Marianna Manzherovska is a graduate of two faculties of the Lesya Ukrainka Volyn National University. Today she is actively involved in volunteering within the Polish-Ukrainian project "Help UA Together".
Our brief interview is about the University alumna’s volunteering experience.
– Marianna, could you about your first volunteering experience?
– My first "official" experience of volunteering was at the age of 15. At that time, I was a curator (volunteer) of groups from foreign countries coming to our festivals, kind of: "Night in Lutsk Castle", "Polish Summer with Folklore" and more. I was fully responsible for their stay in Lutsk. I had a great desire to make them feel at home in our hospitable city. Besides, I "steered" all kinds of force majeure. My other significant experience was during 2017–2018: dealing with volunteering; being a patron of the volunteer movement; taking care of children whose parents perished in eastern Ukraine during the anti-terrorist operation…
According to another programme, during the year I acted as a mentor for a little girl whose father perished in the anti-terrorist operation zone (he is commemorated on the board of honour in Lutsk). I did all this as a heart’s calling, understanding all my duties..
– Tell us more about the volunteer project you are currently working on. How did it come about?
– Today, when Russia has raided our land with the war, there was no desire to move abroad, despite all existing options. Instead, I connected with like-minded people and decided to act. To act means to help. To assist both the civilians and the military. In recent years, I have been actively involved in international activities in the spheres of business, culture, sports, directed the festival "Volyn Retro Car Fest", which in 2020 could “be attended” by more than 30 retro cars from the EU countries coming to Volyn…Suspended due to the Covid-19, the war now... However, as soon as we have won the war, everything will be organised!
Therefore, we united and agreed upon that our volunteer work would be most effective should we provide assistance from the EU countries to Ukraine (from organisations, individuals and anyone interested). The name of the project was born with ease: "Help UA Together" International Volunteer Project. It reflects the essence of our activities. The main organiser is Volyn Automobile Club presided by Serhii Prozorovskyi. The Partners are the FORCE Sports Dance Club, of which I am the president and founder, and the Business Volyn Association.
My task is to align coordination: that is, to understand who else would like to help (from Germany, Italy, Poland, etc.), to capture the scope, to clarify what is more necessary, what is less. I am also the PR director (if this title applies to volunteering), the "face" of the project. An important component is efficiency: to properly distribute assistance according to the needs. We transfer to the Armed Forces, the Territorial Defense, refugees, mothers with children, send provision to the "hot spots" – the "inferno" of war..
– What problems do you face?
– One of the most difficult, in my opinion, is the large number of paperwork to be prepared in order to bring humanitarian aid from Poland to Ukraine. We operate well. Of course, when crossing the border, both Polish and Ukrainian, I would like to see the procedure expedited and more polite (it is bad when during the inspection packaging gets badly spoilt).
The main thing is that we understand why we are doing this: we really want to accelerate Ukraine's victory over the aggressor, to show the underprivileged that they are not alone, but supported by the rest of Ukraine, and the whole civilised world.
Kind deeds return tenfold! Remember, it all starts with Love. Behold it in your heart and share it. This is the meaning of volunteering – by a sincere call. We believe in and look forward to Ukraine's victory! And our project "Help UA Together" will try to help beyond the limits of what’s possible! Glory to Ukraine!
Tatiana YATSECHKO-BLAZHENKO,
Information Policy Department
Photo by Marianna MANZHEROVSKA
