written by: Jaron Malyon, LHI Director of Monitoring and Evaluation
Jaron Malyon has been on the ground in Moldova , Romania, Hungary and Poland as part of LHI’s senior admin team as they establish an immediate response to the Ukraine refugee crisis. He speaks fluent Russian and has been incredibly instrumental in creating several local partnerships.
Yevgeni Verbanov, founder/director of Peer to Peer with Hayley Smith, LHI founder/director.
Rather than come into Moldova and try to reinvent the wheel, LHI has vetted and funded 21 orgs that already have local knowledge and deep ties to rural communities hosting refugees, but just don’t have the additional budget to deal with the surge (more than 400,000 Ukrainian refugees coming through Moldova with 100,000+ remaining in the country). One such organization is Peer to Peer, a small, community-based organization in the village of Parcani, Moldova.
We sat down with founder/director Yevgeni Verbanov to find out more.
“Several years ago, my child was born with a severe disability. It changed everything for our family. We couldn’t have managed on our own, but people from the community helped and it made all the difference. So I started Peer to Peer in 2018 to extend that same assistance to disabled people who find themselves in difficult circumstances.”
Mr. Verbanov said that when he first established the organization and started offering services, people were skeptical. No other organization had ever come in and just offered help without some sort of hidden political agenda. Slowly but surely, the community warmed to Mr. Verbanov’s gentle encouragement that sometimes, people just want to help!
Jaron Malyon (R) and Yevgeni (L) talk with a Ukrainian woman in the host home’s courtyard.
Even though the organization is relatively new, it has made a huge impact on families who have members with disabilities. And with the latest influx of Ukrainain refugees to the village, Peer to Peer is as busy as ever.
“Now, the people who need us here are Ukrainian refugees who have left everything behind. So many have come to our village. We welcome them to our community and offer them our hand.”
One way he knew he could empower the local refugees is through helping them create their own sustainable source of food through gardening, especially those who are sheltering with more elderly locals.
L: A Ukrainian woman and her son with disabilities at a host home in Moldova. R: The kind elderly man hosting them in his home.
“In the eastern region of Moldova, most people have a small house in the village with a garden plot, many of whom belong to elderly people who can no longer grow their own food. These elderly villagers are opening their homes to host hundreds of refugee families but cannot support them with food or other necesities.”
“Our goal is to create a sustainable food source for our refugee guests right here from our own soil.”
“You know, my daughter passed away last year, but her spirit lives on through our work.”
📷 cred: Patrick Petro
Click here to learn more and support LHI’s work for Ukrainian refugees.