I am the author of the Goodacity blog, a journalist, and a translator. For 16 years, I have worked in professional journalism, contributing to regional and national publications, both in print and online media. I have written reports, conducted interviews, reviews, articles on cultural, social, and charitable topics, as well as materials in the style of "solution journalism" and communication materials.
My focus is on creating interesting and exclusive content. Journalism, to me, is primarily about human stories, to which I always find the key, empathize with the people I write about, and love all my heroes. Journalism, to me, means telling people about what truly matters to them, informing and inspiring them. It is not just a job, but a way of life, just like for all those who dream, create, and are inspired by it.
So, if you are looking for stories that inspire and motivate, that instill faith and help find meaning while believing in goodness, read my stories on the Goodacity website.
I am a manager of cultural affairs and a project manager with over 14 years of experience at United Thinkers. I have participated in the organization of numerous successful social and charitable projects and have implemented informational campaigns and communication cases.
As a marketing manager, I have been involved in organizing marketing and sociological research, working with media and partners, developing advertising and marketing strategies, as well as planning and implementing advertising campaigns.
I believe in the power of goodness and I am happy that as part of the Goodacity project, I can contribute to its expansion. I believe in the power of words and in the fact that communication can help make the world a better place. I know how, where and when to speak in order to be heard. And when you are heard, you can change the world!
From volunteer Yaryna: Rebuilding Chernihiv, volunteering, and "donating for bricks"
“When you come to a yard to clear the rubble, the homeowners start sharing their story. Different people, different homes, but the stories are all the same: people were living their lives, working hard, caring for their homes, and then the occupiers came and destroyed everything… All stories are about how people suddenly lost everything. They lost more than just their homes or possessions – they lost memories, their life’s foundation, confidence in the future…
“If it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t know how to go on,’ we often hear in response to our help. People frequently ask us – why do you help? Not just because ‘We Can!’ But because we can’t do otherwise…”.
We talk with Yaryna Havrylenko, a volunteer from the Volunteer Association “BoMozhemo” (Because we can), about how Chernihiv’s rebuilding is happening, about “work bee therapy,” donations “for bricks,” and the incredible people who, even having lost everything, are ready to share their last.
Community Work – A Roll Call for the Compassionate
“Where did it all start? My first community work sessions with volunteer enthusiasts, who would later become members of “BoMozhemo” (Because we can), took place in early June last year,” says Ms. Yaryna. “It was impossible just to watch the devastated homes and listen to the despairing stories of the people – I felt compelled to do something, to help in any way.
I saw a post by Andriy Halyuga on social media calling for volunteers to clear rubble and headed to Novoselytsia, Ukraine. At that time, transportation was hardly functioning, and I had to walk most of the way. There were only about ten of us then, but those people are still with us today, you could say the ‘core’ of our volunteer association: Andriy Halyuga, Andriy Oleksiienko, Valentyn Bobyr, the girls from Staryi Bilous, Ukraine, Oksana Boyko, Serhiy Pidopryhora. Today, they are all engaged in the same activities as one and a half years ago.
That’s how we met, and after that, I went to community work sessions every weekend and even on weekdays.
Physically, it was very hard – it was hot outside, we didn’t have proper tools, and there weren’t even enough wheelbarrows for removing debris, so we carried everything on our backs. But this difficult, ‘calloused’ labor was a form of therapy – therapy through community work…
Community work as an answer to the question ‘what can I do’ – to come and help. Community work as a roll call for the compassionate: to see how many of us there are… Community work as therapy – after all the horror and pain endured, to see people who bring light.
Community work as a belief in reconstruction, belief in the future, belief in victory… I’m glad that so many of us, the compassionate, gathered back then, sometimes up to 200 people came to a single community work session. We realized we needed to create an organization to plan our work so that everyone could join in the reconstruction.
Because there’s a lot of work, of various kinds and scales. Until September last year, I worked alongside everyone with a hammer, trowel, and shovel, and then Andriy Halyuga asked me, as an accountant, to help manage the finances for the NGO “BoMozhemo” (Because we can).
I thought – what’s there to manage: 20 hammers and 10 wheelbarrows, I can handle it! I worked in parallel with community work and my main job, and a few others. But then the paperwork began to increase, so, essentially, my main volunteer work at the NGO “BoMozhemo” (Because we can) today is working as an accountant, and the community work sessions with my dear “BoMozhemo” (Because we can) members are for the soul,” she laughs.
And it’s true – when you work with like-minded people, when people thank you, it energizes you… The fatigue passes, but the spirit, the inspiration – they stay with you for a long time. With our volunteers, we’re looking in the same direction: we have different specialties, different personalities, but our souls are tuned in unison – that’s what’s important.
No Donation is Too Small!
Nowadays, the workload at “BoMozhemo” is immense, encompassing not just construction but also paperwork – every evening after my main job, I dive into my volunteer work! Securing a donor for reconstruction means properly documenting everything (and there’s a lot of it!) to be able to assist an individual or family. The hardest part of this behind-the-scenes work? Wanting to help everyone who reaches out, but funds are always limited – this moment is emotionally taxing.
Sometimes, people have a skewed perception of our volunteers’ work: “You’re supposed to help us, you get paid for it.” None of our volunteers at “BoMozhemo” (Because we can) receive payment for their work. We all have day jobs, and in the evenings, we help others. Our volunteers dedicate every spare moment, instead of spending it with family, resting, or doing something else, to help others. Yet, when you see the outcome of your work – when walls rise from ruins, when hope sparks in the eyes of grief-stricken people left by their shattered homes, when war-torn houses and souls come back to life – that’s when the drive to work surges!
And, you know what’s striking? How those who have lost everything themselves help others… Like Ms. Natalia from a house on Shevchenko Street in Bobrovytsia, Chernihiv, Ukraine. The occupiers took her home, her husband, leaving her and her daughters and grandchildren in ruins… And every time we announce a collection to support our soldiers, she calls and says, “Come over, I’ve set aside a little something for the boys.”
Left with almost nothing, she still donates and helps! We couldn’t not undertake the reconstruction of their home – fortunately, we found donors who helped us get started, and now work is underway, hoping to beat the cold…
It’s also impressive when the military helps – not once or twice, but many times, our volunteers who spent last year working community work and are now fighting, continue to contribute to our collections! It’s incredibly moving – we understand that the money they donate is desperately needed by them as well…
And when children help and raise funds – it’s always overwhelmingly touching… Donations come in all sizes: from the smallest, a ten or twenty hryvnias, with a touching note “for a brick” (we’ve had such cases!) – to quite substantial amounts with four zeros. It’s not so much the amount that counts, but the “connection” – the concern, empathy, desire to help.
Who are more active donors – Ukrainians or foreigners? The bulk of our aid comes from foreign funds and donors, though there are also inspiring cases within our borders, like when a Ukrainian company decided to skip their corporate party and instead donated the collected funds to us for reconstruction assistance.
Together We "Can Do" Everything!
Volunteering is always about people. No, let me rephrase that – it’s always about People with a capital “P”! A team from Koriukivka, Ukraine, often joins our community work. Incredible, fantastic volunteers! They wake up at four in the morning to make it to Chernihiv, Ukraine, by 6 or 7 am, ready to help! We used to joke, “You folks in Koriukivka are great, but you wake up too early,” and then we ourselves adopted their early morning “tradition.” Because if people are willing to wake up at four to help others, it’s hard for us to justify sleeping in – we’re all in this together!
For them, it was astonishing and shocking to see that they woke up at dawn, traveled for an hour and a half one way to work on reconstruction, while neighbors just looked out the window, not even thinking of offering a little bit of help… Not all responses are positive, unfortunately, but when you see the result of our team’s work – some are already deep into interior work, some, like the grandmothers from Kukushanka who lived in a chicken coop, have moved back in – you understand what you’re working for.
The grateful eyes of people, their sincere words of thanks – it’s all nourishing. It keeps you going. It gives you strength. People need People, as our Andriy Halyuga says.
Nothing warms you quite like knowing that today you helped someone move a day closer to their dream of a rebuilt home.
It’s an incredible feeling: living and working among sincere, compassionate, and resilient People, being part of their efforts. Seeing the results of your work is what probably keeps you from burning out. But how can we even talk about burnout when a war is raging, when every new day is a fight for our country… Our soldiers on the front lines don’t talk about “burnout”…
I ask Ms. Yaryna if she has counted how many homes the volunteers from “BoMozhemo” (Because we can) have helped rebuild.
“We’ve cleared about 200 piles of rubble and helped almost two hundred families with materials funded by donors. But it’s not about the numbers,” she smiles.
Our mission is to show that people care. Our mission is to prove that even in such circumstances, when the familiar world is crumbling as fast as an enemy missile flies, there’s room for mutual assistance and kindness. Our mission is to demonstrate that together we “Can Do” everything!
I wish there were more like-minded individuals, that we could be worthy of those boys who are currently on the front line, giving their lives and health for us. I hope they see this. And that they believe in us as much as we believe in them.”
