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Transcript/Script((PLAYBOOK SLUG: UKRAINE WAR HOUSING
HEADLINE: US Charity Provides Free Housing for Displaced Older Ukrainians Outside Kyiv
TEASER:
PUBLISHED: Wednesday, 12/13/2023 at 06:48 EST
BYLINE: Lesia Bakalets
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: Kyiv region
VIDEOGRAPHER:
SCRIPT EDITORS: LR, Reifenrath
PRODUCER: Jason Godman
VIDEO SOURCES: VOA ORIGINAL
PLATFORMS: WEB __ TV X_ RADIO_X
TRT: 2:26
VID APPROVED BY: pcd
TYPE: TV/R
EDITOR NOTES: ))
((INTRO:))
[[The U.N. says Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has driven more than 5 million people from their homes, many of them older adults. Now, some are finding safe places to live thanks to the American charity To Ukraine With Love and a community called Miracle Village. Lesia Bakalets reports from the development of 107 apartments outside Kyiv.]]
((NAT SOUND_VOA original))
“Good afternoon. Please, welcome!”
[[RADIO VERSION: Tetiana Galka, an internally displaced person from Bakhmut, Ukraine, opens the door and greets journalists.]]
((NARRATOR))
Sixty-three-year-old Tetiana Glalka and her 85-year-old mother, Lilia, have been living in this apartment for two months.
((Tetiana Galka, Internally Displaced Person From Bakhmut (FEMALE, RUSSIAN)))
“We have two bedrooms. One is for my mother. She has all the amenities, even a TV! There is no TV in my bedroom, but there is a double bed. When we were handed the keys, I was simply shocked, and I cried.”
[[RADIO VERSION: Galka says there are two bedrooms in their apartment. One is for her mother, who has all the amenities, even a TV! There is no TV in Galka’s bedroom, but there is a double bed. Galka says that when they were handed the keys, she was simply shocked, and she cried.]]
((NARRATOR))
The apartment where Galka lives is in the Kyiv region, in the special settlement known as "Miracle Village.” The American charity To Ukraine With Love, funded largely by philanthropist Dell Loy Hansen, built it specifically for older displaced people. Accommodation here is free.
((Tatyana Ryabovolova, To Ukraine With Love (FEMALE, UKR)))
“We conclude a free rental agreement with each person. We made a questionnaire. It is online. Anyone can fill it out. Then, there is a whole commission that reviews the questionnaires and invites future residents.”
[[RADIO VERSION: Tatyana Ryabovolova, director of the Ukrainian branch of To Ukraine With Love, says her organization signs a free rental agreement with each person and has set up an online questionnaire that anyone can fill out. Then, she says, a commission reviews the questionnaires and invites future residents.]]
((NARRATOR))
Miracle Village has 107 apartments, designed for 130 residents.
((Tatyana Ryabovolova, To Ukraine With Love (FEMALE, UKR)))
"There will be a clubhouse with a shelter and a walk-in clinic, a free dentist, and a hairdresser. In addition, we have a free bus to transport residents to the nearest city. Each apartment has a terrace and land for a garden."
[[RADIO VERSION: Ryabovolova says there will be a clubhouse with a shelter and a walk-in clinic, a free dentist, and a hairdresser. In addition, she says, there will be a free bus to transport residents to the nearest city. Each apartment has a terrace and land for a garden.]]
((NARRATOR))
Lyubov and Anatoliy Bondar have already bought a weeding tool for their future garden. They used to have one at their original home Bakhmut in the Donetsk region, which is now destroyed.
((Anatoliy Bondar, Internally Displaced Person From Bakhmut (MALE, UKR)))
“We had 15 acres of land and farming there. We used to have everything, everything. At first, we wanted to stay, but when a cluster munition fell right in our garden, it was so scary. I have no idea how we remained unhurt.”
[[RADIO VERSION: Anatoliy Bondar says that they had more than six hectares of land, including farmland, there. He says they had everything. At first, they wanted to stay, but when a cluster munition fell right in their garden, it was frightening. Bondar says he has no idea how they escaped uninjured.]]
((NARRATOR))
Tatiana and her mother decided to flee Bakhmut when there was nowhere to hide from the shelling.
((Tetiana Galka, Internally Displaced Person From Bakhmut ((FEMALE, RUS))
“Our apartment was hit directly. As we got away from the city, I cried all the way. I realized I'd never come back here again.”
[[RADIO VERSION: She says their apartment was hit directly. She says that as they got away from the city, she cried all the way, realizing she'd never be back again.]]
((NARRATOR))
By the end of the year, the organization says, all apartments will be occupied, mainly by new residents from Donbas and southern Ukraine.
Even in this environment of warmth and relative safety, there is a lingering fear among these residents that their new homes may also be destroyed by Russian missiles.
((Lesia Bakalets, VOA News, in the Kyiv Region of Ukraine))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline)Kyiv region
BylineLesia Bakalets
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
