A generous gift from Adelaide to Ukraine is helping restore education, connection and hope.
When Diane Howarth, founder of Rebuilding Schools Ukraine, saw displaced Ukrainians arriving in Adelaide, she felt the weight of their loss.
Diane’s connection to Ukraine runs deep. She is the daughter of a Ukrainian WWII soldier who was displaced to England, before the family settled in Adelaide when she was four.
Diane, an educator, volunteered her time teaching English to help them find their feet in a new country. Many were older women, separated from their homes, their families, and everything familiar.
“We had a group of about 50,” she says. “Not just learning English but finding security, comfort, and how to navigate life in Adelaide,” she says.
For two years, Diane showed up, building connection as much as language. As they began to settle into their new lives, her focus shifted to those left behind.
“The people here were getting looked after,” she says. “The people there are still suffering and need all the help we can give them.”
For a milestone birthday Diane asked friends and family to donate to Ukraine, instead of buying her gifts. That simple idea became Rebuilding Schools Ukraine, which has now raised $200,000 to restore education.
Today, those funds are rebuilding a school that was destroyed during the early months of the invasion in Kherson.
“The Russians used it as their headquarters,” Diane explains. “It was completely trashed.”
“The school used to be very beautiful before our enemies struck it … As we speak, it is being repaired, but we need a lot more help and strength to restore it completely, because we want to hear not air raid sirens, but children’s laughter.” — School director, Kherson
The repaired school will include classrooms, a kitchen and dining area, but the impact goes far beyond the building.
“Some of these kids haven’t had a school to go to for three or four years,” Diane says.
“I strongly believe that every child deserves the right to a decent education. If they’re lying in their beds at night listening to missiles and drones, being able to go to school, share their emotions and have some fun — that changes everything.
“We want children to grow up happy, not bitter and resentful … and show them that the world cares.”
The project is also supporting the wider community, creating jobs for local men who are unable to serve in the military.
“They’re too old to be deployed, or have a disability … so we’re employing them and giving them hope as well,” Diane says.
“The principal is beside herself,” Diane says. “To think that people so far away care enough to help … it’s just amazing.”
Much of the foundation’s support has come through community, from quiz nights and movie screenings to corporate events and conversations that turn into donations. It’s a reminder that giving doesn’t always start with big gestures. Sometimes, it starts with a conversation.
“People tell someone, who tells someone, who tells someone,” she says. “And then suddenly, donations come in and you don’t even know where they came from.
“It’s not just about money … you do it because it makes you feel better as a human being.”
As the school nears completion, the impact of that first simple idea continues to grow.
A place to learn. A place to connect. A place to begin again.
All made possible by people choosing to give.
