Shaughn Varnell came to Ukraine in April 2022, a few weeks into the full-scale invasion. First, he settled in Lviv, where he searched for volunteer opportunities and started learning Ukrainian. His Ukrainian tutor put him in touch with Rescue Now, a non-profit organization that was looking for volunteers in Kharkiv. Shaughn took the opportunity, moved to Kharkiv, and has lived there since, volunteering and working as an English teacher.
Rescue Now is a non-profit organization that was founded in Kharkiv. The Rescue Now team provides emergency relief to the victims of Russian attacks, supports elderly people in need, and creates programs and offline spaces for the psychological rehabilitation of Ukrainian children.
Along with other Rescue Now volunteers, Shaughn has organized and distributed humanitarian aid in the Kharkiv, Donetsk, and Kherson regions. Back at home in the US, Shaughn used to work as an auto mechanic, so he’s also been repairing vehicles for the Ukrainian defenders.
When I was young, there was a television program called “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood”. The host, Fred Rogers, taught American children to understand and express their emotions in a healthy way. When children encountered frightening situations in their lives or on the news, he would say “look for the helpers”. He encouraged children to see that despite the terrible and cruel things that may happen in the world, there are always good people who gather to help.
This idea can define my experience in Ukraine.
Right now, terrible atrocities occur every day in Ukraine. But in every city, after every attack, people gather to help. To rescue and care for the wounded, to give food and shelter, even simply to sweep glass and clean rubble. Not to pretend like nothing happened, but to take care of the cities they love so much and show that no amount of destruction will break their spirit.
I have seen countless attacks on civilian structures in Kharkiv, and nearly every time, within days, often even hours, the debris is swept away, and the destruction is rebuilt as best it can be. While Russia brings death to Ukraine, Ukrainians fight for every life, even if it’s a cat or a parrot.
Friends and neighbors of the victims create fundraisers that spread across the whole country in hours. In Ukraine, you don’t have to ask for help to get it — it’s an unspoken agreement. When you wake up alive and well, you don’t take it for granted. You help the ones who didn’t get so lucky. Even if you don’t have a lot of money and resources, you give it all to help your community heal.
Ukraine always mends her wounds. But the scars remain. Sometimes only in the hearts and minds of the people, but they are scars that Ukrainians will carry for generations. As generations before lived with scars of czarist imperialism, the Holodomor, and Soviet repression, now a new generation of Ukrainians will bear the same scars at the hands of Russian aggression.
Maybe it wasn’t the reason I came here, the reason I joined Rescue Now, but it’s why I stayed and started helping. This is why I fight. In the hope that someday soon, the system which has repressed, enslaved, and murdered Ukrainians for centuries will be brought down and forced to answer for its crimes.