Olga Pokydko (46) came to Warsaw along with her aging mother and daughter, from Zaporizhzhia, where their house is just 3 miles from the front line. They initially hid in a shelterbut the huge air strikes forced them to leave. They were also worried that the Zaporizhzhia Atomic Power Plant, just 20 miles away, might be a strategic target. Before the war, Olga’s mother was a teacher and her daughter was about to go to university. Olga is legally blind.

Her story:
“My husband (together with our dog!) is fighting on the front line so, after talking to him, my mother and I came up with the idea of making camouflage.”

The idea saved her husband’s life.

“When my husband realized that I had made by hand the camouflage that was just by chance delivered to him, he touched it knowing that my fingers had touched the same material. We connected. The following day a Russian tank and soldiers appeared out of nowhere. Quickly my husband and his team hid under the camouflage cover. The Russians passed within 10 meters but didn’t see them. It saved his life. It was a miracle that my camouflage made it to my husband.”

“My father stayed behind to run a mobile hospital, to which my husband transports troops injured on the front line. My husband can contact me by phone, but only by climbing on the roof of a building where he risks sniper fire.”

The Future:
Olga wants to return to her city, even though there is nothing left. Her house is still standing but the city around it has been destroyed.

An Ask For Help:
Since childhood, Olga has had deteriorating vision. Currently, she urgently needs a simple operation, which would cost around $1500 and could be done in Poland. Even with Olga’s near-blind condition, she still contributes by making camouflage – a challenging task for her.