„In the middle of the ADRA tent centre in Michalovce, I noticed a woman who did not seem to notice her surroundings, the busy volunteers, or the atmosphere of the busy tent. She is fully focused on calming her two small children,“ writes Ján Šolc, our volunteer coordinator in Michalovce.

 

„Like most of those who enter our ADRA-tent, she is completely exhausted. Her face doesn't express much emotion, in fact almost none. She seems to be focused only on her two children. Nothing else exists for her at that moment.

 

I sat down across from her, and asked if there was anything I could do to help. So after a while she dared to tell me her story...

 

Masha lived near Kiev. She worked in the corporate sector before taking maternity leave with her young son. Her husband was a small businessman. Or so it was before the outbreak of the war.

The beginning of the conflict took Masha and others who come to our ADRA tent by surprise. However, she hoped that it would be over quickly and decided to stay at home with her family. However, it only became clear to her that they had to leave when the warning sirens became louder and the bombs started to fall closer and closer to their house.

 

But by the time she had time to prepare herself and her young children to leave, it was too late. It was no longer safe to leave home. But hope was offered by the opening of a temporary humanitarian corridor to provide safe passage for those who needed to evacuate. The soldiers she met along the way allowed Masha and her children to pass peacefully. One of them even told her that he, too, had family here and was not happy that he had been sent here to serve. Masha and her children continued their journey on foot.

 

The route of the so-called „green corridor“, along which they walked, crossed the point where the conflict areas meet. The bridge linking them was partially destroyed by the bombing. The only way to get to the other side was to enter the river, climb under the concrete rubble of the bridge, walk around its destroyed centre, and climb up the bank again. The river crossing was usually dry at this time of year, but the damaged levee flooded the riverbed with water.

 

As Masha and her small children began to walk through the cold water, she saw three military helicopters flying in their direction. She quickly picked up her children, and tried to hide them under the concrete panels of the destroyed bridge. Her worst fears, however, came true. The helicopters opened fire on them.

 

The water was cold, and Masha could feel no solid ground beneath her feet, only the jagged, cold pieces of a broken metal bridge. But in spite of her fear, she tried to hold her children firmly under the water, and with slow steps she tried to reach the river bank, where she had to exert a great deal of strength to be able to climb out of the water with her children.

It seemed to her that the helicopters were taking off, but others were shouting to her from a distance: „Run! Run!“ They knew that the helicopters would be back soon.

 

So Masha and her children walked on, and after a while they finally found themselves in safe territory.

She described this stage of her journey, the fight for the lives of herself and her children, as the most horrific experience she had ever had.

 

From the nearest village, Masha managed to find a train that took them to the west of the country, to the Slovak border. As she looked up at the night sky during their journey, however, she did not feel calm, quite the opposite. She felt fear. Fear that bombs would fall on the train taking them to their desired safety.

 

After a sleepless night, they reached the Ukrainian-Slovak border, which they crossed again on foot. They left their native Ukraine behind.

 

And so here she was... I was glad that Masha and her children were in a safe place. In our ADRA-tent they could at least for a while feel peace, safety and rest again. Their journey does not end here.“

 

Ján Šolc, coordinator of volunteers at the refugee centre in Michalovce

 

Daniel Presečan, Humanitarian Aid Distribution Coordinator in Ukraine

 

*the name of the main character has been changed to protect her identity