Médecins Sans Frontières - Anya Testimony

Unique Identifier Code / URN MSB125729

Date taken / Date Recorded 05/05/2022 12:00 AM

Country Ukraine

Commissioning section MSF-SWITZERLAND

Photographer / videographer / producer Mohamad Cheblak

Copyright MSF

Usage Rights (MSF) External Media, MSF Fundraising, MSF Publications, Social Media

Formal Consent Copy available yes

Editor's rating ★★★★★ (C)

Video format h264 (Main) (avc1 / 0x31637661)

Duration 2m20s

Maximum Size 1920px × 1080px 338.10 MB

Additional Information / Shotlist Anya:
We just want to go home, to our Ukrainian towns and cities that we lived in. That is all we want.

ON-SCREEN TEXT:
Anya and her family fled their home in Volnovakha in eastern Ukraine in March.

She was living in the basement with her husband, son, parents and parents-in-law to escape heavy shelling.

Anya:
We hoped that this would all end, but then it became clear to us that we had to move elsewhere, because we couldn’t stay there. It had become very dangerous. Cause when the men would climb up to the street, they saw that those explosions were very strong, they told us that the city was starting to burn, homes were collapsing, so…

The first thing we wanted was somewhere quiet and safe, that’s the most important first off. Second, of course, was for it to be warm. Because sitting in the basement, in the damp basement, was cold, uncomfortable of course; basements are not meant for living, much less with children.

ON-SCREEN TEXT:
Thanks to the kindness of local communities, Anya and thousands of others are now
living safely in Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia region.

They’re hosted in homes, schools, churches, sports complexes, offices, administrative buildings and hotels.

MSF provides medical and mental health care in more than 70 shelters.

Lina Villa, Mental Health activity manager:
We help them to regain a sense of control in a situation that’s very difficult and not controllable.
With time they begin to lose their hope.
At the beginning they were planning to go back [home], but with time they see this becomes more and more difficult.
Knowing that everything has been destroyed. That makes them think that they’re not really getting back their lives.

Anya:
My husband worked in the railways, and I was a primary school teacher. So, we lived a normal life.
Fear is the one thing… so that we don’t hear any more of those explosions, so that we don’t have to look out for our lives, our children’s lives.
Well of course, first and foremost we want peace. We want to live in safety. We want to enjoy life, have fun, work, like we did before the 24th of February. But life has now been split into “before” and “after”.

Anya Testimony - English

Anya Testimony - English