Ukraine volunteer has helped refugees,needs help

Hi, my name is Carmela O’Flaherty, and I am a US citizen currently volunteering in Tesco refugee center on the border of Ukraine as a medical and social services translator. This has by far been the most rewarding and impactful experience of my life!

Through my work, I have met Switlana Karpenko, a strong and compassionate 35-year-old volunteer. Switlana is a Ukrainian refugee who has found a job in Poland as a barista and spends every spare moment (and Euro or Zloty) helping fellow refugees. In addition to providing foster care for two boys, ages 16 and 17, while their parents fight the war back in Ukraine, she frequently travels to Ukrainian hotspots to help retrieve family members that were left behind. At the Tesco Humanitarian Aid and Refugee Transition Center, Switlana has been indispensable in handling administrative and logistical nightmares, often using her own limited resources to solve refugees’ problems.

Switlana has personally assisted hundreds of refugees, and with her support of volunteers like me, she has impacted the lives of thousands.

Now Switlana needs our help- she has been diagnosed with hydrosalpinx, a build-up of fluid in the fallopian tubes, which, in addition to causing her chronic pain and can burst, jeopardizes her dream of someday having a baby. Unfortunately, she does not have enough money to pay for the surgery.

We, a group of volunteers from all corners of the world who love and respect Switlana’s humanitarian efforts, would like to pay back her kindness and compassion by raising the $3,500 - $4,000 needed for the operation to correct her condition and relieve her pain. Any funds raised in excess of the cost of surgery will be used to support Ukrainian refugees.

Please consider making a gift to help this amazing young woman.

Thank you!