Despite having lived with visual impairment all his life, Volodymyr became a talented artist and now contributes to the life of his host community after fleeing the Donetsk region due to Russia’s full-scale invasion. ©UNHCR/Marta Kocherha
“I have been visually impaired since childhood. My parents did not know at first, as I never stumbled and did not tell them that I could not see well. I just feel how to take the next step. I guess, this is my intuition. I always perceived the world by hearing or feeling,” says 52-year Volodymyr. Together with his wife Anna and her elderly parents he lives in a small village Charukiv in Volyn region after fleeing his hometown Kurakhove in Donetsk region at the beginning of the Russian full-scale invasion.
Their road to safety was an arduous one. The family decided to leave as the frontline was getting close. “We planted potatoes on Tuesday and left on Wednesday. Our parents refused at first and soon Anna’s mother got sick. I tried to treat her myself because the doctors had all left. Also, she has hearing impairment, and we were afraid that she would not hear the explosions. In the end, we decided to leave altogether,” Volodymyr recalls.
It took them three days to get to safety in western Ukraine and since then, the family is trying to start a new life in their host community. Volodymyr’s lifelong passion of art has helped him to find a new purpose while in displacement. A small house where Volodymyr and Anna live has been turned into a workshop where he creates paintings, many of which embody the struggle and resilience of Ukrainian people.
Painting helped Volodymyr to find a purpose in his new community. ©UNHCR/Marta Kocherha
©UNHCR/Marta Kocherha
Volodymyr has always been passionate about painting despite having visual impairment. As a child, he used to draw little sketches entertaining his classmates, and after graduating, he dreamt of entering the art school, but failed to pass the exams because of his disability. For over 30 years, Volodymyr had been working as a massage therapist. Helping people to heal, he never stopped painting believing that his works also have a healing power.
Volodymyr’s wife Anna has always been his most dedicated supporter. It was her who reached out to the community groups and published online some of her husband’s works suggesting organizing an exhibition. Since then, several displays have been organized in Volyn and the neighboring Lviv region, and Volodymyr has become somewhat of a celebrity in their village. By selling his paintings, he has also managed to raise 70,000 hryvnias (over 1,800 USD) to donate to a charity project.
In his new community, Volodymyr is happy to share his special gift with people. He organizes art workshops for children during the charity events and also worked closely with children to paint a bus stop in a neighbouring community Kolodezhe:
“I was working on this initiative for three to four days, as I had to paint 3.5 metres of wall. Some children brought water, others took brushes in their hands and helped me to paint. The local school is located on the opposite side. So every day, children can see this beauty. People from the village say that they are proud of that bus stop. It would be a good idea to paint all of Ukraine like that, so when people pass by, they admire bus stops.”
Volodymyr teaches art during workshops for children and helped to decorate a bus stop in a local community. © UNHCR/Marta Kocherha
© UNHCR/Marta Kocherha
© UNHCR/Marta Kocherha
Within the project “Let’s paint Ukraine”, Volodymyr and Anna plan to decorate not only bus stops, but also larger-scale architectural sites, including a modular site for displaced people near their village.
The couple has another dream – to implement a project called “Touch”, a series of paintings that visually impaired people will be able to “see” with their fingers.
UNHCR and its partner Charitable Foundation Rokada has provided Volodymyr and his family with cash assistance and essential aid, including a folding bed, a mattress and a warm blanket, to improve living conditions in their new home in Volyn and help them address their most vital needs. In total, in 2023 so far, UNHCR jointly with partners have supported over 135,000 people with disabilities with humanitarian assistance, including protection services, cash assistance, and essential household items.
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