Meet the WCK Field Monitoring Team in Ukraine
The needs of communities in Ukraine shift quickly—a village that has stable access to food one week may lose it the next due to a Russian attack. The same is true of water, electricity, or gas, all essentials for preparing food. WCK teams across the country are in constant communication with the people we support to stay up-to-date about their unique circumstances. Doing so allows us to provide agile and effective support as soon as the need arises.
To accomplish this, WCK has mobilized field monitoring teams who stay in regular contact with communities all over Ukraine. Our monitors travel to different regions and spend time speaking with local residents to understand the current situation in the area. They ask questions that help pinpoint where there are needs WCK can fill. “Do you have access to utilities, like electricity and gas? Do you have access to grocery stores? Are you able to grow your own produce in a garden?” Field monitors share this information with our local coordinators who use it to make informed decisions about where and how to direct support.
Through this process, WCK remains responsive to what communities need and are able to ensure access to food doesn’t stop when the power gets cut. We spoke with three WCK field monitors—Ruslan, Olha, and Vova—about their roles. In the stories they share, it is easy to see that the information they gather isn’t the only important part of their mission—the compassion and hope they carry when showing up to do their work is just as critical.
Ruslan
Ruslan was deeply immersed in the film industry—working on films, TV series, commercials, and music videos—until Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. “When the full-scale war started, we were forced to go to Lviv. There, a friend approached us and asked if we could help an organization that wanted to come to Ukraine and help,” Ruslan recounted. “Of course, we agreed without hesitation.” That organization was WCK.
Ruslan has been a member of WCK’s Relief Team in Ukraine for over a year and a half, working as a field monitor for the past three months. “I can see what I do is really needed, that it is appreciated,” he reflected. “Our role involves gathering feedback from people to ensure they receive the help they need and that they are satisfied with the assistance we provide.”
More than the information they gather to guide WCK’s efforts, field monitors like Ruslan are a direct link to the communities we serve. They take the time to listen to locals impacted by war, bearing witness to their loss and grief, but also hope. “It’s very hard,” Ruslan admitted, “but these experiences continually inspire us to visit and talk to them, bringing a sense of comfort and encouragement for them to persevere.”
These experiences continually inspire us to visit and talk to them, bringing a sense of comfort and encouragement for them to persevere.
Ruslan
WCK Field Monitor
Olha
Olha believes fostering human connections is the most important duty of the monitoring team. “I want people to hear each other,” she said. “This helps many people to survive traumatic events. Showing care is very important, showing respect for a person.”
Olha, like Ruslan, found her way to WCK by chance. “In late March 2022, destiny led me to the phone number of a WCK representative responsible for arranging humanitarian packages for the people of Donbas,” Olha recounted, adding that shortly after she began helping distribute food kits in the region.
Showing care is very important, showing respect for a person.
Olha
WCK Field Monitor
Alongside harrowing experiences, there are also moments of hope and support. “In Siversk, high-rise buildings were on fire, and many people needed urgent evacuation,” Olha said, remembering a WCK’s response to attacks in the city during the summer of 2022. “Among them, I vividly remember a man I pulled out of the flames with my own hands. He was in distress, saying he couldn’t see anything due to fear, and within hours, he lost his sight. He cried and shouted about his vision loss, so I held him close, letting him know I was there for him. His grip was so tight that the bruises took two more weeks to heal.”
Months later, a phone call from the same man brought tears of joy to Olha’s eyes. His eyesight was gradually returning, and he expressed a desire to see her—a heartwarming moment that reaffirmed her calling to help her fellow Ukrainians.
Vova
Volodymyr—who goes by the nickname Vova—remembers the Russian invasion of Crimea in 2014 all too well. “Many people were held captive in basements back then,” he recalled. “It was emotionally challenging because we felt powerless and trapped. We were stripped of our right to live freely and make our own decisions.”
Like many Ukrainians, the current war has taken a personal toll on Vova and his family—his brother, Anatoliy, was killed while helping evacuate families from Irpin. Even in the midst of grief, Vova was driven to support his fellow Ukrainians.
Soon after the 2022 invasion, Vova made his way to Dnipro, joining a friend who was volunteering to help evacuate people from eastern Ukraine. Within six months, he had joined our team. “It was beyond my wildest dreams,” Vova said, “I was simply doing what the organization wanted me to do because it aligned with my own desires. This serves as a small yet significant testimony that if your goal is noble and good, it will find a continuation. It’s a universal law—you reap what you sow.”
For Vova, the work is incredibly meaningful and intensely painful at the same time. “The most difficult part of my job is listening to other people who have suffered a loss,” Vova shared. “It is easier for me to drive 1,000 km in a day than to listen to one person who cannot survive the loss of a loved one or all their property in life and now they have nowhere to go.” But still he perseveres, continuing to be an integral part of the WCK monitoring team. He has a grounding force that helps him stay hopeful: his 2-year-old-son, Mark. “Being a dad gives meaning to everything I do,” Vova said.
This serves as a small yet significant testimony that if your goal is noble and good, it will find a continuation. It’s a universal law—you reap what you sow.
Vova
WCK Field Monitor
Learn more about our #ChefsForUkraine response here. For real-time updates, follow WCK on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. You can support our work by making a donation here.
