“There is no other people’s trouble” — today, this saying is more relevant than ever. This is because empathy, sensitivity, kindness, and unity in the desire to help others are now at their utmost. To help the most vulnerable and the most defenseless means giving them a feeling of support and care, to make the lives of those who need our care warm and light. Because there is no other people’s trouble. And we will never leave others to face the calamity alone.
Start
Vision and mood
It was a shock for Oleksandra Mykhailovna, from Chernihiv, to see the war she had experienced as a child brutally breaking into her life once again. She admits that she managed to survive the siege of Chernihiv this spring thanks to the care and selfless help of the people around her. And those people who were once strangers came to help, sharing the necessary food, medicine, and, most importantly, their care.
Sometimes a person needs very little to believe in good again: a bit of human warmth that will light the fire of kindness and care…
Step 1. One life, two wars
“One life, two wars,” Oleksandra Mykhailivna sighs. “So many trials have befallen me. I was born 12 days before the Second World War began. I was still little when the Germans burned down our house in the Ripkinsky district of Chernihiv region. My mother fled the war with me, still a baby, and my older brother. Could I ever imagine that at the end of my life, I would see another war and my home would be destroyed again, this time by the Russian invaders?”
“People told me more than once that what I had experienced would be enough for several lifetimes.
I was disabled since childhood and survived two car accidents and six complex surgeries. My hands are very damaged, with every year, all the household chores become more and more difficult for me, but still, I hold on. I am a librarian by profession. I studied at the Nizhyn cultural education college. Then I moved to Chernihiv and worked as a cashier there for three decades.”
“I have seen a lot at my age. And do you know what I am happy about, despite everything? That I see true human kindness after all the trials!”.
Step 2. A little light of warmth
On March 26th, a Russian missile hit the house on the outskirts of Chernihiv, where Ms. Oleksandra lived. “It was at night; I was sleeping when I first heard sirens and a terrible whistle followed by an explosion so intense that the ground shook under my feet. A fire started, and in a matter of minutes, everything was engulfed by fire and smoke. Luckily, the neighbors remembered me, came running, and helped me out of the house quickly, saving my life.
The apartment next door burned down completely. I spent a couple of months in the hospital and came to Snovyanka in June. My nephews sheltered me in the apartment of my late brother Anatoliy; he once worked here at the factory and got that apartment from the state. The living conditions here are very basic, but it’s good to have a roof over your head. The cold began to bother me when the rainy season started, so I am very grateful to Goodacity for the heater they provided! It made both the apartment and my soul warmer!”
“I am also grateful to Goodacity volunteer, Oksana, for her care, concern, and big and kind heart.” Ms. Oleksandra does not hold back her emotions. “I will not forget her kindness! Though I am “new” here, in Snovyanka, all the locals have already accepted me as one of their own. Every day I make a point to have at least a quick chat with someone because everyone is working and in a hurry. Even so, some neighbors bring me cucumbers from their garden, others spare some potatoes, so I live knowing there are many good people around me, and their kindness is really warming!”
“I have been living as if in a fog, unconscious with grief, but now I am slowly coming back to life,” the woman says. “I’m glad that my relatives are alive, that our wounded hometown is slowly returning to life. It’s true, I miss my apartment; though the conditions there are more than modest, it is my own place, and I really want to return there. But I believe that it will happen one day!” Oleksandra Mykhailivna also dreams of the most important thing, “I am waiting for the victory of Ukraine,” she says.
Finish
Time to sum it up
Care, attention, and a bit of your soul — that is all you need for a little light of love and kindness big enough to illuminate and warm the lives of those who need help! Maybe you can warm someone else up too? Goodness has no limits; it is available to everyone without exception.
You can afford yourself the luxury of goodness!
Doing good is very simple!
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