When we met Valentin (https://www.instagram.com/stories/suitcaseofvalik/) a few months ago and told us about his idea for a musical tour of Ukraine, we loved the concept straight away.

Bringing comfort through music to people who have been enduring a state of war for the last two years was something we couldn't resist.

However, at first, we sometimes felt a little alone in the face of certain reactions, sometimes sceptical.

Was it really a priority to allocate a small budget to this project? Wouldn't it have been better to reserve these funds for our usual programmes: books, powerbanks, computers, generators or board games?

Knowing the situation in Ukraine from our frequent visits there, we noted a real drop in the population's morale during our last missions.

Fatigue due to the constant alerts that interrupt sleep, concern for loved ones who are fighting and sadness at the loss of loved ones at the front, anxiety about a winter that promises to be extremely harsh due to power cuts that will have a major impact on home heating... everything is difficult in the country today.

In addition to all these factors, the procrastination of Western countries over the delivery of certain weapons of major importance to Ukraine's ability to defend itself and gain the upper hand has, over the last few months, added to a feeling of abandonment.

In this context, this project had two raisons d'être: to create gentle interludes to forget the war for the time of a few notes, and to show that we are not forgetting them, that a French musician wanted to leave his comfort and come to meet them, taking real risks (Kherson, for example, 3 km from the front line, is constantly bombed), to bring them, at his level, the comfort he could.

And we don't regret our choice for a second, because the feedback has been so positive. Valentin played for children in orphanages, for the elderly in centres for internally displaced people, in air raid shelters, in hospitals and rehabilitation centres for amputees... Everywhere, the emotion was there.

We invite you to share the intensity of what Valentin has given and received in this short interview full of humanity.