GRANTEE
My life, like that of many people in Ukraine, was divided into “then” and “now.” Before the war and after. Our memories of trips, walks, the light and warmth that seemed so close yesterday––are now somewhere far away. After 24 February, everything was new and unknown: feelings, sounds, rockets, alarms, and an immense amount of news. The news is hard, and you somehow have to live through all this information: the death of soldiers, civilians, children.
Volunteering and fundraising have become our everyday activity: we gather money for pickup trucks, for our neighbour’s military uniform, for drones, and now for generators. Words that we did not use in life "then" appeared in life "now," such as occupation, ammunition, front, artillery, refugees, curfew... Also, new feelings appeared that we didn't face "then": desolation, which along with fatigue, weakness, disappointment, and complete uncertainty about the future can knock a person off his mental feet. These are not easy feelings, and there are so many of them that a large number of people simply cannot cope. I will now tell you personally about me and my experience about entering the “then” and “now” times.