Hajja Salesjana

(ANS - Kyiv) - Exactly one year has passed since the invasion of Ukraine. Over 200,000 dead, 40,000 wounded, nearly 2,700 schools bombed and 500 destroyed are just some of the current figures of the conflict. Nearly 18 million people need urgent humanitarian aid to live, and more than 5.5 million schoolchildren have seen their education disrupted by the war. Millions of lives were changed forever on Feb. 24 last year. "When the shelling started, water, electricity, and gas were also cut off. We could not wash and it was difficult to get food," recalls Boris, who fled Mariupol, "a city that no longer exists because it is burned and destroyed." Salesian missionaries have been at the side of the population since the beginning, accompanying and welcoming refugees in neighboring countries and helping displaced people in Ukraine. In recent months, the bombings have been compounded by winter, with temperatures reaching as low as -20 degrees Celsius, which has greatly increased suffering and need. Thanks to the aid received, Salesian schools in Lviv, Odesa, and Kyiv have been able to remain open and provide education in emergency situations, through building shelters, reinforcing isolation and support for water, electricity and gas supplies, psychological support for students, teachers, and families, and covering school costs. A total of 66 Salesian Family entities, organizations, and communities from all five continents have supported more than 100 projects, worth more than 9.6 million euros in aid. Projects implemented and supported included the construction of emergency shelters (more than 230 thousand UKRAINE Salesian solidarity will outlast war Photo by Omar Marques/Getty Images Image by Sergio Kuub - Unsplash.com 12 April-Ġunju 2023 hajja