The team of ShoTam media recorded the stories of women from different parts of Ukraine, who find the strength to do their own thing after a loss. In these videos: stories of women who save people from the occupation, sew and repair clothes for the military, develop their own communities, rally people around the protection of natural parks, buy cars for the frontline and create rehabilitation centers for the military.
The videos were created in cooperation with the Heinrich Böll Foundation, Kyiv-Ukraine office.
Snail farm in Ukraine became a shelter for soldiers and immigrants
Olga Baumketner, in the midst of a full-scale war, dared to open a family business - a snail farm. She sacrificed her career as a lawyer in order to realize the dream of her father-in-law who died at the frontline. Now her business is not only profitable, but also feeds the village and rescues displaced people.
Snail farm in Ukraine became a shelter for soldiers and immigrants - Heinrich Böll Stiftung Ukraine
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A project manager in Ukrainian village creates spaces for veterans
Valentyna Ruzhytska develops her community thanks to the grants she applies for, submits and eventually wins. Thus, thanks to her work in the village of Studena, it was possible to arrange a recreation park, create a movie club and a social space for internally displaced persons. It also arranges a veteran's space for military personnel and their families.
A project manager in Ukrainian Village creates spaces for veterans - Heinrich Böll Stiftung Ukraine
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The former Ukrainian border guard saved dozens of refugees and animals
While she was guarding the state border with her faithful shepherd Linda, the enemy managed to break into her home. Yuliya Baeva left her native Donetsk region in 2014 to save her three adopted children from the "Russian world". The former border guard became the commandant of "Rukavychka" and saved dozens of refugees and animals.
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A policewoman from occupied Luhansk starts a new life in Poltava and helps people
When she went to work in the police during the Russian war against Ukraine, the youngest son was only 3. But the young mother of many children was not afraid of working in the "gray zone" and did not back down from her childhood dream: to help people. Now that her native Lysychansk is occupied, veteran Tetyana Panait is helping people again, but no longer in police uniform and hundreds of kilometers from home — in the village of Popivka in the Poltava Region.
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Watch on YouTubeHow the mother of a Ukrainian soldier united hundreds of people to cook borscht for the Armed Forces
Iryna Dragun united hundreds of people from different villages so that her son and hundreds of his brothers always had hot food at the front! How a real volunteer movement grew out of one efficient mother, a home-made dryer and the Cossack spirit of Cherkasy — see in the video.
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Watch on YouTubeThe mother of the Ukrainian defender opened a unique rehabilitation center
She is known as the mother of the "Ghost of Kyiv" - a Ukrainian military pilot who protected the Ukrainian skies and was killed by Russia. But today she has become a "mother" for many defenders and their families. In memory of her hero son, Nataliya Tarabalka opened a unique rehabilitation center in the village of Tseniava, in the Carpathian region. Here, physiotherapy and psychotherapy sessions will be combined with fishing, playing musical instruments and working in the garden.
The mother of the Ukrainian defender opened a unique rehabilitation center - Heinrich Böll Stiftung Ukraine
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In memory of the Ukrainian defender his wife protects Carpathians from ecological catastrophe
In memory of the beloved Ukrainian defender Olena Zhuk is fighting for a special place for him. This Transcarpathian Sea is one of the most picturesque places in the Ukrainian Carpathians. Hundreds of "cleaners" who joined the CHYSTO.DE community are helping Olena make his dream come true and go to clean the Carpathians hundreds of kilometers away.
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Watch on YouTubeUkrainian volunteer united almost 40 villages for charity for the Armed Forces
Olga Tsysarenko organized a whole volunteer movement with small children in her arms in a village in the Ternopil region. She managed to unite almost 40 villages and motivate them to volunteer for charity for the Armed Forces.