Caritas' work in Transcarpathia dates back to the times following the fall of the Soviet Union. Ukraine as an independent state, lost most of the previous commercial connections. The factories were closed and unemployment greatly increased. A lot of humanitarian aid from western countries arrived in Ukraine and organisations were needed to distribute this aid. Soon it became obvious that this was not the way of solving the social problems of the country. It is not enough just to provide people with some material help. So Caritas began to develop social projects which could help people to live their lives with more dignity and as self-reliantly as possible.

 

Caritas tries to find solutions for the most burning social problems. This means that Caritas works with different groups of persons (addicted people, elderly people, people with health-problems, mentally and physically disabled persons, street-children and families with social problems). During the last few years Caritas has realized several social projects. Of course this was only possible due to the help and cooperation of foreign partners. Not only the financial support was important for Caritas, but also without the exchange of experience with organisations in Western Europe, Caritas would not have been able to create all of the projects it currently runs.

Today Caritas Transcarpathia is learning to stand on its own feet, but this process is rather slow because of the bad economical situation of Ukraine and the general poverty.

Caritas has a soup kitchen in Vinogradiv, which feeds the very poor of the region. They produce 180 dinners every day, at a cost of approximately 0,77 EUR/person/lunch. Caritas staff prepare food six days a week. The basic meals are jars of cooked split peas with a tomato and onions mixture added to give the meal more flavour, or a jar of home made soup and half a loaf of bread. The food is cooked fresh daily and the soup is made of whatever vegetables are in season. A serving of meat complements twice a week the food and on a Saturday, double portions are served to provide enough to eat on a Sunday when the centre is closed.

 

Many of the people being fed are from the older generation who are too old to work. Some come to the centre to collect their daily ration, but many have their food delivered by a member of staff from Caritas. He delivers the food on a bike, cycling many miles each day with the jars of food wedged into a tin box. Most of the equipment in the kitchen is very old and breaks down constantly. They are in need of a new industrial food mixer and an industrial bread maker to make the food preparation easier. Caritas has a large garden the size of a football pitch where a lot of the vegetables are grown for use in the kitchen. This helps alleviate the funds spent on buying food, as they run on a very tight budget. Caritas has one gardener who has to dig the whole area by hand. He also looks after the livestock, which consists of chickens to provide fresh eggs and pigs to rear for breeding and their meat.

 

Caritas also provide clothing and blankets for the poor. Take Hope is committed to helping Caritas in whatever way we can, by donating seeds to grow the vegetables or collecting good quality adult clothing, shoes and bedding.

 

During a visit to Caritas in February 2009, Take Hope made a donation for the purchase of a bull. During our recent visit in June 2009, we were delighted to see that our donation was enough to purchase a bull and a cow. These animals will be kept by Caritas alongside rabbits and pigs to provide much needed meat for the soup kitchen over the winter months.