In 2018, a group of Ukrainian youth participated in the UA2EU project. A group of 11 young people from Ukraine were in Europe to experience a piece of culture but definitely nature here. They were young people who had been living with war and fear for four years at that time. Some were still living and residing in eastern Ukraine and some had fled from Donetsk and Lugansk to hope for a better life in Kharkiv or Kyiv. Although the war never stopped, the unrest was until recently limited to the East.

Since 2018, we have kept in touch with Ukraine and the people there. We have visited Kyiv, Lviv, Kharkiv and many more places several times. Avena vzw maintains contact with several organisations in Ukraine itself, as well as in the Netherlands and Belgium. Among others, we support: Children of Hope and Love. Breath care for Kids Foundation , the Foundation Platform Cooperation Netherlands - Ukraine and Promote Ukraine. We also helped find volunteer work for a student who was keen to lend a hand to the Ukrainian people in late 2018.

On Thursday 24 February 2022 - a few days after Russia's President Putin recognised the People's Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk as the only ones in the world - the Russian army invaded Ukraine. An event that certainly did not go unnoticed in Europe and which is close to our hearts. Avena vzw sympathises with all people in Ukraine and especially with the young people we got to know so well in the summer of 2018. We are therefore raising money to primarily help the Ukrainian refugees in the neighbourhood. In addition, we want to support the above-mentioned existing projects . These are projects in the Netherlands, Belgium but also in Ukraine itself. 

We therefore make an appeal to support this or another initiative wherever possible. Many thanks for this!