Kenya to Ukraine: Cynthia finds grants and acquisition job in war-torn Ukraine a humbling experience

My journey as a humanitarian worker started in 2007 when my country Kenya experienced post elections violence where over a thousand people died and more than 600,000 people were internally displaced.

It was a very scary period for me and my family in Nakuru County, the country’s third biggest urban area. A huge numbers of the displaced were moving to the main city from rural areas.

I was deployed by World Vision Kenya to Nyamira town to lead the emergency response from December 2007 to 2008. Most families spent their New Year's Eve in the forest for a safer place.

As we distributed food assistance to families members who had lost all their properties, I also saw hope through their smiles. I then realised that this would be a field I would gladly contribute moving forward.

I joined the Ukraine Crisis Response working remotely from Kenya in August 2022 to support the acquisition and grants management primarily ensuring that teams understood donor requirements on compliance and project implementation including the fifteen partners implementing World Vision’s projects.

Working and living inside Ukraine from March 2023 has been a humbling experience. The impact of the crisis has limited the opportunities for people’s livelihoods pushing them to a new norm. Reflecting from the past year, the program team functioned to the best they can.

Local organizations help World Vision implement programs, supported by our generous donors. Our capacity-building approach involved co-designing with partners, holding sessions on the proposal development process, review of donor requirements, and train them on the logical framework and workplan.

The activity made me realize how much this support is needed by the displaced families who find the cost of commodities quite unaffordable.

Two of our program officers in Ukraine are Valeria Korko and Alla Kosytiniak who were crucial in effectively identifying areas where support is urgently needed in consultation with other stakeholders.

With the support of World Vision Germany, we have a dedicated project for strengthening the capacities of our local partners on Core Humanitarian Standards which will also position them for additional resources for this response.

In October 2023 I joined the distribution of  food and non food items in Pavlograd Pavlogradska hromada Dnipropetrovska Oblast implemented our partner Pomogaem and supported by Aktion Deutschland Hilft.

The activity made me realize how much this support is needed by the displaced families who find the cost of commodities quite unaffordable. These families turned up amidst the harsh weather conditions, with the rain and low temperature, including children and elderly,  who arrived early for the winterization support.

I saw a ray of hope from women and children after receiving the assistance and profusely expressed their gratitude to humanitarian agencies.

My greatest joy as a Senior Programme Officer is in engagement with partners, the delivery of support to people in dire need and being surrounded by  experienced and motivated team of local staff.

Together, our goal is for World Vision to become a partner of choice in meeting the humanitarian needs in Ukraine.

By Cynthia Nyakwama, Senior Programme Officer