After fleeing war in Ukraine, this woman helps others who are trying to rebuild their lives in Poland

Daria Khrystenko

Credit: CARE International

International Women's Day


After fleeing war in Ukraine, this woman helps others who are trying to rebuild their lives in Poland

By Ellen Scott

3 years ago

1 min read

Daria Khrystenko’s life changed forever when the war in Ukraine began.      

On 24 February 2022, Daria Khrystenko woke up at 5am to go on her usual morning run. Then her phone rang. 

“My friend called me and said: ‘You’re awake? Good. Are you packed yet?’,” Daria shares. “I didn’t understand. She told me the war had begun.” 

That was the day everything changed for Daria and so many other women in Ukraine. She had to pack up her life, abandon the language school she ran in Kyiv with a friend, and flee.

“I woke my son up, we put my cats in their basket into the car and we left Kyiv in 20 minutes,” she reveals.  

I hope my son will never witness war again in his life. I hope all the children who had to flee with their mothers will be able to return home

Together, with her mum and 10-year-old son Max, Daria travelled through Moldova, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia to reach Poland. Although Daria had lived in Poland previously and spoke the language, she encountered a range of challenges as a refugee. 

“I was going to a complete unknown,” she says. “I didn’t know where to go; I didn’t have a place to stay or a job to work.”

With the help of friends, Daria was able to find an apartment for her family. She set to work, deciding to use her language skills to help Ukrainian children integrate more easily into Polish schools, something she was able to do thanks to a programme sponsored by CARE Poland, which places Ukrainian teachers in Polish schools so they can help those who have been forced to flee. 

Daria Khrystenko in Kyiv

Credit: CARE International

These children were able to escape Ukraine, but they have been left with the mental scars of what they endured. “I remember there was one girl who refused to sit next to the window,” Daria shares. “Later on we found out that she had scars on her arms, due to broken class. She was just afraid. This is just a small example of this trauma that children go through.”

Daria also began working for CARE Poland as a translator and working on communications. She now works with organisations led by women, some of whom, like her, arrived as refugees but have now found the strength to help others. 

Knowing the challenges that Ukrainian women are facing helps motivate Daria in her work. She says she is also inspired by Polish women who have opened their hearts to help Ukrainians, as well as Ukrainian women who have had to build their lives again.

“A woman who is fleeing the war, leaving everything behind and taking her child or children with her and having to deal with all the problems, all the difficulties – basically build a new life, finding a job, finding herself in a new society and also taking care of her children – this is a huge responsibility and an enormous burden,” she says. 

Daria Khrystenko writing

Credit: CARE International

“This last year was incredibly difficult for Ukrainian refugees but also for women all over the world. The help and assistance that the whole world has shown towards Ukrainian refugees is also incredible so I just want to take a moment to thank all the people that have helped Ukrainians.”

This year, as the war in Ukraine rages on, Daria was able to return to her hometown to visit her father and grandmother. It was the first time she had seen them since the conflict began. 

After an anxious 20-hour train journey, she made it safely from Warsaw to Kyiv. Her grandmother, aged 84, refuses to leave her home. Daria says: “It was the best moment, really, of all the trip, just spending those few hours with my grandma. The fact that I am so far away and I cannot come to her anymore when she needs me, that’s heartbreaking. These are the last years of her life and I want her to have happy moments.”     

Daria Khrystenko with her dad

Credit: CARE International

For now, Daria plans to continue her work with Ukrainian refugees in Poland. Above all, she wants the war to be over. The sooner the better.

“There is always hope for better,” she adds. “This is what I believe and sometimes after the darkest night there comes the lightest day, so we should be hopeful. I hope my son will never witness war again in his life. I hope all the children who had to flee with their mothers will be able to return home.” 

Daria’s story will feature in CARE International’s #Walk4Women podcast on International Women’s Day, hosted by Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Helen Pankhurst and produced in collaboration with Stylist. Visit careinternational.org.uk/walk4women to listen, and pledge to #Walk4Women here

Images: CARE International

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