Lesya Kalenychenko is an active member of YMCA Boyarka and one of the most outstanding participants of the Roots Be a Voice Not an Echo project held in September 2021.
During the project, Lesya demonstrated incredible critical thinking skills, creativity, open-mindedness, and a kind and friendly attitude towards every participant. Unfortunately, like millions of Ukrainians, Lesya was also touched by the war.
“It was the third week of the war, early in the morning, I was sitting in our room. The sun was shining. It was shining on the icon of Jesus Christ. That is my first ”war photo”. I am not too religious, but it was powerful.” said Lesya.
As the war started, Lesya moved to the countryside, to his loved one and his family, where she would be safer. Mindful of the consequences of the war on the food supplies, they started farming and gardening, creating their own Victory Gardens, following the approach implemented during WW1 and WW2.
However, gardening is not the only occupation for Lesya these days. As a person who is well aware of the power of the media, she is trying to spread information about the current situation in Ukraine. Similar to many other Ukrainian citizens, she is concerned that one day the world might get tired of Ukraine asking for help, tired of all the horror and danger, and forget about what is going on in her country. “My battlefield is information,” says the 25 years old young woman.
Even though Lesya mostly writes about the war, even during these dark days, her photography shows the beauty of the world, nature waking up, spring flowers and bright colors.
“For me, photos are the way I see our world, it’s who I am. When I see the shot, everything else disappears. And nature is a promise that life will return even to the dead, frozen ground. So, photography is a kind of coping mechanism. I am focusing on good things”.
Lesya is actively involved in YMCA activities. Apart from volunteering at YMCA Boyarka, she offers her help to the Heal the Smile project by YMCA Europe Roots for Peace.
She keeps hoping for a better future, wishing that she will meet every hero, no matter if they were soldiers or just volunteers, personally and thank them. Dreaming that she will rebuild the country alongside those people because “after all, everyone needs a place to return home.”
