This is Margarita’s Story.
As she stands in front of the new stables built with grant funding given to DHM, she thanks everyone in the DHM family: Greetings, my name is Margarita, I am the Director of the public organisation Equilibrium, which was formed after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia. I really want to thank DHM for help, support, and prayers. I would like to thank you for the minibus which you gave us, and for the stable which is being built now. This will be an immense help and support to the people who attend the project. Thank you for being with us, and with Ukraine. Thank you for the prayers, for the meetings. Thank you that you help us and are with us.
In 2024 we supported about 300 children. In 2025, thanks to the new stable being built, we can guarantee that the number of children can be increased to approximately 430. Not only the children, but the families as well. In 2025 we would like not only to increase the number of children and families who we support, but also possibly to build an indoor arena which will be open for children in wintry weather, rain, and snow. This would mean that we could increase the number of children taking part. Thank you for your help, thank you DHM, for being with us. Together to the Victory!
In August 2024, our partner Margarita, who runs the Equilibrium project, took DHM trustees, Melanie and Helen to view a field. To be honest, it didn’t look very promising! Margarita had been offered the field rent free, so she asked God for money to build a stable. The money came …little by little… £500, £750, £500, £500, £1,500…. (with some incredible help from some volunteer supporters, DHM had applied for grants from small trusts.) Margarita has used these funds to build her stables, rescue another horse and in January 2025, run the first therapeutic programme on the new site! A group of traumatised internally displaced children and young people with a variety of challenges and disabilities benefitted from 14 days of equine therapy, massage, music therapy, stories, games, play and youth worker support/mentorship. The programme doesn’t just help children – their families and volunteers all benefit from the psycho-social support offered by the project.
There is much to be done. Paths from the farm entrance to the stables must be built; the arena needs to be set up with sand and gravel to stabilise the land and create a high-quality surface for working with horses and conducting the training sessions. A fence is needed too – to stop the cows wandering onto the arena!
The ‘office’ based centre, which is well equipped with massage facilities; a small kitchen for snacks and hot drinks; art therapy materials; therapy balls and equipment and a wide variety of toys is currently based in the city and needs to move to the new site.
This is an amazing project and Margarita and the team (a paediatrician, massage therapists, a music therapist, a finance officer, a volunteer driver, and volunteers assisting with the horses) are inspirational. The need for Equilibrium is huge. More people are coming to the Trans-Carpathian region as the situation deteriorates in the east. Almost all have lost relatives and friends and are asking for help. Margarita wrote: ‘We will have to learn to love, survive, and have patience for a long time yet, because none of these experiences pass without a trace. When peace comes, many families will have been broken; the world they knew no longer exists … their relatives were raped, kidnapped, killed…’ It is estimated that 1 in 4 Ukrainians have mental health needs (stress, anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder) and all children in Ukraine have been affected by conflict and limited opportunities for social interaction.
If you would like to support Margarita and the EQ team as they create a loving community and help more children and their families cope with the mental distress of war, please go to: https://www.dniprohopemission.org/donate/ and reference Equilibrium.
