Meet Olha Chakliarova

Olha Chakliarova

[ region ]

Kherson

05 / 08 / 2024

Clinical Psychologist at the Kherson City Clinical Hospital named after Athanasius and Olha Tropinykh

[ topic ] Health

The shortage of medical personnel and the influx of displaced people in the frontline regions are among the biggest problems faced by the already overburdened Ukrainian healthcare system. According to the WHO, every fifth person in Ukraine has problems accessing essential medicines.

Switzerland cooperates with organizations providing free medical and psychological assistance. Thanks to such funding, the Project HOPE NGO deploys mobile teams of doctors and nurses who offer consultations and medicines to displaced and local populations in hard-to-reach areas. As the demands of the job are growing extremely high for medics at the frontline hospitals – from long shifts and emotional burnout to power outages and shelling – Project HOPE also supports them with monthly financial grants to complement an average doctor salary of around 21,700 hryvnias (526 USD).

I have been working in this position for 13 years. Since the beginning of the war, we have been through a lot. We were without electricity or heat, hungry, but we found the strength and even dried hair over a gas burner to get ready, go to work and support other people. Many could not leave, cars with people were shelled. The calls did not stop 24 hours a day. There were patients who had lost limbs. The percentage of suicides was very high. The number of panic attacks increased, when people suffocated from the feeling that they could die.

Now, it is a little easier, but we are bombed every day, so people are chronically anxious, depressed, do not sleep at night. Many are simply tired, but cannot leave. The workload of doctors is growing. Psychologist is no exception.

We lost only one patient. I worked a lot with him, but during the blackouts there was no connection in Kherson, so we did not have our sessions. Without help, he could not stand it and committed suicide. This all happened in front of the child.

Support for specialists like us is crucial. I am the only one in my family who works. A monthly financial grant from Switzerland and the Project HOPE NGO allowed me to provide for my family and focus on my professional duties, not thinking about the financial difficulties.

A person can give another person only what he or she has. As much as I can, I share my strength, energy, and motivation with others. If you can muster your will and find any joy in spite of everything that's going on around you – that is what a person hopes for. Now, my task is to help people, despite the challenges.

Photo: Project HOPE

Olha conducting individual psychological sessions for people.

after

24 feb 2022

What else is Switzerland doing for Ukraine?

Switzerland has been assisting those impacted through various means – from humanitarian aid, humanitarian demining and financial support to granting protection status S to individuals from Ukraine seeking refuge. By 15 February 2024, the Swiss federal government had spent a total of around 3 billion Swiss francs to support Ukrainian refugees in Switzerland and people in Ukraine.

In 2022, Switzerland organised the first Ukraine Recovery Conference in Lugano and launched the political process to help Ukraine rebuild. The Summit on Peace in Ukraine, held in Switzerland in 2024, set up a path towards a just and lasting peace in Ukraine. In the longer term, the Federal Council aims to allocate 1.5 billion Swiss francs to support Ukraine's recovery efforts by 2028.

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