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!
To make a child feel what is happiness
“That summer, my daughter Liza was turning eight. We offered her to go to a cafe or a children’s room, but she insisted: “No, I want to stay at home!”
It would seem that there was nothing wrong with that – at home, so at home, except that we didn’t have a home anymore – it was destroyed by a Russian shell.
And there, in the yard, in the open air near the destroyed house, we put up an awning, set up a table with treats, Lisa invited her friends, and that’s how we celebrated. And you know, it was somehow… sweet and bitter to celebrate a new life on the ruins of what had been our normal life.
Somewhere in that pile of scrap that our house had turned into, there were doorposts with touching marks of children’s growth, our wedding photos, photos of our daughter’s birth – and you can’t get it all back… But I thought: we will not allow the enemies to destroy our lives – neither literally nor figuratively… Therefore, every day we live, rebuild, and do not lose hope, we win!”
Happiness is when there is no shooting
“What is happiness? Happiness is… A year and a half ago, I might have answered this question differently. Now I know for sure: happiness is hugging my healthy relatives, happiness is when there is no shooting and nothing flies at you from the sky, happiness is living in peace and harmony on my own free land… I am grateful to the Armed Forces of Ukraine for every dawn and every quiet night!”
Yevheniia’s life was divided into “before” and “after” February 24 last year.
“We met the full-scale Russian invasion in our home,” she says. “We stayed at home until March 6, and almost all this time we were hiding from constant shelling in the cellar of the house. But when the shells started flying very close to us, when the neighboring houses were burning, when the windows in our house were blown out, we decided to leave – we went to Chernivtsi region. My daughter was only seven years old, she was allergic to fungus and dampness, and we realized that we could no longer keep her in the basement all the time. On the eve of the war, we bought three pillows and quickly packed the most necessary things into these three improvised “bags” – pillow covers. As it turned out, they were our only belongings, because on March 13, our house was destroyed…
How did we find out? My father called – he flatly refused to leave and stayed at home. Dad is alive, thank God, but he went through hell – when it hit our house, he was in the yard trying to replace the windows that had been smashed by the previous explosions. Our Baron, our loyal friend, our good guard, was standing by him – Baronchyk was blown up immediately… Dad was thrown to the neighboring fence, he was miraculously unhurt, only his face was cut – he crawled behind the shed and waited for the shelling to end… There was no connection to call the fire department, no water to put out the fire himself. And when the shelling subsided a bit, he went to his friend from work, wearing only a pair of slippers, and he sheltered my father at his place…”
People who give hope
“They destroy, and we rebuild. Houses. Territories. Ourselves… Happiness is a place filled with things that are dear and close to us – a house where we had our favorite cup, our own room, the best oven that bakes everything without burning; a rocking chair that helped to lull our daughter to sleep when she was disturbed But even more than that, it is my native land, so strong and unbreakable, which, even when wounded, has the power to bloom! A handful of raspberries from the surviving garden; flowers that sprouted through the ruins, a row of cool mushrooms in the yard, which I enjoyed like a child… And most of all – the people! How incredible our people are!
It’s a blessing to know that such people exist. People who help, support us morally and financially – they do not let us break down, they inspire us!” says Yevheniia. – “When the shelling subsided, we came to the ashes, looked at them, cried…
I didn’t want to believe until the last moment, I thought maybe it was a mistake, but I saw with my own eyes how the “asvabadites” liberated us from everything we had been collecting all our lives in small pieces, everything that warmed our souls and was so precious. This is my parents’ house – I was born there, grew up there, we completed a little bit of renovation, a week before the “great war” we finished the repair.
One mangled frame reminded me: “Here was a house.” Ruins where people used to live, have dinner together, kiss their daughter goodnight, plan their lives…
Every time I looked at them, I could not hold back my tears – and it seemed that life was also in ruins… And to dare to turn a new page, we had to first dismantle the rubble. And then the volunteers from the “Bo mozhemo” (Because We Can) volunteer association came to our aid. Almost seven dozen helpers – volunteers of the association, my neighbors, classmates, friends, godparents and a lot of people I didn’t know at all – surrounded our fire from all sides and, like ants, cleared the rubble left by the “asvabadites” in a coordinated and quick manner. I didn’t even think it was possible to do this in such a short period of time – my husband and I had only dismantled a small part of it in a month of work, and they managed to do it all in a few hours! We even had volunteers from abroad – Leonardo from Argentina and Sergi from Georgia – come to the cleanup together with the BoMozhivtsi, and it was so touching and inspiring! I am sincerely grateful to everyone for their help. Low bow to everyone who helped!
And when all the rubble was cleared, our daughter started walking around the yard and pointing – “This is where our kitchen was, and now it will be over there; this is where my room was, and now I would like it to be over there.” She walks around and dreams about where things will be… And looking at her, I started to come alive and “lift my nose”!
A birthday party on the ruins of a house
“Home is not so much about walls and furniture (although, of course, it’s about them too!) as it is about memories, about dreams, about being yourself and feeling safe… Home is about memory. And we all carry it in ourselves. As soon as we returned to Chernihiv, every free minute we had, we came to Bobrovytsia to clear the rubble, clean the yard, and Lisa even said: “Mom, I can even live in the garage – let’s clean it up and stay there, because I want to go home…” Our daughter Liza celebrated her new year on the ruins of her home – she wanted to do so herself, because it is the closest and dearest place to her, because even when it is destroyed, it is our place of strength
We set up tables in the yard, pulled up an awning because it was raining that day, invited the kids, and celebrated her birthday together. We can celebrate life even in ruins! Because we know that ruins are not forever! Our spirit cannot be broken.
Liza and I planted flowers in the yard, a few new saplings – such simple but inspiring things, this is the way to happiness. Now we are starting to rebuild – we have a lot of work ahead of us, and we cannot do it without support and help. However, I know for sure that there are good people! I believe in people. When the BoMozhivtsi volunteers came to help us, I realized that the world is held together by people who care. People who do good deeds. We also wanted to join them and went to help our neighbors and those who suffered the same disaster as us to clear the rubble. It is important to show that we are together, that people are not alone with their misfortune. We want to support everyone – we will not give up, we will rebuild everything! Together. Even better than it was before. And our new home will be filled with happiness!
