On the anniversary of the war in Ukraine, we speak to Mariana Kashchak, Chief Executive of one of RE:ACT’s main partners in the region

Mariana Kashchak runs the Ukrainian Education Platform (UEP), a charity that has joined with REACT to provide hot food, long-life food packs, power supplies and mixed aid to thousands of internally displaced people.

A little over twelve months ago, the UEP was dedicated solely to supporting local communities and people throughout the country. Outside of work, Mariana enjoyed a busy family life, with her two young daughters and her husband, Taras, the director of a local battery production factory.

Not in her most terrifying nightmares could Mariana have imagined how that blissful, happy time would have changed so much in just one year. Ukraine has been ravaged by war, and her beloved Taras, who volunteered to join the territorial defence force two days after the conflict broke out is dead, killed fighting on the eastern front three months later.

After such heartbreak, no one would have blamed Mariana for withdrawing from charitable work to look after her two daughters and give herself time to grieve. But there was no way she was going to do that.

The day after the war broke out, Mariana had woken up in her home city of Lviv and decided that the UEP would need to immediately redirect its energy to help people affected by the fighting.

“The first task for me was to unite the team and take care of their safety. So, on that very first day we called all our partners across Ukraine and offered to help them in evacuation and resettlement somewhere safe,” said Mariana.

“The next step was the creation of a new basic algorithm for the organisation’s work. Five days later we had completely changed our format. Now we work on humanitarian missions, supporting families and education and development,” she added.

Together with partners such as RE:ACT, the UEP has managed to deliver 2.6 million kgs of humanitarian aid to more than 131,000 people. They have helped evacuate more than 10,500 people from the war-torn east of the country, resettled many of them in the safer west, and provided financial grants worth a total of £83,000 to partner organisations doing similarly vital work.

These achievements are all the more incredible considering the enormity of Mariana’s personal loss, which would have crushed many people facing the same anguish.

“Of course, this war has changed everything. We were a happy family. Dad, mum and our two beautiful daughters, Natalya, who’s now 11 and Anastasia, who is three. I was married to Taras for almost 12 years, and we had known each other for 16 years – almost half my life,” said Mariana.

“Nothing foreshadowed this. We were two directors, we had two princesses, we’d build a dream house and then the war started. Taras volunteered two days later and on April 28^th he was sent to the east,”.

Mariana last heard from Taras just a week later, on May 5^th, when he called to say he was going on a mission.

“On May 8^th I woke up with a very disturbing thought that something was wrong, and I started looking for information on the networks. I don’t even remember how exactly I started receiving information in the end about these terrible events, but I was informed somehow that Taras and his fellow defenders were missing after a school was bombed in the village of Bilohorivka in Luhansk Oblast (province),” she explained.

“I think we already knew then that the boys had been killed. My first fear was how to break the news to Natalya. She understands everything so I called a psychologist, and she suggested I should not hide anything and tell my daughter directly about her father’s death and exactly what happened.

Ten months later, I am doing my very best for them and they are coping. At the moment they are staying with their grandmother in Poland to keep them safe. As for me, I am so grateful for my work. It has become my main foundation and does not allow me time to lose my heart.”

Mariana is understandably very proud of the incredible achievements of the UEP.

“Our team took responsibility and has shown amazing strength and determination. Everything we have achieved is through the prism of our values. Faith in Ukraine and respect for human dignity. It has helped to build a powerful organisation.”

Mariana says the partnership with RE:ACT is “extremely valuable and important” to the UEP.

“We are impressed that our RE:ACT colleagues were not afraid to come to Ukraine at the beginning of a full-scale invasion. Because of this, our UEP team felt that the world believed in us. With your help we have had the opportunity to help thousands of people in different parts of Ukraine.”

Mariana is extremely proud of her country.

“For the last year we have shown the world that Ukraine is strong and independent with a people that are capable of incredible deeds and where volunteering has become the normal part of life.

We understand that without the support of the world we would not have survived. We sincerely thank you for your faith in us and your concern. My life, like most Ukrainians, will never be the same again, but I understand that my children will grow up in Ukraine, a strong and responsible country.”

Please consider donating to support RE:ACT's humanitarian work in 2023, including our ongoing activity in Ukraine