Sleeping two hours a day, hearing insults and mistrust, seeing weapons aimed at oneself, losing faith in people, and still continuing to help. Doing something, anything, for the benefit of others. Taking on various, sometimes strange tasks, and accomplishing them. And if someone feels easier, warmer, it’s already a victory. A personal victory over circumstances.
The NGO “In Touch Ukraine Foundation” was formed through the symbiosis of Margarita Siranchuk and Natalia Boyko. Both principled, strong-willed, purposeful, and confident. These qualities helped unite their forces to launch a large-scale project supported by UNICEF.
- February 24… How did you learn about the war?
“The day before the war, my friend and I were discussing the situation in Ukraine in general, thinking about the realities, the possibilities of the development of a military attack. Perhaps everyone understood this, but deep down, we didn’t want to believe it. When the first explosions rang out, I didn’t wake up because I had a crazy week and it was hard to wake me up… no phone call could wake me up. One of my friends managed to do it, I couldn’t believe it half-asleep, thought it was a joke after the conversation in the evening. Indeed, the day before, I packed an emergency suitcase, so the plan for me was like carved in my mind: take things, gather colleagues, family, and meet in one place. I gathered all my loved ones, made sure they were safe, and started thinking about how I could be helpful,” says Margarita.
Natalia, in the middle of the night, was thinking about the development of her own business, choosing promotional materials when suddenly she heard explosions… The war began. She calmly got out of bed, packed her parents’ things, woke them up, and delivered the unfortunate news. She said they needed to leave. She herself started thinking about what to do. She called Julia Tolmacheva, who gave her the first task. That’s how she got a list of needs for displaced people. And it all started…
- How did you start volunteering? Your first volunteer task?
“Volunteering, what volunteering is for each of us… Maybe it seems strange to someone, but I didn’t want to panic. I came to work and sent documents for a grant we had been preparing for a month. I asked colleagues how I could be helpful. Perhaps it was to find a place where I could make the most significant contribution at that time… it all started with calming down foreign investors who had projects in our region. I called friends who were cooperating in collecting humanitarian aid for units and sought help from foreign acquaintances. The day before, an Italian delegation was scheduled to visit us, so I asked them and the French for help. Alongside this, the first tasks in volunteering became elementary things: I looked for medicines from groups created by volunteers, met with friends who were volunteering back in 2014, and it began… searching for sleeping mats, sleeping bags, medicines, and everything urgently… I honestly don’t remember the first task. There was a moment when I was asked to deal with what I’m good at, namely logistics and international donors. This is where a barrage of questions began: about customs, donors, logistics, carriers, communication with potential donors. Sometimes it seemed like you were burning from the inside, but you stood up and moved on. There were times when up to 8 trucks arrived in a day, which needed to be escorted from various parts of Europe. Then I decided to create my own headquarters, “Action Together,” based on the Regional Development Agency, where I am the director. Here was a real challenge… the first challenge was to find a place, as the first truck with humanitarian cargo was heading towards me,” recalls Margarita.
Natalia continues: “I started collecting and closing various needs. Many were related to military matters. I recorded stories, posted videos, and one of them became significant. It gave a push for people to believe in me and in what I was doing. I managed to set up logistics in the region and the country for distributing aid. Meanwhile, people in various cities in Europe started coming to me and sending entire trucks with humanitarian aid. I remember driving in a car with a friend from the central part of Ukraine, transporting body armor and helmets for our soldiers, and the whole car was just packed with equipment. I couldn’t even get out of the car because the entire space around me was stuffed with equipment. I was stopped, stared at with big eyes, and even pointed weapons at me. But fortunately, I managed to deliver everything.”
- What was the most challenging to obtain?
Both Margarita and Natalia worked with the delivery of medicines and various medications. At certain periods, there were problems with specific drugs. It was crucial to obtain certain medicines that were not available. They managed to do the impossible and bring these medications.
The Pharmaceutical College of Zhytomyr was very helpful in sorting out the received medications. Both teachers and students came to sort and document the trucks of medicines. They sorted, accounted for, and organized them. Meanwhile, teachers even conducted classes for their students during breaks.
“There was a moment when I stopped closing the needs of the military. Then there was a new challenge – to provide humanitarian aid to the liberated territories of our Zhytomyr region. It was necessary to clarify the real needs and calculate the number of people. This is how the partnership with the international humanitarian organization “People in Need” began, which spread to other regions of the country. I went with this assistance directly to the people; we passed through territories checked for safety. However, in such trips, contact with people in these circumstances is not easy. I am ready to work to meet the needs,” says Natalia.
“I remember sending a whole bus of pregnant women with children abroad. At first, we transported them to Poland and then to France. It was emotionally challenging to endure all the questions and convince them of safety,” Margarita notes.
- Who joined the organization’s team?
Both Margarita and Natalia say they don’t know how they managed to implement so many requests and needs, accomplishing incredible things. However, they are convinced that the war, extraordinary circumstances, forced them to become strong, collected, and confident.
Three people joined the volunteering organization. These are also people with different personal stories but proven by time and circumstances. People they can trust, knowing that they can handle various tasks.
So, at the end of May this year, the NGO “In Touch Ukraine Foundation” was registered, which now takes care not only of internally displaced persons but also residents of the region who currently need support and assistance.
- What is the dream?
“The disappearance of the system of profiting from human suffering,” says Natalia.
Margarita succinctly and confidently adds: “Peace.”
And Ukraine will surely have both peace and a happy future. When there are people who are not indifferent to the needs of others, the country has already won. People are different, and they manifest themselves differently in challenging circumstances for which one cannot be prepared. The civilized world cannot be prepared for war and destruction. It is not normal. However, it is the people who start pushing the country towards victory by hand. Only together, only by gritting our teeth, can we reclaim our integrity and a free future step by step.
Marina Bezimenna