The Empower Ukraine project is operating in Cherkasy region. It is implemented by the League of the Strong public union with a team of local project coordinators. The organization’s work is aimed at protecting the rights of people with disabilities, their visibility in society, and creating equal opportunities. Through advocacy, support for local communities, and cooperation with the authorities, the union promotes a decent life for every person with a disability in Ukraine.
One of the organization’s important areas of work is helping people with disabilities to receive medical services, including organizing transport to hospitals and specialized institutions from remote locations.
Oleksiy Martynenko meets residents of Zvenyhorodka in Cherkasy. Oleksiy’s job is to help people with disabilities, as he works as a local coordinator of the Empower Ukraine project of the League of the Strong public union.
OLEKSIY MARTYNENKO / LOCAL COORDINATOR OF THE LEAGUE OF THE STRONG IN CHERKASY REGION
00.26 – 00.50 People with various illnesses find it difficult to get to the hospital, and they need to receive services all the time. Our organization provides transportation to and from the hospital for free.
Natalia says that it is very difficult to get to the regional centre with her mother by bus, and it is expensive to take a taxi. That’s why the service from the public union helps out.
NATALIIA ANATOLIIVNA / ACCOMPANYING PERSON
We came for an check-up, my mother has a problem with her eyes, to the eye doctor. It’s good that the organization helped us so much, it was much cheaper than we expected. This service is very convenient for us.
Alla Oleksandrivna came with her husband to apply for the financial assistance. Oleksiy also helps them with this.
ALLA HOLOSOVA / ACCOMPANYING PERSON
The treatment is very expensive, the transport to get to the medical centre is very expensive. We are happy that there is such an organization.
The League of the Strong, where Oleksiy works, is implementing the Empower Ukraine project. The goal of the project is to improve the living conditions of people with disabilities, internally displaced persons (IDPs) and other vulnerable groups affected by the war. With the assistance of international partners, the organization provides direct financial assistance, transportation services, and assistive devices to people with disabilities upon request. Over the past two years, the organization has provided over 4,500 transportations and over a thousand assistive devices.
DAVID DAVTYAN / PROJECT MANAGER OF THE LEAGUE OF THE STRONG
The League of the Strong is implementing this project directly in Cherkasy, Ivano-Frankivsk and Ternopil regions. Our partner, the National Assembly of People with Disabilities, is implementing this project in Chernivtsi, Poltava, and Volyn regions.
Oleksiy Martynenko was forced to move to Cherkasy region from Donetsk. After getting a job at the League of the Strong, he says he got new opportunities for development. The team notes his sociability and responsibility. And most importantly, Oleksiy understands the difficulties of people with disabilities.
DAVID DAVTYAN / PROJECT MANAGER OF THE LEAGUE OF THE STRONG
He is very enthusiastic about all this, he really likes this job, to be in direct contact with the beneficiaries.
OLEKSIY MARTYNENKO / LOCAL COORDINATOR OF THE LEAGUE OF THE STRONG IN CHERKASY REGION
In our country, it is not customary for someone to come and say: ‘Let me help you’. They are surprised at first, but then they come and say: you know, I needed it.
Gunta Anca, Vice-President of the European Disability Forum and lead at The Latvian Umbrella Body for Disability Organisations –SUSTENTO, tells how the taxi services don’t only save lives but provide a kind of unexpected positive spin off too. “We found out during regular monitoring that our project staff do that the patients using the services talk about their challenges, their health needs, their rights and the impact of the war between themselves while they are commuting in the mini-bus transport from far-flung villages and that this is coincidentally providing them with mental health and psycho-social support as they share and care for each other during the transport!”
The League of the Strong aims not only to help people with disabilities with their basic needs, but also to change communities. The key areas of work are proper communication, tolerance, and barrier-free access. For this purpose, the League of the Strong provides consultations, trainings, and finds material resources. The union’s project manager notes that communities in Ukraine are increasingly striving to provide people with disabilities with decent living conditions.
DAVID DAVTYAN / PROJECT MANAGER OF THE LEAGUE OF THE STRONG
They are happy to make contact, they contact us themselves, no problem here. Communities and society are interested in slowly removing not only physical barriers, but also in making everything accessible. This is a culture, and we will come to this point in the long run.
CBM’s Team Lead for Humanitarian Project Management, Till Küster, explains how employing persons with disabilities, like Oleksiy, makes all the difference: “Oleksiy brings technical expertise with his knowledge of the needs and challenges of persons with disabilities in this region and this cannot be underrated as we staff humanitarian aid projects, both in Ukraine and around the world. For this reason we do our best to always be led by persons with disabilities in our work, and we see others are doing the same. If the community knowledge is put to good use, we see better and quicker results.”
This material has been created with the financial support of the German Federal Foreign Office (GFFO), CBM and the European Disability Forum. The views expressed in this material are those of the authors and can therefore in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of the funding partner and the European Disability Forum.
