August 2022 Update

Children are having the hardest time in this war situation. From free media sources, we have picked two pictures of Ukrainian children in the ruins left by the war. We are so grateful to you for your compassion, for your kindness and care, and for the love that olim refugees can feel here.

Zaporizhya and Dnipro to the north are two big fortress outposts before the huge Donetsk front line. Zaporizhya is about 180-200 km away from the hottest and most intense Donetsk front line. But the southern line that goes through Zaporizhya is some 50-60 km. Every day the towns and villages close to the front line are shelled. Every day and every night we hear several air raid alerts.

This time we aimed to help families with children. This is why 6 out of 12 olim on our list are children. 5 families out of the 6 are refugees from the active hostility zone.

Sergey Zhukovskiy was one of the few men able to leave with his children. The war is not the only reason for this reality. For Sergey Zhukovskiy, a further reason is anti-Semitism. The twins’ mother refused to leave for Israel with her children. She is not Jewish and parted with her husband and the twins’ father long ago. Since then, Sergey has been taking care of his boys alone.

Many single, elderly people wait in hope for months, to leave together with their adult children. When departure is delayed, their hopes collapse, and their scanty finances are soon spent. Lonely and ageing, Vera Sheremet and Yelena Zaitseva have been waiting for more than three months in refugee centres. They have been waiting for a chance to leave together with their children, but the tough financial situation has made the elderly people leave alone. They are going to start their new life on their own, without the support from their children. They are going to experience an emotionally hard time, but social care in Israel is much better developed than in Ukraine, and health care is excellent.

We stay courageous, though, and keep on with our work: we simply cannot quit because our work is important and very much needed. It is another thing that keeps us running, apart from your never ceasing love and care.

THANK YOU!

Igor, Tatiana & Zhenya