"...to make hope possible, rather than despair convincing."
Raymond Williams, 1989
MoveUkraine is an NGO focused on the provisioning of shelter for war-displaced populations inside Ukraine. Putin's war on Ukraine has left millions displaced from their homes, and many are women, children, the elderly, and the disabled. As many readers will remember, males age 18-65 were conscripted to fight the invading Russians during the first weeks of the war and so are a smaller proportion of the displaced and vulnerable. MoveUkraine (as in "Move exposed Ukrainians into safe shelter as quickly as possible") is refurbishing damaged buildings as shelters for women and children all over the eastern half of Ukraine.
MoveUkraine is also building homes from scratch. Those homes, constructed in just a few days using a thin cement skin on a core of expanded polystyrene (EPS), are known as "Swallow's Nests" or "Ластівчине Гніздо", a reference to a well-known folktale. Nests are simple, well-insulated, robust, cheap, and secure shelters that can serve as temporary housing during rebuilding efforts or as homes for a decade or more. Applied Hope has contributed to the building of Nests, particularly in the remains of the shattered town of Makariv, an hour west of Kyiv.
Beyond Nests, MoveUkraine has done wonderful work in the converting of damaged schools, offices, and community centers into multi-unit housing. Almost every month a new facility is completed and ready for occupancy. MoveUkraine has a special interest in orphans and disabled children, and several medical orphanages will be completed in 2023.
MoveUkraine is led by three native Ukrainian speakers, dual citizens from Switzerland, the US, and the UK, with decades of experience within the country. Their performance has been superb since the very first months of the war, despite Russian missiles and power cuts, and AHF is proud to be associated with them.
Please go to Donation Page – MoveUkraine.org if you're interested in helping. Thank you!