Sostieni Aaron Dutenhoefer

I leave on my second summer trip to Ukraine on June 3 2026. I'll be spending the summer rebuilding homes destroyed or damaged in parts of northern Ukraine that were briefly occupied by Russians.

Last year my skills in construction and mentoring were well utilized and allowed a considerable amount of progress on the 10 houses and community centers we were working on. I saved a lot of time by optimizing processes and kept many volunteers safe by stopping unsafe practices.

The houses we are rebuilding belong to the elderly, women who lost their partner in the war, and some individuals that risked their own lives to hide and shelter neighbors or strangers from the Russian occupiers.

This year we are returning to the same dacha in rural Chernihiv oblast that a local generously allows us to set up and operate out of. The group is already looking forward to having both my construction skills and my cooking and baking prowess back in the camp. Key lime pies, chimichangas, and cinnamon tortilla chips with whipped cream made quite an impression last year.

I still need help funding my travel and covering some moderate expenses that can't be paused while I'm gone (maintaining car insurance, cell phone contract, etc.) I also like to purchase construction materials to donate to the camp or housing projects where I can, and to spend money in the local markets on soda, chips, and ice cream for my team each morning to keep them motivated and spend some money in the local economy. Last year we made many improvements to the camp including new WiFi repeaters to extend the signal, and upgrading the anemic electric water heater to a tankless on-demand unit that never runs out.

The location of the camp and most worksites is around 60 miles from the Russian border. There is substantial thought given to keeping the volunteers and camp safe.

That being said, Ukraine is an active warzone. No one in Ukraine is truly safe, and I'll be subject to that same risk to some degree. The organizers have said to expect to see Shahed drones flying overhead on the way to attack apartment buildings, schools, and hospitals in Kyiv. The Russians also did target the next camp over from us with two ballistic missiles last August when I was there, we heard the two blasts that killed two Danish de-miners and injured a half-dozen more.

With our camp now having been up for two summers, it's 100% that it's been noticed by Russian reconnaissance drones. We'll be watching the air alerts more closely and taking steps when Iskander, Kinzahl, or Zircon missile launches are detected. A missile launched from Rostov reaches Mach 8 just four minutes later and will slam into the ground at 5,000 MPH just a few minutes later in whatever part of Ukraine they target. It outruns the sound and affords you no warning. These missiles are also incredibly difficult to intercept, with Ukraine having roughly a 40% success rate shooting them down, compared to the 92% - 95% success rate intercepting the Shaheds and other drones.

I'm taking this step because we are witnessing a genocide playing out in Ukraine. The deliberate targeting of civilians, the bombing of cancer hospitals and playgrounds, the destruction of Mariupol and the tens of thousands of civilian lives lost cannot be tolerated. This must be answered, and if not by me, then who? I'm going for the same reason that so many Ukrainian bricklayers, bakers, teachers and taxi drivers picked up a rifle and headed to the front in 2022 - Because it must be done.

Here's a link to the NGO coordinating this project:

https://www.volunteeringukraine.com/en/volunteer-opportunities/repair-together

I hope you'll all consider donating again. This money does an enormous amount of good.