Greetings to everyone who reads my story!
I am Natalia Lipchanska from the city of Dnipro, which is located in the central part of Ukraine. I am now 53 years old. I have an adult daughter who is already 20 years old. But do children ever cease to be children for parents?.. My education is higher, but before the full-scale invasion, I did not work in my specialty, because I devoted more time to my family and home.
February 24 began for me as for most Ukrainians – with sudden morning explosions. My emotions and feelings were probably the same as those of others – fear, confusion. The war initiated by the russian invaders has been going on in my country for 8 years, but it was to me that it came for the first time. It is very scary to see and hear how war comes into your city, into your country, into your life step by step.
I didn't leave Dnipro or my home. Although I still don't know if I made the right choice and if I still have to go somewhere. This uncertainty settled in my soul in the first hours of the big war, and it remains with me to this day. And I still have a constant fear for people close to me – for their health, life, and future.
Before the war, I loved reading and spent a lot of time doing it. And now I mostly devote myself to helping others. I go where I am waited for, where free hands are needed.
In my childhood a friend taught me how to knit. Therefore, when I saw a post on Instagram from the VILNI project that women are needed for knitting socks, I almost did not hesitate and wrote to the girls about my desire to join. Of course, I was prompted to make this decision by the financial difficulties that my family faced. But that's not the only thing I appreciate about knitting. Sitting under a lamp with knitting needles and a ball of thread, I concentrate on my work and forget about everything around me. As I joke, knitting is my sedative, which works better than any pharmacy medicine. So, I live - from stitch to stitch, from day to day. With faith in our people, hope for Victory soon, and love for our family.