Fragrant Pies for Coffee: Preserving Family Traditions in Volnovakha, Kyiv Region

Oksana, together with her husband and two daughters, evacuated from Volnovakha to Irpin, Kyiv region, in the spring of 2022. Before leaving, the family spent several weeks in a basement, but their youngest daughter, 9-year-old Ania, began to cry and begged to leave. Under shelling, they managed to reach a safer place.

Before the full-scale war, Oksana’s husband, Zhenia, worked for the railroad, while Oksana was employed in a hospital kitchen. One of Ania’s favorite dishes – and a cherished family tradition – is her mother’s homemade pies. Oksana used to bake them back home in Volnovakha and continues to do so now in Irpin. She shares them not only with her family but also with neighbors in the modular town where they live. The irresistible aroma of her fragrant pies fills the air. “She’s our good-mood provider,” the neighbors say with a smile.

After several years, the family has adapted to their new surroundings, though they still feel nostalgic and often say how much they long to return home.

In their new home, the family has created a cozy atmosphere – hanging family photos and doing everything to make it feel like home. At the center of their new life stands a special item: a coffee machine. With it, Oksana greets her slow, quiet mornings. A cup of coffee alone has become her personal ritual, while family breakfasts remain another special tradition. She gathers everyone for homemade treats, with coffee and pies as the stars of the table.

“We were so excited to get this coffee machine,” says Oksana. “Every morning, you can get up and have a cup of coffee. It’s such a pleasure to turn it on – and everything is ready.”

Now Ania attends a local school and has made new friends, while Oksana and her husband both work at a center for people with limited mobility in Irpin. She also treats the center’s residents to her delicious pies!

This spring, the East SOS Charity Foundation donated 80 kilograms of aromatic coffee from Coffeeton, 40 coffee machines, and 40 care sets from Miele, a home appliance manufacturer, to families of internally displaced persons from the Donetsk, Kherson, and Kharkiv regions, as well as to residents of Save the Children support spaces in Kyiv, Hatne, Irpin (Kyiv region), and Kamianka-Buzka (Lviv region). Oksana’s family was among those who received this support. For them, coffee has become more than a drink – it’s a comforting ritual that brings peace of mind and a sense of home, preserving memories of the life they once had.

We are sincerely grateful to Miele and Coffeeton for their partnership, support, and for giving people who have lost their homes an invaluable sense of comfort and belonging.

Recently, we also shared the story of Valentyna’s family from Bakhmut.