Ukraine: Temporary Housing Construction during the Ukraine-Russia War

In August and September of 2022, Cakum’s Founder and Managing Director, Aaron Birkbeck, undertook a trip to Ukraine supporting a 70-odd person team of volunteers to build temporary housing for families who had their homes destroyed by rockets/artillery/tanks. The Ukrainian Government estimated at the time that as many as 40,000 Ukrainians could perish in the winter that followed due to insufficient shelter/heating.

Aaron wanted to leverage his skills and give back in a meaningful way and support people directly impacted by the war.

He worked with colleagues in some villages around Makariv, just west of Kyiv, that were devastated during the war’s early period, including Irpin. He also visited Bucha, Kyiv, Borodyanka, Vinnytsia, and Lviv. The teams worked early morning to early evening every day over a little more than 3 weeks, building around 100 temporary houses to keep Ukrainians warm for the winter.

One house can be built in a day by seven people and costs about US$5,500 to build. The organizations that managed this project (and continue to work inside Ukraine!) are: YWAM Kyiv and Homes4Hope