Friday, April 4th, some of us had the privilege of experiencing a delightful aperitivo, with Tamara Gudenko and Santina Togni from the "Amici di Emmaus" NGO. Emmaus is a Ukrainian NGO founded in 2011 to help vulnerable individuals, particularly those with disabilities and young orphans transitioning to adulthood. Due to the war, it has expanded its mission by establishing the Italian counterpart (Amici di Emmaus) and thus providing refuge and integration support to Ukrainian evacuees in Italy, while the Kharkiv team continues essential on-the-ground work. This year they launched a campaign to support our friends in Ukraine and stitch distances together. https://emmaus.com.ua/en/stitching-the-distance/

Santina took advantage of her trip to Ireland to share her experience with us since she came over to visit Tamara who is currently studying English at the Emerald Cultural Institute.

"It all happened by giving my availability to a simple request. Provide a lift from A to B. I knew very little of them but one day I offered my time to take one of the girls to Novazza (Bergamo, Italy). That evening I arrived at dinner time while they were celebrating Irina's birthday. I will never forget that day, it was an Event with a capital E for me, a rebirth, catapulted into a mysterious, large, ungraspable reality. The dinner was a celebration of their lives, despite their traumas. Having been abandoned within Emmaus they found someone who loves them and is accompanying them today". From that moment Santina decided to spend more time with them so much so her freedom took the initiative to resign from her permanent public nurse job and is now dedicating her mission and vocation alongside the evacuees in Italy.

Tamara also encountered Emmaus. In her own words:

"I was born in Ukraine and grew up in an orphanage in Kharkiv. I can say with certainty that my life in Ukraine was more stable and happier. I wouldn't say that my life is sad today. No! I am happy because I have met so many people who have given me hope and have been of great company. I am grateful to them and this gratitude makes me recognise (quite often) the meaning and value of life. Today, I want to tell you about Emmaus' relationship with Ukraine, because help for Ukraine is necessary for my interior peace. The Ukrainian people are crying out for help and companionship."



Her words painted a vivid picture of the suffering endured by her fellow Ukrainians and the urgent need for empathy and action:

"I have written the text before giving this speech, and I thought: will this be enough to help those people whose hearts have been hardened by what they are experiencing, to understand "what in hell is not part of hell"? Of course, we must find a way to make hardened hearts bloom. Their hearts are like ours, but their hearts are hardening because of the evil they are seeing. With our company, we can show them that there is something in this hell that is not part of hell. We are all on the same planet, we are one community that is only divided by borders. But it is not the borders that make us kill our fellow human beings. It is the poisoned hearts of people who have been lied to, or hardened by long years of suffering that make us kill our fellow human beings. I believe we can help defeat, or at least reduce, this evil through our company, like we are doing it now. Together, we can make a real contribution, bringing a little beauty and light into this world."

The evening then opened up with some questions such as how is it possible to love the other? By looking at her experience Santina talked about how she can encounter the other and face even difficult situations because she is also loved, her relationship with the Other, the Mystery comes first and foremost in a concrete place. “We can be distracted by the things we do (like children playing and messing around) but then we are certain if we go back to that “place” that companionship we are embraced and our humanity reawakens and is refreshed (like a child who runs back to the mother)”. The reality is a place we can meet and discover little by little and “within the midst of hell there’s always a miracle you just have to be curious and let it surprise you”.

Tamara concluded her heartfelt address with a sense of relief and hope: "Hope for us young people in Ukraine is knowing that there is someone who loves you and has made big sacrifices (like Emmaus has done) for me. This allows me to see my life and this reality with hope and energy for the future".
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For those who also wish to support the ongoing efforts of Amici di Emmaus in their vital work with Ukraine and other communities in need, you can make a direct donation through their website/campaign page: https://emmaus.com.ua/en/stitching-the-distance/