A Singaporean couple built 500 homes on the Ukrainian frontlines as the war raged around them. Here's how they did it.

• Lam Baoyan and Rudy Taslim are a Singaporean couple who built 500 emergency homes in Ukraine.
• They focus mostly on warzone locations and the frontlines, helping the poor, elderly, and disabled.
• They told BI that together, they've traveled to Ukraine seven times in the last two years.

In Bucha, the first person who saw Lam Baoyan couldn't stop screaming.

Lam had been offered a chance to see the frontlines in Ukraine in May 2022. As she entered the city, an elderly Ukrainian woman spotted Lam's east Asian features, and fearing Lam was a Russian, started sobbing, Lam said.

"I have nothing left to give you," an interpreter translated, Lam recounted to Business Insider.