PLACE OF STRENGTH: HOW THE "UKRAINIAN WOMEN'S BATTALION" WORKS
Ukrainian Women’s Battalion
A union of women providing volunteer assistance for Ukraine's defenders
Article by Lilia Shutyak, originally posted here:
January 26, 2023
At the end of March last year, a volunteer initiative appeared in Ukraine, which aims to be a reliable rear of the defenders of Ukraine - the NGO "Ukrainian Women's Battalion" (hereinafter - "UWB"). Its founder, Alyona Danilova, a journalist whose loved ones are at the war front, couldn't stand aside while her relatives were bringing our victory closer. So she decided to unite women in order to help the Armed Forces together.
More than 50 female volunteers from different cities of Ukraine and abroad are engaged in fundraising, searching and purchasing necessary equipment for the military, as well as fighting on the information front. For its work, the "Ukrainian Women's Battalion" has already received many awards from the military, the border service, and recently from the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi - the "Golden Heart" award. This year it is awarded for the first time.
In this interview, the founder of "UWB" Alyona Danilova is talking about the saved lives of military personnel, psychological assistance to women affected by Russian terrorism, the involvement of famous people in fundraising, as well as how to build interaction with the audience and not lose their trust.
"When your loved ones are fighting, you also want to help in some way"
Alyona Danilova's husband, stepfather and brother are now at the front. "And when your loved ones are fighting," says the volunteer, "you also want to help in some way." Unfortunately, I wasn't allowed to go to the front. They said that if I am a volunteer, then it is better that I do this." "Ukrainian Women's Battalion" is a group of girls who also wanted to be useful and united around this idea. Many of them have husbands at the front, there are also those who have lost relatives. This whole story motivates them to take matters into their own hands and fight in the rear.
"UWB" deals exclusively with the issue of ammunition. "We collect funds and buy equipment," says Alyona. — The military can contact us. However, we only work with official requests. Unfortunately, in the past there were cases when we gave people money to buy bulletproof vests, and then found out that they were resold on OLX.ua or among themselves."
After the soldiers turn to "UWB", volunteers open a collection, look for funds and begin covering the need for ammunition.
"We buy everything: from ordinary tactical gloves to thermal imaging drones, bulletproof vests, helmets, etc.," adds Alyona. It depends on the time of year and on which direction boys and girls are. Now it's winter, so warm clothes, binoculars, night vision devices, camouflage nets are most needed."
"We tell the stories of women who suffered as a result of Russia's war crimes in Ukraine"
Another activity of the public organization is the socio-psychological project "Voice of a Woman". It was founded for girls who work in a team. They often tell stories about what they had to go through during the Russian occupation, or share their worries for their relatives and friends. "That's why we decided to be useful not only for the military," says Alyona, "but also for civilians - those who are here with us, and we have to tell their stories." These are information campaigns, with which we can reach the world and show what is really happening in Ukraine."
Every woman can go to the organization's website, fill out a Google form, and then the managers will process it. The next stage is communication with a psychologist, if there is a need for it. The organization also operates a 24-hour psychological help line 0800-333-161. It's free and anonymous. "They often write to us," says the volunteer, "just to tell their story." In the Google form, there is a clause asking if the person wants disclosure. Women are often against publicity, but are ready to share their stories privately. They trust us, and that's very important, because it means we're useful and moving in the right direction."
In the future, "UWB" plans to create a number of information campaigns related to the "Voice of a Woman" project. Yes, they had a charity branch in Krakow, where the volunteers of the organization collected funds for the military and told the stories of women who suffered as a result of Russian war crimes in Ukraine. "There were girls from Mariupol and Kherson, which was still occupied at that time, at this brunch," Alyona recalls. — When we told women's stories, we saw how it resonated in our audience. People sympathized, because they themselves were from those cities where the Russians shot, killed, raped."
"We need volunteer help in various directions"
More than 50 volunteers are involved in the project. These are women of various professions: soccer players, translators, doctors, journalists, publicists, musicians. "Many work in a coffee shop or study at a university," adds Alyona, "their relatives are at the front, and here they have found their place of strength and encouragement, where they are inspired and understand that it is necessary to move on. "UWB" is such a locomotive that will drive until the moment of victory."
Territorially, the organization's members are located in different cities of Ukraine. There are women who are now abroad. They have not known each other since the beginning of the initiative. This happens already in the process of work. Female volunteers who are currently in other countries mostly find NGO contacts through social networks and join. "We have women," says Alyona, "who were pregnant during the war. Just last week, two of them were born. We joke that we not only help the military, but also improve the demographic situation of Ukraine."
Currently, the NGO needs volunteer help in various directions. Alyona emphasizes: it doesn't matter to them how early a person works. If she is not good at something, the volunteers will teach her and find her a job. "Our large team is divided into different departments," adds the founder of UWB, "marketing, communication, content, translation, international relations. A person will find himself in any place. The main thing is the desire to win and understanding why you are doing it.
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"During the "Secret Santa" charity event, more than 500,000 hryvnias (UAH) were collected" (equals ~13,590 USD)
Before the New Year and Christmas holidays, "UWB" held a "Secret Santa" charity event, where people could participate in fundraising on their own. This time, the organization made an exception and collected donations not only for ammunition. "We made a list of those requests," says Alyona, "that we had (these are medicines, products, etc.). As a result, it was possible to get more than 500 thousand UAH."
Among the events held by the organization are charity broadcasts on Instagram, in which many famous people participated. These include, in particular, film director Lyubomyr Levytskyi, Olympic champion and politician Zhan Beleniuk, frontwoman of the band KAZKA Oleksandra Zaritska, TV presenter Volodymyr Ostapchuk and others. During its existence, "UWB" was supported by many Ukrainian actors, singers and athletes (ONUKA band and its soloist Natalya Zhizhchenko, People's Artist of Ukraine Olga Sumska, actress and TV presenter Liliya Rebryk, etc.).
Alyona Danilova is convinced that cooperation with famous public figures is possible due to trust in NGOs. "We do everything absolutely transparently," says the volunteer, "we report on every penny." Often we ourselves remain in the red because we give money from our own pockets. It is not difficult to build interaction, it is difficult not to lose trust. If you set a bar and people trust you, you can no longer shake it, so you work as transparently as possible for your audience." Missionality is also extremely important. "When you do a good and useful thing," adds Alyona, "people want to get involved, because they know that there will be a result from it. And when you just do something "just in case", that's how they react to it."
"If you have contact and the trust of the audience, then people will systematically donate"
Alyona says that now Ukrainians have begun to help less financially. "But this is all changing," she adds, "given the situation in the country." When Kherson was liberated, the audience got involved very actively. Then she fell silent again. These are all situational things." In order for people to support volunteers, Alyona advises establishing a relationship with them. "If you have contact and trust," says the volunteer, "the audience will systematically inform." Maybe not as much money as before, but still."
The founder of "UWB" also advises finding ways to find partners - business investors who are ready to help. Or perhaps international foundations and organizations. "The most effective way," Alyona is convinced, "is to produce content." And it should be about how you help. That is, if you bought 5 bulletproof vests, show them to people. Believe me, the next time they will definitely pay attention, because they will see that you are doing a good deed."
Alyona Danilova admits: "UWB" volunteers work 24/7. "Everyone here understands the level of responsibility," she adds. - Not in front of myself, but in front of the military at the front. We have six teams, each of which is assigned a separate leader who interacts with the others. This logistical structure within the organization allows for efficient work."
According to the volunteer, Ukrainian legislation was not ready for the fact that in 2022 a million different public organizations will emerge and all of them will have to function somehow. "Often, volunteers collect funds on personal cards," says Alyona, "others - on accounts." Then all this must somehow be reduced to a pile. There are certain technical inconveniences, but we believe that Ukrainian legislation will soon become as perfect as possible, which will simplify the work of the public sector."
"The Golden Heart award is not for me, but for the whole team and those who donated"
During the year, "UWB" received a number of awards from the Ukrainian military. For them, it became an impetus to continue volunteering. "Because when you understand," thinks Alyona, "that people are thankful for saved lives, your hands tremble. At such moments, you realize: all this is not in vain."
Later, their team began receiving awards from government organizations, such as this year's Nobel Peace Prize laureate, the Center for Civil Liberties. They were also noted by the border service of Ukraine. "When you receive an award from the President after such a thing, you just stand there and think: "Wow, how much has been done!". Because when you work, you don't see everything. You just go forward.''
When Volodymyr Zelenskyi in his evening address listed 50 initiatives and volunteers who can be trusted in Ukraine, the girls were very happy and did not believe it at first. "We even thought," Alyona adds, "maybe we got confused and there is another UWB." But when the President's Office called and invited us to the award ceremony, we already knew about the award and understood how serious everything was. This once again shows the level of trust — of the President and Ukrainians."
Volunteers of "UWB" plan to continue their active activities. Charity broadcasts on Instagram with the participation of top speakers are planned in the near future. Negotiations are ongoing, so their names have not been released yet. Also, the members of the organization do not stop collecting funds and buying ammunition.
They plan to pay a lot of attention to the "Voice of a Woman" project, since it was not particularly popularized by the members of the organization based on volunteerism and military assistance. "We want to start broadcasting all these stories to the world," says Alyona, "so that people can see what Ukrainian women are really going through right now."
In the near future, "UWB" will also introduce its team to everyone. Alyona emphasizes: "The award of the President of Ukraine is not for me, but for the entire team and those who donated, liked, forwarded and did our work." After all, over 50 people work in the organization and it is important that the world knows about them.
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