YouTubing life with a disability to empower people

Dima, Ukrainian refugee, had to flee Ukraine with his teenage sister, 4-year-old brother, and Ianina: Dima's mother, coach and fan of her boy, who was included in the Ukrainian Paralympic team in 2021. Today, they are safely hosted in the Constructorul Health Rehabilitation / Refugee Accommodation Center supported by the International Organization for Migration in the Republic of Moldova.

"If you want to achieve something, you have to work hard. I have a strict schedule, just like a businessman. Everything is timed to the minute."

YouTuber, athlete, an innate orientation to leadership, Dmitriy, Dima to his family and friends, is a 24-year-old man living with disability since the age of 3, when he began to face problems with his walking and speaking.

In March 2022, he had to flee Ukraine with his teenage sister, 4-year-old brother, and Ianina: Dima's mother, coach and fan of her boy, who was included in the Ukrainian Paralympic team in 2021.

Dima and his family lived in the city of Mykolaiv, which had been bombed for weeks at a time since the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine. During the interminable attack, they found a shelter in the basement of their house. They had to climb up and down the stairs with no electricity and darkness everywhere due to the windows being taped shut to prevent the cold from entering and causing injuries from broken glass.

When Russian troops entered Kherson, rumors of looting, stealing alcohol from abandoned shops, drunken fights and abusing young women became more and more insistent. Ianina was very scared for her daughter and decided to leave Ukraine.

“Now all my children are with me, safely hosted in the Health Rehabilitation Center in Chisinau. With the great support we received, we created all the same conditions that Dima had at home in Ukraine.” Ianina said.

At the Constructorul Health Rehabilitation / Refugee Accommodation Center, Dima immediately restored his habits to his tight rhythms: breakfast at 8am, work out at 9am, swallowing exercises after lunch time, then a walk, speech therapy, video editing, chatting with his followers and his best friend from Mariupol who now lives in Spain, and so on until a well-deserved rest in his bedroom, which he found very comfortable"

The gym does not have modern equipment, but that didn’t stop Dima from training regularly and hard every day with a timer to remind him to stretch every thirty minutes. “Ana Kurkurina, three-time Ukrainian world champion in powerlifting in 2008, 2010 and 2012, trained Dima,” his mother says proudly.

Dima's enthusiasm is not limited to physical exercise, his passion for sports and wellness, but spreads into an irrepressible wish to share with others his desire to live, his energy, his positive vision of life to face obstacles, difficulties and mistrust.

Dima wants to help others whenever possible, and he also does it online thanks to his passion and talent in the use of social media. In tandem with Ianina, he opened an Instagram and YouTube page that currently have 3,288 and 929 subscribers respectively and are constantly increasing. Followers who witness the experience of the power of joy of living from an exceptional testimonial who edits all the videos uploaded to his YouTube platform without any support.

He is keen to say that the goal is not to make money, but showing other people with disabilities that they can still have a full life. "The main message is that cerebral palsy is not a death sentence!"

"Dmitriy is truly an excellent example for everyone around him, including people with disability who are hosted in our center. Illness is not a judgment, you can live with it, and the quality of life can and should be improved. His aspiration to life is an example for many," said Alexei Zlatovcen, the director of the Constructorul Health Rehabilitation/Refugee Accommodation Center where Dima and his family are hosted.

The International Organization for Migration in the Republic of Moldova equipped the Rehabilitation Center with medical diagnostic and rehabilitation devices with the generous support of the German Federal Foreign Office and supported the Health Rehabilitation/Refugee Accommodation Center through mental health and psychosocial activities funded by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM). The assistance included referrals to mental health specialized services and family doctors. Furthermore, IOM will soon install an elevator, access ramp and renovate the room adapted for people living with disabilities with the financial support of the people of Japan.

"We currently have 10 people living with severe disabilities in our center. People who cannot walk after strokes and spine injuries. They really need it. Having an elevator and additional facilities will have a critical impact on improving their lives and will allow other people living with disabilities receiving medical care and rehabilitation in this center," Alexei said.

Dima is enthusiastic for this initiative that will change the life of many people who are receiving treatments in the Health Rehabilitation Center and for those who are living in the Center: “All of us need support sometimes to keep going.”, he said. Ianina echoed him with his grandmother’s adage: “If it is badly at home, just look out the window.”