Taking Care of Those Who Have No One
On the morning of February 24nd, 2022, Olga Kleitman, founder and CEO for the famous Ukrainian architectural firm SBM Studio, had just arrived in the Bogota Airport in Columbia and was excited to get some creative inspiration from the beautiful city. Then, she opened her phone, and everything changed in a heartbeat. Her home city, Kharkiv, had been invaded. Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine had begun.
Part of Sarzhyn Yar park, which Kleitman designed (image source: Wikipedia Creative Commons)
Nevermind the vacation. Kleitman booked tickets to go back home before she even had a chance to leave the airport. The day she arrived in Kharkiv, she partnered with her husband Vadim Kleitman and her friend Tatyana Struk to found “Through the War,” a non-governmental organization that worked to defend Ukraine.
In addition to collecting military supplies and raising money for the army, Though the War began a special project addressing one of Ukraine’s most vulnerable populations: the elderly, chronically ill, and disabled people who cannot survive on their own.
When your country is invaded and your people are actively being genocided, most people either fight or flee. But many elderly Ukrainians cannot—or will not—do either.
“I lived here for 60 years, and I’m not giving this up,” explained Kherson resident Vasyl Zaichenko (82), whose home was destroyed in a flood after Russian soldiers burst the Nova Kakhovka dam last summer. “If you built your house with your own hands for 10 years, you just cannot abandon it.”
Some have people or memories that they can’t leave behind, such as Halyna Bezsmertna (57), whose grandson died in 2021.
“I promised one very dear person that I will not leave him alone,” she told the New York Times. “I won’t be able to apologize to him if I don’t keep my word.”
At this point, the majority of civilians remaining in front-line Ukrainian villages are elderly. Many of these elderly people grew up in the horrors of the Nazi occupation of Ukraine. They came of age in the post-World War II USSR, where fascism was the evil force that traumatized and killed parents and grandparents. They were taught that Russian soldiers would never hurt an innocent civilian. Even the children’s rhymes they learned and the songs they sang to their children were about how their nation would do anything to prevent war. They endured two pandemics, the economic struggles brought on by the Cold War, the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the subsequent political rebuilding of their country. After all that, was it too much to ask for them to be able to enjoy the peace of their sunset years? How could they imagine that an increasingly fascist dictator would rule the nation that used to be their ally, that the people with whom they served the mandatory USSR military conscription would invade their homeland and deny their right to exist?
If it wasn’t for Kleitman and Through the War, many of these elderly people would have died. If their buildings were destroyed, they couldn’t flee on their own. If there was no one to care for them, or no money to hire someone who could, they might not be able to get out of bed. Over a hundred of these people were rescued by Through the War, where they get free food, clothing, hygiene products, and medical support provided entirely by volunteers. Not only have they recovered from the trauma of war, but they’re thriving. Some have even learned to walk again after being bedridden for years.
Masha was brought to Through the War completely paralyzed and unable to sit up. Thanks to the help of their American rehabilitation specialist, she is now able to walk across the grounds. (Image provided by Olga Kleitman)
Kleitman’s work has inspired volunteers from all walks of life, including engineers, entrepreneurs, mathematicians, architects, massagists, and builders. They’ve received financial support and supplies from donors from all over the world, from Taiwan to the United States to the Czech Republic. Many are inspired by the strength and resilience of the elderly people in Kleitman’s care. Some are inspired by Kleitman herself.
But Kleitman doesn’t see her work as superhuman resistance. “I'm not a deity,” Kleitman told Kharkiv independent news media outlet Gwara. “I'm not the person who will decide the fate of individuals. We accept everyone who needs it, those who couldn't settle elsewhere and require constant 24-hour supervision.”
Instead of lamenting those they’ve lost, their website is filled with the stories of the people they’ve saved and their beautiful personalities. For Christmas, a volunteer dressed up as Santa Claus to bring a smile to people’s faces. And even coverage of their day-to-day interactions highlights their patients’ radiant love of life against all odds. In one video, a 100 year old woman proudly displays the haircut she gave herself after a career in hairdressing. In another, Katerina Ivaniva (89) melts with joy at the opportunity to take care of a chicken coop Kleitman acquired. Ivaniva’s lived her whole life on a farm, Kleitman later explains. Her first time leaving was to flee to the care center after eight months of living under Russian occupation in her hometown of Borysivka.
Christmas at Through The War (source: Olga Kleitman’s Instagram)
To quote Christian Baine, a physiotherapist from Chicago who lives and works at Through the War, “We all get along. We all eat together. I sleep upstairs, on the same floor with a whole bunch of other people. You know, we pass the nights together also. Like last night, when there was shelling going on, and we come into the halls together, we support each other.”
That’s all they can do. Support each other, while bombs rain down and their people fight for Ukraine’s existence. Support each other, knowing that if they lose, Putin won’t stop. As you’re reading this, another day is passing at Through the War. In spite of everything that’s happening in the world, another day is just another chance to protect Ukraine, and be there for the elderly people who have no one else.
Photo Translation: We are very grateful for the donations, and thank you to everyone!
(Through the War gets no funding from the Ukrainian government and relies entirely on donations and partners from overseas. The work they’re doing is critical to preserving the dignity and humanity of Ukraine’s elderly population. If you want to donate to Through the War, check out their website, throughthewar.org. Note: This organization has been vetted by people I know both in Ukraine and internationally, so I literally could not recommend them enough!)
by VERONIKA MOROZ