Insights From Volunteers

At just 18 years old, Dzhamilya from Astana is already in charge of the entire SMM direction of the “Angels of Freedom” foundation. Initially, she started as a designer, motivated purely by practical reasons — gaining experience to apply to a European university. However, everything changed within six months. Dzhamilya was entrusted with managing all social media, and now she cannot imagine her life without volunteering. We spoke with her about why helping Ukrainian children is so important and where she finds the strength for the meticulous daily work.

Assel lives near Uralsk. The girl works remotely for an American company, but she also manages to volunteer — she runs the TikTok account of “Angels of Freedom”. The videos that Assel edits attract the attention of concerned Kazakhstanis. So more and more people in our country start to help equip shelters in schools and kindergartens in Ukraine. We found out why the Kazakhstani woman started volunteering, what place Ukrainian culture has in her life and how she manages not to burn out and remain optimistic.

Natalia became a volunteer for the foundation in February 2024. She was born in Ukraine but has been living in the Dominican Republic for over ten years. Her family and friends remain in Ukraine. The distance did not prevent her from helping children in Ukraine. We talked with Natalia about the Dominican Republic, the necessity of supporting schools and kindergartens during the war, and the importance of childrenʼs involvement in volunteer activities.

The founders of the Kazakhstani Angels of Freedom Charity Foundation, Yevgeniy Ribalko and Iryna Semenchuk, both have Ukrainian roots and a close connection to the Chernihiv region. Irina graduated from school in Chernihiv and lived there until the age of 20. For them, supporting the affected kindergartens and schools in this region is not only a way to assist compatriots during challenging periods, but also an important personal mission.

Zhanibek Madenov became a volunteer for the non-profit organization Angels of Freedom in October last year. He only has two days off a month but still finds time for volunteering and church service. The war became personal for him since his close friends were in Ukraine at the time of the full-scale Russian invasion. He shared with us how his life has changed since the start of the war, his crisis of faith, who inspired him to become a volunteer, and why he will continue to help.

Olena Chyzhova was born and raised in Chernihiv, and graduated from the university there. She has not lived in Ukraine for 20 years, but immediately after the start of the war she began helping her fellow countrymen. It was the charitable initiative of Olena and her sister Olga, “Angels of Freedom,” that served as the start for the emergence of a foundation of the same name in Kazakhstan. Olena spoke in an interview about how the action was born and how assistance to Ukrainian schools united dozens of countries.

Iuliia is from Ukraine, her husband is from Russia. This is one of many couples who were forced to emigrate to Kazakhstan after February 24, 2022. Like others, they had to build their lives from scratch. And in this new, complex and uncertain life, they did not isolate themselves and their problems, but found an opportunity to help others — they found the “Angels of Freedom” project. We talked to Iuliia about their departure from Moscow, the people who impressed her at the “Angels of Freedom” fairs, and the choice between “giving up” and “continuing.”

February 24, 2022 destroyed a lot of Ukrainian-Russian marriages. And yet there are cases when such alliances withstand the test of war and find the strength to move on together. One such example is the story of Viacheslav and Kristina. Despite belonging to different nationalities, they perceived the interstate conflict in the same way. Now Viacheslav and Kristina live in Kazakhstan, work and engage in volunteer activities. We talked to them about why it is important for them to help the “Angels of Freedom”, how easy or difficult it is, and what surprised them during their participation in the project.

Saltanat lives in the north of Kazakhstan, works as an HR specialist and helps retired parents who run a small farm (breed horses). She is 34 years old, she has completed a master’s program in Malaysia and worked in a large company. Saltanat joined the Angels of Freedom project in March 2023. We discussed with her what motivates her to volunteer, how she decided to represent the fund helping Ukraine in one of the most difficult regions of the country, and where to start if you want to participate in the restoration of destroyed Ukrainian schools.