The following blog was written by a program participant of CWS’s local Moldovan partner, Healthy City. Healthy City, also known as Zdorovii Gorod, supports Ukrainian refugees by providing comprehensive services including food and non-food items, social inclusion and psychosocial support.
Fleeing Home and Facing Fear
My name is Galina, and I am 64 years old.
Before the war, I lived in the cozy village of Chernomorskoe, in the Odesa region. We had a simple, peaceful life—our home, our family, a vegetable garden and familiar faces all around. But everything changed in an instant.
On February 22, 2022, the full-scale war began. On the very first day my family and I were forced to leave our home and flee to Moldova. At the time, it seemed like it would only be for a short while, that it would all end soon. But it was only the beginning.
The first month in a foreign country was probably the hardest of my life. I couldn’t sleep at night—all I did was watch the news, hoping it would all be over. My youngest son, along with his wife and my grandson, stayed in Ukraine. Every siren, every bombardment—I felt as if I was going through it all myself. Helplessness, anxiety, fear—it all mixed together. My blood pressure spiked, my head throbbed and my heart ached with pain. We lived in a house with five of us, plus three more from the host family. Three rooms and eight souls; each with their own pain, their own fears, their own prayers at night.
One day, in early summer, I went into the Zdorovii Gorod. Suddenly, I asked, “Do you need volunteers?” I couldn’t just sit and wait anymore. I wanted to do something, anything. I wanted to feel useful.
Finding Purpose and Support in a New Life
That’s how I started helping—packing vegetables, food and assembling kits for others like us. Among the Ukrainian women there, each had their own story. Some had crossed minefields with their children. Some had fled from shelling. We understood each other without words. We shared a common grief—and a common purpose.
This work saved me. I felt tired, distracted—but alive again. I felt like I was helping. Most importantly, I was no longer alone with my fears. Through this project, I had acquaintances, friends and support. I started going to yoga, women’s gatherings and seeing a psychologist and that became my new point of stability.
My husband and I are retirees. Without humanitarian, medical and psychological help, we wouldn’t have managed. The currency had lost its value, and our pension wasn’t even enough for basic needs. But thanks to the people and organizations that didn’t turn away, we have a roof over our heads, food and medicine. We have a chance to keep living.
I am endlessly grateful—for the kindness, for the support, for the fact that even in the darkest times, we found light in other people.
This story is possible thanks to the generosity of United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR). To learn more and support CWS’s work with Ukrainian refugees in Moldova, click here.