“A cardboard burner. We put it in a can and we can pour paraffin in,“ said volunteer Aldis Silovs, who makes candles that are then taken to Ukraine. Since Russia's war against Ukraine, he has already made 12,000 candles for his hands.
"It is imperative to keep track of keeping the burner damp as a dry burner will be harder to ignite. These candles can be used to cook, to warm up in winter, and to have light. These are three basic functions,” Silovs said.
Silovs invites anyone interested in making candles.
Over a year, 100 000 such candles have been transported from Latvia to Ukraine with the help of volunteers.
“If you have a desire to support Ukraine in this way, there are candle workshops every Saturday at the hangar of the society “Your Friends” at Ventspils Street 50 [Riga]. If there is a wish, you can also arrange candle making in specific institutions or businesses, but then you have to contact “Your Friends” and you can arrange it all through them,” Silovs told LTV.
Candles like this can also be made at home. The main thing is not to heat paraffin too much – not bring it to a boil.
Beāte Bēvalde, spokeswoman for the society “Your Friends,” noted: “Anyone with questions about how to make them can safely contact us, the “Your Friends” society. Candles and candle remnants are also important to us, they can be delivered to Ventspils Street. [..] There's still [a need for] dry food, instant food, instant coffee, sweets, biscuits, nuts.”
Comfortable clothing is also needed for those in hospitals, winter sleeping bags, and tourist mats. People who like to knit can help Ukrainians with their knits.
“We encourage knitting [..] and bringing socks to the Latvian Post, handing them over to the society “Your Friends”. These socks are sent to Ukraine, as they were last year, both to the Ukrainian army and civilians,” Bévalde noted.
