The war showed everyone’s true self, but what we really did not expect was help from Japan, as this country is so much different from Ukraine. However we share an important thing: the desire to preserve the nation, culture and heritage, which makes us really similar to the Japanese. It all started with Volodymyr Bozhko who is known among deaf Ukrainians for organizing tours around Europe and learning about deaf culture in other countries. After the invasion Volodymyr went to Japan, where he provided shelter and food to survive this shock,along with many more Ukrainians with hearing impairment who fled wherever they could. Most found refuge in Europe. But there were about a thousand hearing-impaired Ukrainian refugees in Japan, four of them in Tokyo - Volodymyr Bozhko, Maryna Yudytska, Andriy Yanenko and Oleksandr Sydorchuk.
While watching the news about how Japan provided humanitarian aid to the Armed Forces and the residents of the frontline territories Volodymyr thought about the people with hearing impairment who did not flee and remained in Ukraine. The four Ukrainian refugees wanted to help their fellow Ukrainians and began to act. They contacted the charity foundation “Hear with the heart”, and the foundation first had to contact the Embassy of Ukraine and write an official letter requesting to ship humanitarian aid from Japan to Ukraine for free. The delivery will be made by ship - it is not fast, of course, and only the most necessary humanitarian aid for the Armed Forces will be transported by plane. Therefore, our cargo will take a little longer to arrive, but we will receive humanitarian aid from Japan for the second time, the first time being in September 2023.We are happy to receive such support and help from Japanese people with hearing impairment.
Volodymyr continued to talk about culture, history and the struggle to protect Ukraine from russian aggression and dictatorship. The Japanese were always surprised to learn more about us. We are glad that such a small country that has experienced so much grief in its history, still keeps its values, traditions and culture. We really have a lot to learn from them. Of course, when the war is over we plan to make friends, cooperate and implement joint projects so that two strong nations could learn more about each other. Although we are thousands of kilometers away, now the Japanese society with hearing impairment knows about Ukraine thanks to our volunteer Volodymyr Bozhko.
