I came out to the balcony and saw that my house was gone: a ukrainian woman recounted the horrors of war

Natalya is now in a rehabilitation programme for war-affected women, 'Untitled Mama', together with her children.

Natalya was able to tell her story after almost three weeks of rehabilitation at the 'Untamed Mama' camp from the Masha Foundation. But even after many hours of work with the psychologist, Natalya cried as she talked:

When the big war started, we, like most, were terrified. But I still believed that we were safe in Zaporizhzhia. Our house is in the heart of the city, on Stalevarov Avenue. There are no military or energy facilities nearby. I was sure that nothing would happen to us. But we still got the children used to going into the hallway when alarmed - hiding behind two walls. The night of October 6 we awoke to a very powerful explosion. Windows were smashed, everything was glass. My children and my husband, who was sleeping in the next room, flew into the hallway. Then there was a second explosion. Even scarier.

The children, of course, are also in a state of shock.

After that my eldest son, Yarik, began to stutter. And the youngest, Sasha, began to be afraid to be alone in the room, I constantly had to be near. When they heard the siren, they would cower under the table. For a long time I thought that the war had not affected me, because I am a strong woman. Until I realized that at my low weight I lost 10 kilograms. The psychologists at Unladen Mommy brought us back to life. My children relaxed, they began to smile again, mischievously. I never thought I would enjoy their antics. When I send our photos from camp to my loved ones, they write to o
i have learned to stabilize myself in times of stress. And I know for sure that we will survive, we will persevere. The war broke our plans for the future, but it will not break us," says the woman.

About the programme:

The rehabilitation programme "Nezklamna Mamma" is specially designed by psychology and post-traumatic syndrome specialists for women and children affected by war. It is a 3-week offline camp where psychologists work with the project participants and then online support for three months. The shift where our heroine went through rehabilitation was organised by the "Masha Foundation" together with the Saving Lives Humanitarian Project.