Our Visit to the Nezabudka Children’s Home
On September 22, 2025, we had the opportunity to visit the „Nezabudka“ children’s home in Ukraine.
Together with our team, we wanted to see for ourselves how our aid parcels arrive and what impact they have on the ground.
Upon arrival, we were amazed by the sheer amount of aid supplies: pallets full of baby food, incontinence products, milk, oats – and also our own parcels, which we had packed at our team event in Krakow.
It quickly became clear that „Nezabudka“ is far more than just a children’s home.
In addition to caring for children, Nezabudka also supports residents of the front-line regions with food.
The organization regularly packs pallets, which are then taken to distribution centers and passed on to families in war-affected areas such as Kharkiv, Pokrovsk, and Mykolaiv. Many of the food items come from international aid programs – including GAIN, with whom we work together.
Every two weeks – as soon as new deliveries arrive – people in need at the Ivanichi location receive care packages, just like the ones we prepared in Krakow. To receive them, people present an official document from the authorities and consent to photo documentation, which in turn serves as proof for the aid organizations.
We spoke with several families – many of them refugees who were often only able to flee with a single handbag. They came from places like Toretsk, Pokrovsk, or Kharkiv, without a toothbrush, a mattress, or other everyday items.
One woman told us she has diabetes: the government pays for her insulin, but not for the test strips she needs – these eat up half her pension. Many elderly people in the village live alone, and for many, their pension isn’t even enough to cover food. Nezabudka is their only point of contact, since there is hardly any state support available.
From early afternoon onward, the house fills up with children from low-income and displaced families.
They receive a warm lunch – we were able to try it ourselves and were impressed by the excellent work of the cook.
We experienced cheerful, polite children who played soccer, laughed, and showed strong trust in Nezabudka’s staff. There’s a large playroom in the attic for rainy days.
Behind many of these children, however, lie moving stories: one girl is waiting for her father, who went missing in the war; another, only ten years old, has already taken on her mother’s household responsibilities at home, as her mother struggles with alcoholism.
Our trip showed us:
The need for help is dire. The support isn’t just used locally – it’s also passed on to other regions where the need is often even greater.
At the same time, the visit left us thoughtful:
What happens once the war eventually ends one day? How can we help people get back on their own feet for the long term, create jobs, and enable self-sufficiency?
We’ve shared some initial ideas on this with local partners – including Nils Pettkus – and we hope they will grow into new, sustainable projects.
Our trip to Nezabudka moved us deeply and showed us how important continued help remains. As long as the war continues, people will remain dependent on humanitarian support.
And beyond that, we must keep searching together for ways to create lasting prospects. We’ll keep you updated as soon as these thoughts turn into concrete plans – because every contribution counts.