Volunteers from Kherson on Life Under Occupation, Rapid Response, and Learning to Think Beyond the Immediate Crisis

Maryna Hryhorovych and Inna Sukhenko travelled from Kherson to attend the training. Both women remained in the city throughout the Russian occupation and continue to live there today.

"We firmly believed that Kherson would be liberated," says Maryna. "And when our army returned, we knew we wanted to stand with our people and help however we could."

Just three days after Kherson was liberated, the rector of their parish arrived with an entire bus loaded with humanitarian aid. That moment marked the beginning of their volunteer work.

Today, around 80% of the assistance they coordinate goes to Ukraine's military, while the remaining 20% supports civilians.

Learning to Think Systematically

Their parish rector encouraged them to attend the training "Assessing Community Needs: Socio-Psychological Support and Community Development" with a clear purpose: to learn how to think strategically rather than simply reacting to emergencies.

"Right now, most of what we do is emergency response," Inna explains. "Yesterday there was one crisis. Today a missile destroys someone's apartment, and by seven in the morning you're already driving children to safety. But we understand that, looking ahead, we also need to learn how to design projects and write proposals."

One of the training's biggest lessons was learning to see the broader picture.

"Our trainer, Ms. Ella, taught us to step back and look beyond the immediate needs of one group. We realised that local authorities, other volunteer organisations, and donors are all part of the same ecosystem. Before, we simply weren't considering those opportunities for collaboration."

Looking Before Acting

Another important takeaway was the value of conducting a proper needs assessment before launching a project.

Participants learned to ask critical questions:

What support have people already received? What needs remain unmet? Who else is working in the area? Where can we add the greatest value?

"We had never approached our work that way before," Inna admits.

Planning for the Future While Responding to Today's Needs

At the same time, Maryna acknowledges that life in Kherson often defies careful planning.

It is a place where six-month project plans exist alongside a reality in which everything can change within an hour.

"We don't want to lose our ability to respond immediately when people need help. What we want to learn is how to combine rapid emergency response with long-term planning — whether that means budgeting differently or organising our work in another way. These are very real questions for us. When we return to our parish, we'll bring back new knowledge and experience that will help us rebuild our work more thoughtfully. That's what we hope to do."

The project "Clergy and Communities in Support of Mental Health: Innovative Support Practices During the War in Ukraine" is implemented by Eleos-Ukraine in partnership with DanChurchAid and Norwegian Church Aid in Ukraine, with financial support from the Government of Norway (NORAD), in cooperation with the Kyiv Orthodox Theological Academy and the Lviv Orthodox Theological Academy.