What was your life like before...

Before the events that changed my life, I lived an ordinary but happy life. My husband and I bought a house on our own and gradually fixed it up for our family. We made plans for the future and dreamed of a peaceful life and a future for our children. We worked and saved money for their education, trying to give the children everything they needed. They were not deprived of anything, and what mattered most to me was seeing them happy and being able to provide them with a good future. I had a work I loved: I was passionate about sewing and made things with my own hands. It brought me joy and gave me a sense that I was growing and had my own business that could become part of my future. I felt like a person who had a home, a family, plans and confidence in tomorrow. I was not just living for today. I was building my future and the future of my children. Back then I could not even imagine how much life could change. What seemed stable and familiar turned out to be very fragile.

How does this affect your everyday life?

Now I live in constant expectation of danger. Every explosion makes me think of my children first. I fear for their lives, for their future, and for how all of this affects them. On top of that, I have health problems. Sometimes it feels as if I have almost no strength left, but I have no right to stop, because I am a mother and I must hold on for my children. And we have no one at all. The hardest thing now is not only the lack of a home or the change in our usual life. The hardest thing is losing the sense of safety and confidence in tomorrow. Before, I was building a future, and now my main wish is simply to preserve my children's lives, health and future.

Your strengths and dreams

Despite everything, I try not to give up and to do all I can for my children. My greatest strength is my love for them and my responsibility for their future. What helps me is that I am used to overcoming difficulties, working and finding a way out even in the hardest situations. I want to rebuild my life, to be able to work again, to do the work I love and to provide my children with a stable future. My main hope is that we will be able to regain a peaceful life and once again have a home that will be our safe place.

What exactly will the funds be used for?

Treatment, food... First of all, the funds will go toward my treatment and my health, so that I can stay with my children and continue to take care of them. They have already lost their father, and my greatest fear is that they will be left alone. I very much want everything we have been through not to have been in vain. My greatest wish is to keep my children safe, to give them the chance to study, to grow and to have their own future, despite everything they have lived through.