The Christian BF "Good Samaritan" is one of the oldest charitable organizations in Odessa - it was founded way back in 1992 and has changed tens of thousands of people's lives for the better over three decades.
However, the fund's activities go far beyond the provision of direct financial or humanitarian assistance - benefactors actively work on the creation of cultural, educational and important social projects. ElitExpert spoke with Nataliya Terekhova, head of the foundation's humanitarian headquarters in the Odesa region, about what these projects specifically represent and the problems faced by volunteers.
ABOUT WORK AT THE HEADQUARTERS AND ABOUT YOURSELF
At the age of 18, I joined the foundation as a volunteer and never left. There she met her husband, raised two children. The eldest son works in an international company that helps the foundation financially.
I don't feel tired from volunteering. In my case, this is a life mission. I know that I have to do it, and I can do it. I can work with partners, I can work with people, that's mine.
The humanitarian headquarters in Odesa is open three days a week: Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Usually, about 500 people a day come to us for help, we provide financial support and food kits.
When the foundation first started its work, its first steps were aimed at supporting boarding schools, then we helped prisoners and so on and so forth. Now our fund has expanded significantly and has 63 branches in Odesa, Mykolaiv, Kherson and Kharkiv regions.
I head the humanitarian headquarters in Odesa and am involved in the development of various social projects. And we have many projects - something new appears literally every day.
I will give an example - due to the fact that over the years the circle of communication in Odessa is expanding, and so is our sphere of assistance. For example, we once opened a children's camp in Mayaky, and in 2014 we reformatted it to accept immigrants, because 50 people came to us every week. We didn't have any state funding for this project, but we didn't wait for it, we took all the burden on ourselves, created a farm, greenhouses there, won a grant for this project. We even had cows and goats there, and guys with rare professions, such as jewelers, were able to earn their own money because we bought them machines. Brigades were also formed from immigrants for work in Odesa region.
ABOUT DAILY PROJECTS OF THE FOUNDATION
In addition to a very important project "Moms in dresses", we are currently organizing a trip to the USA for three weeks for families with children who have lost their parents. This will give them an opportunity to distract themselves, get treatment and just change the environment. In the US, families will be waiting for them, who will take care of their finances, health and education.
This project was implemented throughout Ukraine, except for Odesa, and now our team has finally joined it. The partners of this project are our friends in the USA, the international mission AIMASING, who have sent 53 containers of humanitarian aid to Ukraine since the beginning of the war.
Cooperation with them began back in 2012, when we jointly implemented children's programs in boarding schools. And now we have launched a new project - the relocation of children to the USA during the war.
We will discuss the details at the next meeting with these families. Initially, there were 50 applications, but unfortunately, after the loss of their father, many children developed diseases caused by stress, such as panic attacks, epilepsy, diabetes, because all nervous diseases are very aggravated, so we do not know the exact number of participants yet.
Another of our current projects is "Secrets of Active Longevity". We have already formed a group of grandparents 60+ and will hold non-standard meetings for them with the participation of a psychologist, lawyers and a social worker. The idea is to make them friends, provide psychological support, explain how to respond to anxiety, etc. Lawyers will work with them to solve their problems regarding payments, pensions, legal aid and other points. Our goal, ideally, is that after two months, the members of this group will solve all their questions, make friends and "reboot".
Even earlier, we did the "School of Professions" project for 70 teenage immigrants in four directions, two of which are still working. These were master classes in manicure, cooking, hairdressing, etc. We gave each person a set for activities in their field.
And now teenagers are learning to work with wood: for this we have an equipped workshop. The course is designed for three years, 12 children are currently studying. These are children who do not have parents, therefore, in the person of a teacher, they receive both a mentor and a man who helps and supports them in life.
The second direction is football. A strong team of 10-11-year-old children has already been formed, while we have found funding and will build our own football field for training.
ABOUT TRIPS TO THE LINE OF FIRE
It's dangerous, but you get used to everything. We constantly bring aid to the frontline areas, at least once a week we go to "hot spots".
While it was possible to go to Kakhovka, we managed to help four local hospitals: there was a project from the Japanese for $10.000, and we bought each medical institution exactly what they asked for.
In Odesa, a community was formed from those who left Kakhovka, recently they celebrated their anniversary, we also came to support them. But my mother is still in the occupied territory in Novaya Kakhovka - she does not want to leave her home.
ON THE PROBLEMS OF SETTLERS
There are about 360 displaced people in Odesa. But in our country, compared to other regions, no conditions have been created for them. Probably the city and the region are not interested in these people staying here.
Otherwise, the authorities would create some hostels, villages, eco-farms for them, all this can be done. But all I hear at meetings with the authorities is "let's create labor squads so they go to work in the vineyards."
I think that the authorities want these people to go through the region by transit, so they don't "bother" with provision and arrangement. And people need jobs, but the same employment centers say that there are jobs, but people do not go to them, but come to us. We have a kindergarten and a school, and in total we have employed 260 social workers.
ABOUT ASSISTANCE IN THE MEDICAL FIELD
We managed to have an ambulance stationed at our humanitarian headquarters every working day. Hundreds of people come to us, and not all of them are healthy.
In addition, we will always provide tea and food. In general, we have everything at our fingertips: we measure the pressure, we lower the sugar level, vaccinations were done, and tests for HIV and other diseases...
We actively help hospitals, purchase medicines, and, according to our calculations, have already handed over 1 packages of medicines during the war.
In addition, we ourselves in our headquarters issue simple medicines to people.
ABOUT SCAMMERS AND REFUSAL OF HELP
During the entire period of operation, we had only two cases of fraud. A person called me and said: "I'm sitting at the airport, I'm leaving, I have money left in hryvnias, I want to transfer it to some family, preferably a single mother with a child." And then it turned out to be a fraud: he called the family and said - "I bought you 3000 hryvnias worth of groceries, just give me 300 hryvnias for a taxi, and I'll send it to you." This whole scheme was conceived for the sake of 300 hryvnias!
The second time, when a man came to us under the guise of an immigrant, we helped him, and he stole a jacket and money from our cleaning lady.
Regarding the moral dilemma, whether everyone should be helped is a very difficult question. Should we help those who arrived in an expensive car or with expensive jewelry? If they didn't sell the car and jewelry when they were struggling, then they have finances... But on the other hand, what if a person has this car and it's the only thing left?
ABOUT FUND FINANCING AND REPUTATION
We don't have regular sponsors who pay us a salary every month; nor can we count on 20% percent of our activity, as prescribed by law. Despite our "solid" age, we are a little crazy because, in fact, we all rely on volunteering.
The heart of our mission is people. We have 120 volunteers, and we are very proud of that - this is a very large volunteer base.
At the same time, our reputation is very important. We work closely with international partners who transfer goods to us, and we package and distribute them to 63 branches. There are social workers in each branch, and we are also helped by the churches - and this is how we get double control.
During the entire time, we did not have a single case of theft or shortage - for a huge amount of work! Together we create a great force that brings hope and confirms that goodness can always overcome any obstacle.
Olena Ovchinnikova spoke
