали цілком виправдане звання янголів у білих халатах.
24 лютого 2022 року росія розпочала свою ганебну, підступну війну – і янголи вирушили туди, де їх найбільш потребують. Вже майже чотири місяці медики-добровольці, працюючи у тяжких прифронтових умовах і ризикуючи своїм життям, надають медичну допомогу постраждалим: спочатку у Київській та Житомирській, а від травня – у Донецькій та Луганській областях. Підставивши плече військовим мобільним госпіталям, ПДМШ наразі облаштували власні евакуаційно-стабілізаційні пункти у Часовому Яру та Словʼянську, а евакуаційні екіпажі доїжджають також до Луганщини в районі Лисичанська.
Донори й лікарі з усього світу долучаються до проєкту та допомагають рятувати життя військових і цивільних, постраждалих від війни. На ротаціях вже були лікарі з Німеччини, Австрії, Франції, Великої Британії, Канади та США. Так, наприклад, у травні цього року в складі одного з екіпажів ПДМШ працювала Дженніфер Маллі – медсестра невідкладної допомоги із Каліфорнії. Вона була вражена результатами, яких українські медики досягають маючи мінімальні ресурси, і порівняла війну росії проти України з біблійними Давидом та Голіафом.
Від моменту створення і до сьогодні, ПДМШ існує виключно на недержавні кошти. З квітня 2022 року Razom for Ukraine допомагає шпиталю тактичною медициною та надали грант у розмірі 95 000 доларів США. На ці кошти вже було придбано бус для евакуації поранених та транспортування медиків, а також паливо. Але в умовах війни необхідність у коштах для придбання високотехнологічного мобільного обладнання особливо висока. Наприклад, наразі ПДМШ потребує портативний рентген (40 000 доларів США) та броньовані швидкі.
Сьогодні дуже важливо розуміти, що Перший добровольчий мобільний шпиталь ім. Миколи Пирогова – це не тільки про медичну допомогу, це про спільноту і самовідданість добровольців, які продовжують рятувати тисячі людей. “Це прообраз і паросток майбутньої України, за яку не буде соромно перед тими, хто поклав за неї життя.” – Геннадій Друзенко
Given humanitarian needs change by the hour and come from multiple geographical points at the same time, Razom awards grants to grassroots initiatives in Ukraine who are responding quickly to the needs of civilians and internally displaced persons (IDPs).
As of today 40 Ukrainian non-profit organizations have received grants from Razom supporting their much-needed work in the regions. The total amount of over $1.6M has been awarded to the grantees, with a large portion of it going to our Razom partner of many years – Building Ukraine Together (Будуємо Україну Разом), whose hard work is currently fully dedicated to helping IDPs and Ukrainians in the most war-affected areas.
Here are some of other amazing Razom grantees and their impact:
Ukrainian Charity Alliance (Український Благодійний Альянс) was awarded $16,000 to create and deliver over 780 kits of food essentials that have a long shelf life for civilians with low mobility in the Kharkiv region. They also provided humanitarian aid for shelters housing those that lost their homes in the bombing and occupation of regions surrounding Kharkiv. World-renowned poet, writer, native-Kharkivite, and Razom partner, Serhiy Zhadan attended some of those shelters to help deliver aid.
The charity organization Call of the Heart (З покликом в серці) received a grant to do their critical work in Chernihiv. They wrote: “For 2 months these people were without food, there were enemies surrounding their homes, the neighboring homes were burned down. People lived in terror and anticipation because their villages were occupied. Now they are free from invaders but they faced a humanitarian catastrophe. A few days later, our volunteers brought humanitarian aid to five villages in the Chernihiv region. Almost 1,000 people received food packages with canned food, groceries, cookies, condensed milk, halva, nuts, baby formula, etc., and personal hygiene products.”
The Korsaks’ Museum of Ukrainian Modern Art in Lutsk was awarded $16,000 to help operate a shelter for evacuees and refugees in Ukraine. In April alone, they provided 12,983 days of shelter for IDPs, including 120 permanent residents (all 30 days) and 1,163 temporary residents (4 days on average). They converted a section of “Adrenalin City” (the local Lutsk mall) and adjacent hostel into a shelter filled with beautiful modern art from the museum founder’s personal collection. The group runs frequent art, craft, yoga, breathing, dancing, and performance art workshops for kids and adults, providing ample opportunity for IDPs to rehabilitate and recover.
Volonterska UA was awarded $30,000 to deliver food and medicines to the elderly and people with disabilities in Kharkiv. With this grant, volunteers were able to deliver medicine to 770 Kharkivites who desperately needed it, delivered more than 4,400 food packages directly into the hands of those in need, and even purchased and delivered pet food around Kharkiv. Their call center receives 1,000 calls daily and has built up a team that can process 300-350 requests per day.
We are grateful to these amazing volunteers for their hard work! And thank you to all the Razom’s supporters and donors for making this all possible!
Follow Razom on social media to see more updates from Razom Grants team. For any inquiries and with questions about the grant program, write to grants@razomforukraine.org.
