Eight months have passed since the war began. During this short period I have met many people, and dealt with so many different microworlds that I would not normally have experienced in a few years of my life.

My first memories are from March 14. I remember standing by our ADRA tent near the Ukrainian border and warming my hands with warm morning coffee. Outside it was still well below zero, yet the sun was slowly sliding across the roof of our tent, as if to tell us that today it would all be over. The day before had brought us more than ten thousand refugees from Ukraine. I said to myself that today it could all be different.

But again, nothing changed that day. Alex, the Ukrainian student who helped us with the translation, had just got up. He slowly walked out of the dormitory, and winked at me with a fleeting smile on his face. I could feel that he was not losing hope. At night, a larger group of people arrived at the refugee center, and Alex took care of them - he registered them and escorted them to the tent where they slept. In the morning they were already heading to other cities and states. Some knew where they were going, others were confused and didn't know what to do next. 

However, the number of people arriving in Slovakia was decreasing day by day and so we ended our assistance at the border. A large number of volunteers took turns there, sacrificing thousands of hours and listening to hundreds of sad stories. They gave a piece of themselves to the refugees, and left a piece of their hearts at the aid centre.

However, the need for food aid has begun to grow. We sent the first truck with 18.5 tonnes of aid to Ukraine just a month after the war started. The response from the other side was unequivocal: „Please don't stop! We need this aid very much!“. So far, we have managed to transport 22,000 aid packages to Ukraine, helping more than 67,000 people in liberated towns and food-insecure areas.

However, we wanted to see the effectiveness of our help for ourselves. So in August we went to Mukachevo in the Transcarpathian region, where we visited our partner, the Ukrainian branch of ADRA, which ensures the distribution of packages directly into the hands of the beneficiaries. During the visit we took part in the distribution of aid packages directly into the hands of the displaced people. More than 50 thousand of them live in Uzhhorod and Mukachevo region alone.

I returned to Ukraine after 27 years. Many things have changed there. Despite many problems, Ukraine has taken the European path. „Nikolai, one thing has not changed with you,“ I say when I start to shake in the car. „And that is the roads. Only they don't lack sewer manholes, as they did in 1995,“ I say to our driver. We laughed, and continued on our way. Nikolai is missing a few fingers on his hand. A bitter memory of a landmine.

Slowly we arrive at the distribution point and my colleague Roman shows me the license plates of the cars parked around the road. Kharkov, Zaporozhye, Donetsk, Mariupol. Many of our packages ended up in the west of Ukraine, where large refugee communities have been born. Others ended up in Zhytomyr Oblast, Dnipro, Ternopil, Cherkasy Oblast, and others.

We stopped at the municipal government building, where about 150 people were already waiting. In the middle was an ADRA van full of food parcels and a table where people were registering. Seeing them standing in a crowd reminded me of our days in Ukraine in March. The quiet commotion, the children milling around, the voice announcing who's turn it was, and the repeated thank you, thank you, thank you... I watched as an elderly lady had to empty the contents of her box into a large bag because she couldn't carry it in the box.

After about an hour, the packages were gone. The Mayor thanked everyone for their help. We got back in the car and left. On the way we pass a family carrying their food parcel in a carriage. My feelings are stirring, and a righteous anger rises up in me. It is not possible for something like this to happen in the 21st century. I found it all so humiliating. Waiting for a food parcel like in the last century. People leaving their homes and trying to survive. Many have nowhere to go back to, and they don't even have the strength to look for a new home.

The younger ones are fleeing the country to the west and are eager to start afresh. In the whirlwind of this thought-emotional cocktail, I turn to Roman and ask him „Roman, what is the hardest thing for you today?“ Roman looked at me and thought. „You know, I've been through a lot. I was driving a car with help when a tank pointed a tank at me. I had to stop and that's when they took everything from us. But the hardest part is that you don't know what tomorrow will bring. You can't plan, and you don't even know how long all this is going to last,“ he replies. There is silence. I realized how quickly a person's life and values can change.

Roman is from Donetsk. He was born there and had his business there. In 2014 the Russians came and he lost everything. He went to Mariupol, where he started working for ADRA as a project manager. Today the Mariupol ADRA office is in ruins. His wife and daughter fled to Poland and he moved to the ADRA office in Mukachevo. Besides helping others, he tries to make a living on his own.

On the way back we stopped at the central warehouse in Mukachevo, where another aid truck had just arrived. After a day of mixed impressions and strong stories, I was overcome with emotion at the sight of the half-empty warehouse. I just realised that behind every package I see a person and his family. Just as I had seen them waiting in line just moments before. Just as I saw them crossing the border in March.

I walk out of the warehouse and feel the rays of the August sun beating down on me. As if it wants to tell me again that it will all be over soon.

You can also join us in helping. Just go to our HelpShop-u and donate a charitable gift - a package of aid for a family in Ukraine.

Thank you for helping us to help.