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.
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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!
Volunteer assistance from children – a contribution to our Victory!
“They are not “children of war”, on the contrary, they are the children of Victory! And you know why? Because they, these children, with their volunteer help, are bringing us closer to victory every day! It is impossible to get used to this, to perceive it as something self-evident – every day I go to my garage, I see them sitting there knitting nets or turning candle blanks, and I can barely hold back tears – no one collects them specifically, no one “drives” them, they come on their own because they want to, because they feel that it is necessary and should be this way. I tell them every day – every knot you tie on the net, every trench candle you twist – is your contribution to our victory. And for them, this is the best motivation and the main incentive!”
The garage of volunteer Irina Malkovets in the village of Ripky, located in Chernihiv region, echoes with the voices of children with big hearts every evening! For over half a year, these children have been twisting trench candles and weaving camouflage nets as their volunteer help for the military! Mrs. Irina speaks about the children’s volunteer detachment with incredible love and warmth. “Our children are the main inspirers and organizers,” laughs Mrs. Irina. “Write about them, they inspire us and lead us! With such children, we cannot but win!”.
Volunteer help - from the garage doorstep!
“Our village may be small, but it is unconquerable,” says Mrs. Irina. “Last spring, during the full-scale Russian invasion, it may have been occupied, but it did not surrender – people showed their patriotic position, yellow and blue flags were hanging from the houses… There was no fear – there was a realization that we are on our land!”
My husband and I delivered bread and milk to our fellow villagers every day during the occupation, searching for alternative routes to avoid enemy checkpoints. We had the opportunity to leave, but we decided to stay and help the people. My husband is currently fighting, and my own brother is also on the front lines. We do what we can to assist them all.
“They are holding our front, and we will be their rear,” I told my daughter, and together we began sewing kikimoras for the soldiers. As a seamstress by trade, I had the necessary materials, and I had taught my daughter everything I knew from a young age. After watching a few video tutorials, we were off to the races! In the first two weeks, my daughter and I made 14 kikimoras. After that, more people joined in, including Ana’s friends, and even the children took the initiative to help out. As more people expressed interest in assisting, we decided to expand our operation. We started with trench candles, using jars and cardboard, but we lacked paraffin wax, so we began by making the molds. When people saw our enthusiasm, they started bringing us paraffin and collecting materials for the trench candles from all over. People even sent us material from abroad!
When you're little but have a big heart
And then the military asked for camouflage netting – and we got to work! We hung the base of the netting – it’s quite long, five by eight meters – in our garage. And we, with the kids, and even our neighbors helped us, wove this giant netting in just two evenings! That’s how our “garage volunteering” began, and our old garage turned into what our friends jokingly call the “Garage-Ukroboronprom”… Jokes aside, even our daughter came up with the logo for our volunteer group – “garage” – and we now stick it on rolls of netting and boxes of trench candles.
When it became clear that our “children’s volunteer headquarters” would be based in the garage, we appropriately equipped it: there’s a wood stove, lights, and all the conditions for the kids to work comfortably.
In our volunteer group, there are 19 boys and girls of different ages, ranging from 8 to 18 years old. “When you’re little, but with a big heart” – that’s about our volunteers! Some of the kids come every day after school, some come from time to time, and I am happy with everyone and love them all! It is incredibly inspiring and touching that they come here on their own, without instructions or encouragement, and get to work because they know why they are doing it and for whom.
The children are completely self-sufficient in their volunteer assistance to the Armed Forces of Ukraine: I just visited my sick mother in Chernihiv, and when I returned home, the work was already in full swing in the garage – the kids decided what they would do today, whether they would make candles or weave nets! There is work every day – if only there were enough materials, because they are in short supply now…
The “Neboslovan” charity fund provided us with 200 kilograms of paraffin – we thought it was a lot and planned that it would last us all winter, but we used it up… in just over a week! The children were happy that we managed to send so many candles to our defenders on the front line…
Our work is already on a professional level: a local craftsman came up with a machine on which the children weave the base for the nets by themselves. They already weave so skillfully, they are true professionals! The parents of the young volunteers confess to me: “When we hear from our child, ‘I’m in the garage!’, we are calm about them…” We already have a kind of brotherhood here… They are all amazing to me! In between work, I try to treat them with something tasty every time – but they surprised me once and baked a cake together!
Even if they are mischievous somewhere outside of our garage, they behave here! We have an atmosphere of complete understanding, trust, and harmony.
How can you “get tired” or “burn out” when you see these children spending so much time and energy helping the front? And you feel an incredible responsibility, because the trust of the children obliges you! The children trusted me and I will never let them down – we will be together as long as we need to!
You know, the words of one of our little volunteers touched me the most: “Aunt Ira, who will we help when the war is over?” That is, for them, helping is already such a natural process, without which they cannot imagine themselves.
Another one of our “garage buddies” immediately said to us: “We will still come to the garage even after the Victory!” Sometimes I suggest to them, “Kids, maybe today we’ll take a break?” And they all say to me, “N-o-o-o!” We will rest after the Victory! But a little, not for long… We have a lot of love and work ahead of us! There will be enough for everyone.
