Once again, we get convinced by how strong people are our winners of the #VARTO program. A great example of this is Natalya Gumba, the mother of the fallen defender Astamur Gumba.
Astamur was born in Abkhazia, a territory of Georgia which was occupied by Russia. So he lived most of his life in Ukraine. He joined the ranks of the Territorial Defense Forces on the first day of the full-scale Russian invasion.
He first fought in the Kyiv region, in the city of Irpin, then he went to the eastern front. Unfortunately, Astamur died on June 28 near the village of Dementiivka, Dergachiv district, Kharkiv region.
But even after this tragic event, Natalya did not get despaired. She showed her personal strength and decided to honor her son’s memory, Natalya founded the Astamur Gumba Peace Fund. It is planned that the Foundation will unite those who study conflicts and will explore the possibilities of overcoming conflicts that take millions of lives and often simmer for years; the Fund will be engaged in the research of conflicts in Southeast and Eastern Europe.
Natalya is an international journalist. In the summer of 2014, she and a team of like-minded people organized the photo exhibition “Donbas: War and Peace”, which at the time was exhibited in the European Parliament. Therefore, she knows how important the information component is in the Russian-Ukrainian war.
Natalya is the winner of the first competitive program #VARTO from the Ukrainian Veterans Foundation of the Ministry of Veterans Affairs of Ukraine. With the help of the funds received from the UVF, she plans to produce visual content, for example, social advertising promoting the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Natalia is going to use the help for the acquisition of technical equipment, training in video making, editing, etc. It should become, according to Ms. Natalia’s plan, a full-fledged production studio with professional equipment, lighting, etc.
“Yes, my son died. But in a virtual sense, his life goes on. Therefore, this project is also his project. And we have to keep his memory alive,” says Natalya.
We support the strong. We make the strong stronger. The story of Mrs. Natalia, who lost her son in the war, but did not lose her yearning for victory, and she shows it so vividly.
