Julia, Olha and Nina are the true spirit of the Good Factory

Ukraine

On the 24th of February 2022, Russia launched a military offensive into Ukraine, causing civilian casualties and destroying the country’s infrastructure. More than a quarter of the population has been forced to flee their homes. In the first few weeks, more than 4.3 million refugees fled Ukraine, and a second as many were internally displaced. It is the fastest growing refugee crisis since World War II.

We cannot be indifferent to the suffering of our neighbours – we immediately set out to help!

We provided humanitarian assistance for

70,000

Ukrainians who stayed in the country

24.05.2022

From her first day in Poland, Julia knew that this was not the time to cry, but to take concrete action. She came up with the idea of bringing together some women who had also fled the war in Ukraine to teach them how to crochet. That’s how a group was formed that creates beautiful baskets, and seeing their determination, we decided to help them launch a real Good Factory of handicrafts.

This is the story of women who, brutally forced to flee their homes and find themselves in a foreign place, did not give up and transformed their need for action into creating handicrafts that allow them to survive in Poland.

At first Olha apologises to us for not being able to talk about her last days in Chernihiv. After a while, however, she raises her eyes and begins to speak, and we feel the tension in the air:

“In Chernihiv it was like this… I was with my family, my husband and my daughter. Every minute we felt as if we were standing on the edge of a precipice. We were very scared. All this was happening behind the wall of our house. They were burning buildings, seizing people, and we could only wait. This feeling of not having any control over my own destiny was the scariest thing that ever happened to me. People are dying next to you, and you can only pray that your family will not be next.”

Talking to her, we realise that she has seen all the horrors of war, although she doesn’t tell us about all of them – and we don’t dare ask her to either. Her eyes say more about the tragedy that has befallen Ukraine than words can convey. But Olha does not stop crocheting. She only does so when Julia’s little son climbs onto her lap and demands her attention.

For these women, creating handicrafts is synonymous with independence. It is the basis of an enterprise whose wings can spread under the care of the Good Factory – that means yours! It is finally a semblance of normality for moments when thoughts do not run wild and do not turn back to still fresh memories of a country engulfed in war.

Julia, Olha and Nina are the true spirit of the Good Factory who just need as many of you as possible to know about their initiative!

Please help us out and take a look at the shop, where you can find the beautiful baskets they have made.

Urgent Help Needed

Save the Pharmacy for the Poorest in Togo

This amount will allow for equipping pharmacy shelves for the first half of the year. Ania and Mateusz will take care of this, and they will fly to Togo in February and fill the shelves with the most essential antibiotics, antimalarial drugs, and pain relievers. The Saoudé Pharmacy has people to save. It cannot succeed without your support.

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We already have :
3,419 EUR
We need:
6,667 EUR