Makariv? Never heard of it? Well, it might not be as infamous as Bucha but it suffered just as much and deserves our care.
Makariv, a city of 15,000 located in the Bucha Region near Kyiv, was once a thriving garden suburb of Kyiv–the type of place where people moved to be closer to the land. But with the Russian Invasion and the push to take Kyiv, Makariv became the focus of intense bombing and Russian brutality as the citizens and the civil defenders protected the path to Kyiv. CNN Report
Over 40% of Makariv has been devastated and all of its infrastructure has been destroyed as well. Most of the schools have been damaged or destroyed as well as the local hospital. In addition, the roads and fields around the city were heavily mined which means that delivering goods and services to the area is risky. While roads have been cleared and aid is coming to the town, there is hundreds of people without roofs over their head. 900 houses have been completely destroyed. Read the Report on Devastation in the City of Makariv
In the midst of this destruction, people are returning and picking up the pieces of their lives. People want to stay on their land and rebuild houses they have worked for their entire lives–sometimes for generations. However, without help, they will suffer this winter.
Our goal is to build at least 30 modular homes in 2022. A Ukrainian manufacturer can build, deliver and set up the houses in less than a month. We just need to raise $450,000 to get the job done. Sound impossible? Not really.
Four Boys Did It–So Can We
In the summer of 2022, four boys from Idaho raised $55,000 in about 6 weeks and helped build three homes for families in Makariv. Learn More
If four boys ages 13-16 can do that, what stops us from building 27 more homes and giving hope to families like Galina who is now raising her 8-month old grandchild because her daughter and other family members were killed in the bombing. Galina and her husband have no home so they stay with other people, but not together as no one in the village has enough room for the three of them to be together. Another person watches the baby during the day so that Galina and her husband can work to cover expenses. None of them have had time to grieve as they try to subsist in the aftermath of war.
News Reports
- CNN: Russian airstrikes cause significant destruction in Makariv
- Radio Free Europe: Before The Russian Retreat, A Rescue Mission
- The Independent: ‘Welcome to hell’: Inside Makariv, the town Ukrainians took back from Russian troops
- RUDAW: Makariv residents clear town of explosives following Russian retreat
- AP: In Ukraine, mines take lives even after fighting moves on