Caregiver Liliya Khodunay cuts Anna’s hair in Anna’s house in Milan, Italy, in February 2023.
Chiara Negrello
conceal caption
toggle caption
Chiara Negrello
Caregiver Liliya Khodunay cuts Anna’s hair in Anna’s house in Milan, Italy, in February 2023.
Chiara Negrello
Previous to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, amongst European Union member states, Italy was house to one of many largest communities of individuals of Ukrainian origin. Based on knowledge from the EU, over 200,000 Ukrainian residents had been residing in Italy as of late 2020. This migration made them some of the rooted international teams within the nation, largely composed of girls employed in household and well being providers for the aged.
Photographer Chiara Negrello’s grandmother Lidia Maggiolo was one among them. In 2020, after spending a number of months within the hospital as a consequence of COVID-19, when Lidia returned house, she was now not autonomous. For that reason, her household determined to rent Lyubov Mala, a middle-aged Ukrainian caregiver. The undertaking “Caring for our Previous” begins in Negrello’s childhood house, the place she was inquisitive about Lyubov’s selections to stay and work in Italy.
Khrystyna Mala, Lyubov Mala and Milana Dorosh applaud photographer Chiara Negrello’s grandmother Lidia as she pushes her wheelchair by herself for the primary time since returning house from the hospital in April 2022. Lidia was skinny, respiration poorly, unable to feed herself and bedridden when she returned from the hospital. Lyubov helped Lidia enhance so she may accomplish small duties on her personal.
Chiara Negrello
conceal caption
toggle caption
Chiara Negrello
Khrystyna Mala, Lyubov Mala and Milana Dorosh applaud photographer Chiara Negrello’s grandmother Lidia as she pushes her wheelchair by herself for the primary time since returning house from the hospital in April 2022. Lidia was skinny, respiration poorly, unable to feed herself and bedridden when she returned from the hospital. Lyubov helped Lidia enhance so she may accomplish small duties on her personal.
Chiara Negrello
In March 2022, one month after the battle in Ukraine began, a part of Lyubov’s household lived at Lidia’s home. At the moment, six individuals from 4 generations and two completely different cultures had been residing in a small condominium in Rovigo, Italy. Cohabitation was not straightforward as a consequence of completely different languages, habits and desires. Dwelling collectively was a collision in some methods, but additionally a solidarity encounter at a time of large struggling.
Olena Melnyk tunes the bandura, Ukraine’s nationwide instrument, in Ravenna, Italy, in January 2023. Olena works as a caregiver, however she studied to be an expert bandora musician. Immediately, she makes use of the instrument to carry individuals nearer to her tradition.
Chiara Negrello
conceal caption
toggle caption
Chiara Negrello
Olena Melnyk tunes the bandura, Ukraine’s nationwide instrument, in Ravenna, Italy, in January 2023. Olena works as a caregiver, however she studied to be an expert bandora musician. Immediately, she makes use of the instrument to carry individuals nearer to her tradition.
Chiara Negrello
Lyubov Mala huggs her daughter Khrystyna Mala the morning she arrived in Italy from Ukraine after the start of the conflict on March 3, 2022. Lyubov was relieved as a result of Khrystyna managed to make it to Italy, arriving by bus a number of weeks after the battle began.
Chiara Negrello
conceal caption
toggle caption
Chiara Negrello
Lyubov Mala huggs her daughter Khrystyna Mala the morning she arrived in Italy from Ukraine after the start of the conflict on March 3, 2022. Lyubov was relieved as a result of Khrystyna managed to make it to Italy, arriving by bus a number of weeks after the battle began.
Chiara Negrello
The occupation of caregiver is a low-paying job in Italy, though most individuals who apply have a superb degree of training and plenty of had been certified staff earlier than emigrating. They expertise a piece expertise characterised by isolation, subordination, excessive depth of labor and emotional stress. Throughout the home partitions, many live-in caregivers are in shut contact 24 hours a day with the particular person they look after. The inevitable consequence of this circumstance is a negotiation of privateness, which on either side is a really skinny line. Caregivers are there on the aged particular person’s most susceptible moments: they alter them, wash them, feed them.
Caregiver Maria Oleksiivna Fedoryshyn’s shadow seems as she goes to the kitchen to organize the lunch for Tommaso, the person she cares for, in Bologna, Italy, in December 2022. Maria was very important in supporting Tommaso and his household when he returned from the hospital after he had a stroke, serving to him get better and supporting his spouse and son. Maria has lived in Italy for 20 years.
Chiara Negrello
conceal caption
toggle caption
Chiara Negrello
Caregiver Maria Oleksiivna Fedoryshyn’s shadow seems as she goes to the kitchen to organize the lunch for Tommaso, the person she cares for, in Bologna, Italy, in December 2022. Maria was very important in supporting Tommaso and his household when he returned from the hospital after he had a stroke, serving to him get better and supporting his spouse and son. Maria has lived in Italy for 20 years.
Chiara Negrello
Caregiver Liliya Khodunay responds to messages on the cellphone throughout a break in Milan, Italy, in December 2023. For individuals who expertise the battle from afar, this “social” expertise is far more amplified. Telephones should not solely a technique to keep in contact but additionally to remain consistently up to date on the information. The cellphone impacts their temper, would not allow them to sleep at night time and rings on a regular basis.
Chiara Negrello
conceal caption
toggle caption
Chiara Negrello
Caregiver Liliya Khodunay responds to messages on the cellphone throughout a break in Milan, Italy, in December 2023. For individuals who expertise the battle from afar, this “social” expertise is far more amplified. Telephones should not solely a technique to keep in contact but additionally to remain consistently up to date on the information. The cellphone impacts their temper, would not allow them to sleep at night time and rings on a regular basis.
Chiara Negrello
Ukrainian caregivers and their household collect to have fun Ukrainian Christmas, though not on the exact day of the vacation, in Bologna, Italy, in January 2023. Persevering with to have fun holidays regardless of the grief of the conflict permits Ukrainians in Italy really feel nearer to their homeland.
Chiara Negrello
conceal caption
toggle caption
Chiara Negrello
Ukrainian caregivers and their household collect to have fun Ukrainian Christmas, though not on the exact day of the vacation, in Bologna, Italy, in January 2023. Persevering with to have fun holidays regardless of the grief of the conflict permits Ukrainians in Italy really feel nearer to their homeland.
Chiara Negrello
The caregivers expertise their employers’ houses as if they’ve all the time been a part of them, sleeping of their kids’s outdated rooms and transferring from place to put as outdated household photographs cling on the partitions watching their actions. Nevertheless, they’re additionally pressured to compromise their private house, discovering themselves in an setting they name “house” however that’s not solely correct. When they’re allowed to take a break from work, they proceed to sense the presence of the particular person they look after, and are on the alert if the particular person calls out, in want.
With the continuing battle between Russia and Ukraine, many caregivers have determined to remain in Italy and help their very own households, financially, from afar. Nevertheless, experiencing battle at a distance causes nice tensions that may additionally undermine the connection with the aged particular person they look after. They’re typically nervous and have much less endurance, isolating themselves with their telephones and studying the information, transferring to different rooms to textual content or make a fast name.
Individuals attend providers on the Ukrainian church in Bologna, Italy, when the neighborhood was praying for the tensions that had been already looming between Russia and Ukraine in January 2022. Many caregivers use their free time to attend church. This isn’t solely a technique to ease the ache of distance but additionally to get along with pals with whom they’ll share widespread considerations.
Chiara Negrello
conceal caption
toggle caption
Chiara Negrello
Individuals attend providers on the Ukrainian church in Bologna, Italy, when the neighborhood was praying for the tensions that had been already looming between Russia and Ukraine in January 2022. Many caregivers use their free time to attend church. This isn’t solely a technique to ease the ache of distance but additionally to get along with pals with whom they’ll share widespread considerations.
Chiara Negrello
Maria Oleksiivna Fedoryshyn is on the cellphone along with her household in Ukraine on a morning after intense in a single day shelling whereas she lives in Bologna, Italy, in October 2022. Maria’s son is a soldier who has been combating on the entrance because the first days of the invasion. Maria wakes up within the morning instantly checking her cellphone to make sure that her son continues to be alive.
Chiara Negrello
conceal caption
toggle caption
Chiara Negrello
Maria Oleksiivna Fedoryshyn is on the cellphone along with her household in Ukraine on a morning after intense in a single day shelling whereas she lives in Bologna, Italy, in October 2022. Maria’s son is a soldier who has been combating on the entrance because the first days of the invasion. Maria wakes up within the morning instantly checking her cellphone to make sure that her son continues to be alive.
Chiara Negrello
Milana Dorosh performs on the park in Rovigo, Italy, in April 2022. Milana, her mom and brother escaped to this city after conflict broke out in Ukraine.
Chiara Negrello
conceal caption
toggle caption
Chiara Negrello
Milana Dorosh performs on the park in Rovigo, Italy, in April 2022. Milana, her mom and brother escaped to this city after conflict broke out in Ukraine.
Chiara Negrello
The caregivers share their fears in regards to the conflict with the aged individuals they look after, who empathize with them however are unsure what to say to offer consolation. Bedrooms change into the live-in caregivers’ shelters, and though they’re locations the place they needed to adapt, immediately they’re the rooms they’ve adorned and the place they really feel protected.
Liliya Khodunay stands along with her pal Vira Zhmurko whereas they chat with household of their free time in Milan, Italy, in February 2023. Liliya and Vira are from the identical metropolis in Ukraine, which has been below assault because the first days of the invasion. They’ve been pals for a very long time and have lived collectively since Russia invaded Ukraine, as Vira was visiting Italy and couldn’t return house.
Chiara Negrello
conceal caption
toggle caption
Chiara Negrello
Liliya Khodunay stands along with her pal Vira Zhmurko whereas they chat with household of their free time in Milan, Italy, in February 2023. Liliya and Vira are from the identical metropolis in Ukraine, which has been below assault because the first days of the invasion. They’ve been pals for a very long time and have lived collectively since Russia invaded Ukraine, as Vira was visiting Italy and couldn’t return house.
Chiara Negrello
A view of a window in Vira Zhmurko and Liliya Khodunay’s home in Milan in February 2023. Because the conflict broke out and they’re pressured to stay by means of it at a distance, most of the Ukrainian girls describe a way of vacancy and silence inside them.
Chiara Negrello
conceal caption
toggle caption
Chiara Negrello
A view of a window in Vira Zhmurko and Liliya Khodunay’s home in Milan in February 2023. Because the conflict broke out and they’re pressured to stay by means of it at a distance, most of the Ukrainian girls describe a way of vacancy and silence inside them.
Chiara Negrello
Lyubov’s hand tenderly caresses Lidia’s face. Lyubov, who has lived in Italy since 2007, began caring for Lidia in January 2021. Lyubov performed a significant function in my grandmother’s bodily and psychological restoration. The 2 constructed a robust bond in a short while. Inside a 12 months, my grandmother was reaching small successes day-after-day with Lyubov’s assist.
Chiara Negrello
conceal caption
toggle caption
Chiara Negrello
Lyubov’s hand tenderly caresses Lidia’s face. Lyubov, who has lived in Italy since 2007, began caring for Lidia in January 2021. Lyubov performed a significant function in my grandmother’s bodily and psychological restoration. The 2 constructed a robust bond in a short while. Inside a 12 months, my grandmother was reaching small successes day-after-day with Lyubov’s assist.
Chiara Negrello
Caregivers’ days are punctuated by the cellphone ringing and the most recent updates coming in from the numerous chats. Ukrainian girls all the time test the areas the place Russia has attacked, for worry that their pals or household may be affected. The caregivers are particularly involved in regards to the aged and kids near them, since they’re probably the most susceptible. They frequently write and name to make sure that all is nicely and need to be up to date on something that occurs.
Acquainted phrases come up when referring conflict or battle, reminiscent of invasion, borders, loss, compromise, withdrawal and irruption. In their very own means, caregivers additionally expertise these phrases of their day by day lives whereas caring for individuals in an unfamiliar nation: invasion of bodily and emotional private house, negotiation between the 2 sides, lack of their intimacy and withdrawal from their homeland and household. They’re residing by means of a conflict from afar and going through a battle inside themselves.
Clothes hangs on a mechanical lifter in Anna’s house in Milan in December 2022.
Chiara Negrello
conceal caption
toggle caption
Chiara Negrello
Clothes hangs on a mechanical lifter in Anna’s house in Milan in December 2022.
Chiara Negrello
Caregiver Vira Zhmurko (proper) holds Anna’s hand in Milan in November 2023. Vira had come to Italy a number of days earlier than Feb. 24, 2022, to substitute for a pal who needed to return to Ukraine. Nevertheless, after the conflict broke out, Vira discovered herself caught as her metropolis was being bombed by Russia.
Chiara Negrello
conceal caption
toggle caption
Chiara Negrello
Caregiver Vira Zhmurko (proper) holds Anna’s hand in Milan in November 2023. Vira had come to Italy a number of days earlier than Feb. 24, 2022, to substitute for a pal who needed to return to Ukraine. Nevertheless, after the conflict broke out, Vira discovered herself caught as her metropolis was being bombed by Russia.
Chiara Negrello
Chiara Negrello is a documentary photographer primarily based between Italy and Southeast Asia.