Svitlana’s story echoes the ordeal of nearly 3.67 million Ukrainians, still internally displaced, because of the war that broke out in February 2022. The United Nations estimates the war’s damage has cost the country over $100 billion, leaving over 7 million people homeless. Over the months, many have managed to return home.
But sadly, Svitlana is still one of the millions still in limbo.
“I still have nowhere to go,” Svitlana says, her eyes welling up. She says she prefers not to be photographed.
‘Your Support’
Soon after the start of the war, Svitlana had to flee from her hometown Mariupol in southeast Ukraine. Since then, she has wandered from one place to another, looking for a safe place — and possibly some peace.
She is not alone. Without relatives, friends, or community-members to take them in, roughly 350,000 of the total internally displaced people have had to seek refuge in different shelters across Ukraine since the war began.
The ‘Your Support’ shelter in Lviv is one such facility, supported by CARE. Like the other shelters in Ukraine, some stay here for a few days and some attempt to return to homes that are often close to the frontlines, where the daily soundtrack is the sound of rockets, explosions, and cries of the affected. Those who fail to reach home, come back to “Your Support” and wait for another opportunity.
The ‘Your Support’ shelter is Svitlana’s new home that she shares with 200 other displaced individuals who will stay here until they find a better alternative or manage to secure a small apartment. Here, the once strangers from different cities of eastern Ukraine have become a close-knit family.
Like Svitlana, every resident of the shelter has a unique story to tell.
