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YOUNG BOY HAD TO FLEE THE WAR BY HIMSELF

My name is Alina Graffyova and I’m a Ukrainian journalist who’s been living in Slovakia for five years. A few months ago, at a journalism event, I met a Ukrainian woman, Yuliia. She is the mother of Hassan, a young boy who escaped from Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia to Slovakia and whose story as an 11-year-old refugee travelling hundreds of kilometres unaccompanied captivated the world’s media. The family want to get back on their feet, but they need your help.

Hassan in hands of volunteers on Slovak-Ukrainian borders. Though Yuliia was 1,500 kilometres away from her children, she was still hesitant about relocating to Slovakia with her ill mother and youngest son Hassan. On the other hand, Hassan missed his siblings, whose were already in Slovakia with their oldest brother. Yuliia eventually agreed to send the 11-year-old by evacuation train to western Ukraine and then to Bratislava. (Photo: Facebook/Slovak police)

Hassan had a phone number written on his hand, something his mother had learnt during the civil war in Syria. She wrote that number on his hand because anything could happen on such a trip (Photo: Facebook/Slovak police)

The family’s troubles started before the Russian aggression. The Syrian civil war had previously forced them to flee their home there, and had taken the life of their father, Yuliia’s husband. Even though they managed to create a new home in Ukraine, war struck again last year and they had to move once more. One by one, they made their way to Slovakia, where they all now live together in Bratislava. 

After all children were in Slovakia, volunteers helped to organize evacuation of Yulia and her ill mother. She hugs her son Hassan after her arrival to Slovakia. (Photo: Facebook/Slovak police)

BATTLING CANCER AND HEALTH ISSUES

Yuliia Pisetska (53) raises her kids by herself. They are Hassan (12), Kinana (18), Luna (17) and Muhammad (16). Her fifth son, Zakaria (21), is studying at university in Bratislava, so provides for himself. The family got their housing via the state's programme for refugees. Yuliia’s 85-year old mother, who suffers from dementia and needs constant care, also lives with them.

 Yuliia herself has had to undergo cancer-related surgery. Even if she managed to find someone to care for her sick mother, she is still limited by her own health issues. The whole family tries to make some money through part-time jobs. However, the children’s studies and the need to provide full-time care for their sick grandmother mean they don’t have much time left for paid work, and the family’s income does not meet their basic living needs. 

READ THE WHOLE FAMILY’S STORY HERE. 

Among other things, Yuliia describes how she was not able to immediately leave Ukraine to reunite with her kids because of the need to care for her sick mother, and how she had to send her youngest son to safety before she herself could accompany him.  

HOW WILL WE USE THE MONEY?

The money gathered from this project will be used to meet the family's basic needs, for purchasing groceries, medication, clothes, paying for transport or the chance for the children to attend after-school activities.. Six people (Yuliia, Hassan, Kinana, Luna, Muhammed and their grandmother) need about €50 a day, which is approximately €1,500 for a month. They're able to cover about a third of that sum from their social allowance and part-time jobs. 

In Yuliia’s name, we offer our wholehearted thanks for every euro sent to the family.