There are situations that really stick in your memory. For me, one such situation occurred when MND, together with the Olena Zelenska Foundation, handed over equipment purchased for foster families in the Poltava region of Ukraine. Our company supported a total of 32 families, purchasing everything possible – household appliances, school supplies for children, toys and other basic items to make everyday life easier for the children.

Seeing with my own eyes a simple Ukrainian family with two biological and five adopted children who sincerely rejoice in the most ordinary things that most of us don't even notice was a very powerful experience. In the reality of life in a country where Russian missiles and drones arrive daily and hundreds of young men and women are dying on the front lines, such situations open up a whole new perspective on what is important.

The journey there and back

But back to the beginning. The symbolic handover of items to one of the families was planned for the evening of 4 November this year. We have a 720-kilometre journey ahead of us from Lviv, where MND has its office, heading east. We set off early in the morning with Lukáš Svozil, Volodya Stebletsky and driver Adam Skripal, planning to meet Olena Zelenska in the evening and visit the foster family – Hryhorii and Natalia Pichkur and their seven children.

The journey is incredibly long and tiring. Few people in Czechia realise how huge Ukraine is. Kyiv alone is 540 kilometres from Lviv, roughly the same distance as from Prague to Warsaw, and then we continue further east. The landscape is monotonous, with endless plains, fields and small towns passing by outside the windows.

We arrive in Kiev in the afternoon. We drive past Maidan, filled with photographs of fallen soldiers and flags of their countries. From Kiev, we continue to the Poltava region. The roads are getting narrower and more broken. Our destination: the village of Netrativka. Darkness engulfs the landscape, the road practically ends, and the number of police cars and patrols with dogs makes it clear that something extraordinary is happening here.

The house where the family lives is a former small school. It is simple, clean and tidy. When Olena Zelenska arrives, she greets everyone personally. Then we go inside. We take off our shoes on the porch. The First Lady is also given white slippers. It's a detail that catches my eye at first glance. No one here is playing the big shot.

Natalia is clearly excited. I doubt there have ever been so many people in the house. The furnishings are very modest. The children's rooms have only bunk beds, wardrobes, desks and a few pictures on the walls. We were first welcomed to the house by Volodymyr Kohut, head of the Poltava military administration. First Lady Olena Zelenska then emphasised that helping foster families is extremely important at the moment.

"We want every child to have a home, care and the opportunity to grow. It is important for us not only to respond to urgent needs, but also to create lasting conditions in which children grow up surrounded by love, safety and support," Olena Zelenska noted.

Lukáš adds that MND will definitely continue to provide assistance in Ukraine. "Our contribution is the least we can offer as a company in these difficult times of war in Ukraine. After all, helping children knows no boundaries or limitations."

The First Lady and Lukáš, on behalf of the Olena Zelenska Foundation, then present the family with basic equipment such as a washing machine, two laptops for the children and many other necessary items. The children also receive school supplies and Lego. Everything is packed in new school bags, which make them incredibly happy.

A group photo is taken, and Olena Zelenska poses separately with the children. It is half past eight, we say goodbye and set off on the 720-kilometre journey back to Lviv. A long night awaits us. And a lot of experiences to absorb.