The COVID-19 pandemic and its ensuing lockdowns have forced some of the most vulnerable members of society to stay locked in their homes. That may protect them from the disease, but it brings other serious consequences.
A recent study found that, globally, social isolation due to COVID-19 has had a negative impact on the health of senior citizens. And Ukraine’s elderly are certainly not immune to this problem.
To combat aggravated loneliness caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ukrainian Volunteer Service, alongside UNICEF Ukraine and the Ministry of Youth and Sports, launched a service called the My Phone Friend Project. A team of volunteers from the Ukrainian Volunteer Service set out to call elderly and vulnerable citizens to talk over the phone. According to the International Renaissance Foundation, conversation topics can be anything from gardening to history.
“My Phone Friend” was implemented as part of the UNICEF National Solidarity Campaign and was supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID.)
The project was founded by Anna Bondarenko. She is a 2018 recipient of the Kyiv Post’s Top 30 under 30 award for her work in establishing the Ukrainian Volunteer Service and is now the coordinator of My Phone Friend.
“The essence (of the project) is systemic, periodic emotional support, friendship between a young person (16-20 years old) and an elderly person who finds themself in isolation,” Bondarenko told the Kyiv Post. “Such a pair not only gets acquainted, but becomes real friends, talking on the phone every week for 15 minutes and sometimes for hours.”
The project aims to fight loneliness and improve the quality life of the elderly and other vulnerable populations most susceptible to COVID-19, who have to spend the most time in isolation.
Read more: In quarantine, elderly Ukrainians struggle with isolation, helplessness
The recipients of these calls come from all walks of life. And not all are elderly.
Bondarenko mentioned, in particular, a 38-year-old woman who had been blind for 30 years. She heard about My Phone Friend Project on the radio and reached out for greater companionship during the pandemic.
On the other side of the phone line, volunteers undergo training to teach them how to deal with uncomfortable or unpredictable situations before they are partnered with a senior citizen or other participant in the program. The volunteer then commits to phoning their partner on a regular basis, providing friendship and assistance when necessary.
The project was inspired by a similar initiative launched in the United Kingdom by Age UK and The Silver Line nonprofits. According to Age UK, in England alone, there are 1.4 million chronically lonely older people. The Ukrainian project aims to replicate the success of the British charity, the International Renaissance Foundation wrote. While still dwarfed in size by Age UK’s 250,000 volunteers, in just a few months the “My Phone Friend Project” has created a network of around 2,000 volunteers, most of whom have already been paired up with an elderly person.
Margarita Kharenko, a volunteer with the project from Melitopol, a city of over 150,000 people located 660 kilometers to the southeast of Kyiv, joined My Phone Friend after hearing about it from a coordinator at her local police department.
“I really liked the idea, so I decided to call,” she told the Kyiv Post. “I call my partner twice a week and we talk about different topics. It is extremely interesting to learn about people’s lives, their professions and different life situations.”
The project helped Kharenko not only to support vulnerable people across the country, but also to grow as an individual:
“Thanks to the project, I improved my communication skills…to better support a conversation on any topic. This kind of project helps to develop real communication between different generations and to reduce the gap between age groups. I understood how important communication is for older people and how much they need it.”
According to the project’s founder, the organization’s work covers multiple languages and different interests, but ultimately is founded on the importance of speaking and being heard.
The organizers have been blown away by the amount of support the My Phone Friend Project has received. The project was championed, primarily, by young Ukrainians.
“The results of this project exceeded our expectations,” Bondarenko stated. “More than 6,000 people registered to participate in the project, including more than 40% being young people aged 13-17. These are people who knowingly applied during quarantine to become phone friends. When we asked, “Why did you decide to register?”, many said that they miss their grandparents and therefore want to support others.”
The project continues to expand and is actively recruiting new volunteers to take part. Ukrainian or Russian speakers can call a toll-free hotline at +380 800 202 147 and leave an application. The organization expects that this winter will be particularly difficult for vulnerable people.
Bondarenko also said she was grateful for the attention the media had given to the project.
“There were more than 200 mentions about us in the media, even in newspapers written for retirees…,” she said. “Now our plan is to further develop the project.”
