Olena Shavkun, a resident of Krasnohorivka in the Marinka community, left Donetsk Oblast in 2022 with her family and settled in the village of Lukasheve, Zaporizhzhia Oblast.
Immediately after the evacuation, Olena visited the Leisure Center in Lukasheve village, where she joined the women who were weaving camouflage nets. Then she became interested in needlework, and when the community saw her activity, they offered her to join the Safe Space for Women and Girls project by Ukrprostir and UN Women. It was an initiative to provide psychological support to women, first displaced and then local.
The women underwent psychological training, tried to find stability in their new lives, practiced yoga, learned Ukrainian and English, created various handicrafts, which they sold and transferred the money to volunteers to help hospitals.
In the financial support unit, the women were trained, learned how to start a business, how to find their niche, turn a hobby into a profitable business, get a grant and start their own business.
Olena's rented house has a large vegetable garden. "It's important to us because we're used to working on the land. It's not just about vegetables or flowers, it's about a sense of stability that we need after all the changes in our lives," says Olena.
Olena built a greenhouse with grant funds and is actively engaged in gardening. The money was raised through a project she participated in with other women.
Olena now grows vegetables and herbs: parsley, dill, various salads, basil, cilantro, and spinach. She also grows cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, eggplants in her garden and cans her own produce. She sells her produce to a local craft store, where it is in demand.
However, the woman plans to grow berries to expand the range of canned goods. "Gardening is no longer just a habit, it's a lifestyle," Olena says.
Olena dreams of returning home, because it is necessary to revive the destroyed towns and villages.
The Ukrainian people are resourceful and unconquerable!
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