Charred vehicles destroyed by war, signs indicating landmines, anti-drone fences, and shot-down missiles. UK-Med’s mobile medical unit (MMU) has just made the treacherous journey to a remote village in Eastern Ukraine, 30km from the frontline.
Today’s site has its own unique way of reminding our team where they are working. Along with the constant sounds of war in the background, the medical unit, housed in a two-room container, is sat next to what is left of the previous medical centre. The snow-covered ruin forms a constant reminder of the context they are living or working in.
Amid this backdrop, UK-Med Community Health Worker, Svitlana, gets to work. Residents arriving at the medical centre are greeted with a warm welcome on a cold February day. The community gathers around Svitlana as she takes the time to greet each person, often with a hug, and an open ear. Already you can sense her positive impact.
Svitlana has been working with UK-Med since December 2022. And, unlike her colleagues in the unit, she doesn’t come from a medical background. Before the war, Svitlana was a teacher.
She is from in Donetsk and fled along with her husband and son when a rocket fell near their home. They left everything behind in late summer 2022:
“The city was completely destroyed”
Experiencing this firsthand means Svitlana can truly understand and empathise with the communities she visits, having fled a similar situation herself.
“From a personal point of view, I feel close to these people because I felt pain and loss when I left everything behind. I have no home.”
Svitlana has always been dedicated to helping others. When she could no longer live in her own home due to the war, she made the decision to put her skills to use and continue to help in other ways.
“We had a talk with our neighbours back home and they said the street was badly damaged, we don’t know if our house exists or was destroyed (…) We want to see it with our own eyes”
Mobile Medical Units in Ukraine are made up of an expert team providing primary healthcare in remote locations facing access constraints. A Community Health Worker is a central part of this team, acting as the first point of contact for the community. They build trust and relationships with community members, so that people feel comfortable and safe when they see the UK-Med minibus pull up:
“At first, we had to invite patients because they didn’t know about the organisation.
I would say that in two months we had managed to recruit enough people. The fact that 30-40 people come to us every day shows how much people need our assistance”
Without the UK-Med team and people like Svitlana, these communities would not receive the medication, and consultations they so desperately need.
Across four years of war, Svitlana has been going to work every day on the frontline, coming home and is now studying psychology so she can have a better understanding of how to care for the people she sees on a daily basis:
“When I arrive at the location, I arrive with a smile. I sincerely hug people and charge them with positivity.
Every location we visit is like a family(…)I want to help them, at least by listening to them and providing psychological first aid when they are anxious or stressed.”
Despite everything she has gone through, Svitlana continues to be a beacon of kindness, warmth and positivity for those around her, a necessity in healthcare, especially in the context of such loss and suffering.
Dedicated, expert staff like Svitlana make UK-Med’s work possible. Facing daily challenges, daily reminders of the risks they are taking, they continue to show up in the frontline communities, so no one is left behind.
