Day: 17 August 2022

Kharkiv is a charming Ukrainian “millionaire” city, with dozens fountains and romantic places and parks. Lyudmila (name changed) talks about her hometown with sadness in her voice: you can hear how she misses her home and the life that the war took away.

Now she and her younger daughter are in France (the older one stayed with her grandmother with relatives in Poltava), and has been staying here for several months. Her path to France turned out to be difficult: Lyudmila first went to Lviv, hoping that she and her child would be safe there. However, immediately after the arrival, an air alarm sounded, which made it clear that it is futile to look for peace even here. That’s why the woman grabbed herself and set off through Poland and Germany to France. Her acquaintances wrote to go to them, that they would help. Although once in place, the promises remained only words and no one managed to do anything…

When asked how she found the service for receiving therapy abroad, she says that a friend helped her – she saw information about HelpNow and passed on the contacts to Lyudmila. She was still in Germany at the time, so she called the local HelpNow hotline. She told everything to the manager, he suggested the addresses of the hospital, organized an appointment with a doctor. Lyudmila made the tests, got medicine, as well as contacts who could help with therapy in France. They were also given by the manager of the German HelpNow team. “Roman helped us a lot – not just, as they say, for statistics, but to organize everything, do everything. He is “burning” with this assistance. Thanks to him and your entire team!”

In the French town where she and her daughter now live, Lyudmila is already registered, receives daily substitute therapy, has free housing and social assistance. But all the same, it is a different world, in which millions of Ukrainians have found themselves against their own will. And they are waiting for peace, victory and return home. 

Natalya (name changed) moved to France from Eastern Ukraine at the very beginning of the war. At home, she has been on getting substitution therapy for more than one year, so she knows what she is talking about when comparing the features of the service abroad.

Says that she receives a dose of methadone once for a week, as a syrup. The first 10 days she felt sick, because she was not used to it, but now it is much better. Every two weeks Natalya has a meeting with the doctor, to which an interpreter is also invited. She says that the doctor is just an excellent specialist, as well as the entire staff of the clinic. “Although I am a patriot, honestly, the attitude towards our brother here is better. Everything is confidential: you enter alone, both in the office and in the room for therapy. At this moment, no one except the doctor or the person giving it is allowed in. There are no queues like we have – during the whole time I saw only two guys who came to get methadone and that’s it. 

I am very grateful to the service and the team for their support. For our community, it is extremely important to know that you will not die freaked out. Sorry, maybe I said it rudely, but it’s true. The truth of MY life…”