Donations for Ukrainian refugees (Update #2)

Decided to write this on my blog rather than by email since there were some embedded videos. 

As I was leaving the distribution point, where many Ukrainian families had picked up some essentials, I noticed a mother and young daughter standing at the street corner looking at their phone. They seemed to be looking for directions somewhere so I offered to help. I didn’t want to be pushy or creepy, but since our apartment was prepared to have a couple guests, I was prepared to offer them a place to sleep. I thought maybe they were looking for a shelter or a place to pick up more necessities. I asked if I could help and the mom smiled sheepishly and said “We’re looking for McDonalds”! 

I laughed a bit at first and led them towards the Golden Arches. Turns out they were in the mood for a treat. They were from Kharkiv, one of the first Russian targets and a city that has faced heavy destruction. I didn’t dare ask about their friends and family. Luckily they found a host in Warsaw and are now waiting (hoping) until visa restrictions are lifted for refugees to the US because she wants to live with her sister in Michigan. The daughter is 7 years old and seemed in good spirits. She was able to say hello in both English and Polish, and could tell me her age in English. She had been given a stuffed penguin toy at the distribution point but as we crossed a busy intersection she noticed it had fallen out of her bag. We walked back a bit but didn’t see it. She had a look of disappointment in her face but then sweetly said “that’s ok” to her mom. It was like she had already seen so much sadness and disappointment that a little stuffed animal didn’t bother her. But she said it with a true smile on her face like everything was going to be OK. It broke my heart a bit. I wanted to give her 1000 stuffed animals. 

These types of stories are more and more common, as the city fills with refugees, some of whom are ready to try adjusting to daily life (there are still thousands in the shelters where that’s harder to do). There’s a natural curiosity from the locals as to what they have been through, but it’s still too early to expect anyone to talk about it. It was reassuring to see a spark in the little girl's eye, and to know that her spirit was not broken. Let’s hope it stays that way.

With the attack on the Ukrainian military base close to the Polish border, there is a bit more attention being paid, but we are still "comforted" by NATO support. It just might mean even more refugees fleeing Western Ukraine, which was previously considered safe. 

Anyway, here’s another small update from the last few days. 

Along with a couple friends we collected some things to donate to a shelter for Ukrainian orphans near Warsaw. A friend drove down there and so far they have things under control. We have thought about (with my triathlon club) ways to organize activities for the kids to keep their mind off things. Maybe later in the spring. 

We made a couple more trips to take bags of food and hygiene products to the train station. There’s been some improvement in the logistics after a couple weeks of them figuring things out, and some bigger organizations offering support. There have also been a few more large scale accommodations opened, like some convention centers or sports halls, easing the burden on the train stations. 

One of the new shelters (photo from their social media page)

Distribution point at one of the train stations

Neighborhood community centers have also turned into shelters and/or collection/distribution centers of donated goods. Refugees can go “shopping” at the one by our apartment (everything is free), where we normally swim. Our little “brother” and “sister” from the Big Brothers Big Sisters program in Poland, Arek and Ola, helped us take stuff down there. This time there was a request for wafer cookies for the kids, along with pasta, rice and other grains for families to cook. 

The "needs" list at the local community center

Me with grown up Arek and Ola

Thanks to all of you, we were also able to make a big donation to a fire station in the Warsaw suburbs (Milanowek). A friend of mine lives there, and he has been very active in hosting and helping people. Their local fire station is serving as the town hub for refugee activity, and has set up a shelter. They recruit refugees from the train stations and reception points to convince them they don’t need to be in the city center (it’s not feasible for the city if everyone wants to stay in the center). People generally live in bigger apartments or houses in Milanowek, so there’s a lot more space. At last count there were around 1000 refugees staying there, which is amazing. The fire station collects items and is able to help with anything the refugees need, organize beds in the residents’ homes, and provide transportation when needed. My friend filmed a bit of how it looks down there so you could all see. This was a few days ago: it’s much busier now. Those guys are doing a great job!

The fire station in Milanowek

Short tour of the Milanówek fire station, courtesy of Andy Eddles

Inside the fire station pantry, courtesy of Andy Eddles

And finally, here's a video from the Warsaw Mayor explaining the current situation in Warsaw.

Thanks again for your generosity, and for reading this. More to come.

Tristan 

Support of Ukrainian refugees - a Polish perspective

I'm very inspired by the support of refugees from the Poles, and the desire to help out is contagious. Volunteers coordinate matching accommodation supply with needs just because they have a big network and connections in Ukraine. People donate clothes and shoes and help each other find someone who needs them. People ask strangers on random Facebook groups if anyone has a stroller or baby bed they could use, only to receive 50 positive responses in the first 10 minutes. Or how about these scenes from the train station the other day: seeing a Polish family walk in with a bag of homemade sandwiches, marked with "Veggie" or "Meat" on the wrappers, ready to pass them out, and caring enough to find out if the other person is a meat eater or not; the lady in the shop putting 50 applesauce tubes in her basket to buy for the kids sleeping there, walking away, then coming back to put in another 50; or the guy walking around with a box full of oranges, passing them out like a vendor at a baseball game, with a smile on his face and not a trace of pity in his eyes, so whoever says "yes please, I'm hungry" doesn't have to feel any shame - it's so damn powerful.

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For those who are wondering what it looks like in Warsaw, I can try to provide some perspective here...though I'm not as much in the middle of it like many other local heroes are. The volunteers working at these support points, those going to the border to bring supplies and transport people to wherever they want to go, people organizing or providing housing, working with NGOs on ways to help.  One friend even drove INTO Ukraine to bring out a family he didn't even know, who would have had a hard time escaping otherwise. 

There are thousands of women, children and elderly (and their pets) coming into Warsaw and other cities in Poland every day (hundreds of thousands in total by now). It's a horrible situation for them to be running from their homes, hiding in bomb shelters, just looking for a safe moment to try to get out. It's probably hard enough to just come to the decision to leave, as it might mean never seeing their home again. Someone I know by name (but not personally) had his home destroyed by a bomb, but luckily he was in a bomb shelter at the time. I try not to get too mad/sad about the root cause of it all since it drives me crazy not being able to stop it...so we are focusing our attention on what we can do. 

There are a lot of actions on social media and through organizations to find temporary housing for those who can't afford it - mostly staying in makeshift shelters or with individuals/families around the country. There's a massive effort to match supply and demand via Facebook, NGOs, or even individual volunteer "brokers". It's pretty chaotic but everyone is doing their best. Many of these people don't have much money, or access to their bank accounts, or find that their Ukrainian cash is useless here (many exchanges are not accepting it). So after all the madness with the attacks at home, and all the madness getting to and through the border (which can take a couple days), they have to try to survive here with all of their possessions packed in a suitcase. 

The city is getting saturated, and although there is a lot of momentum with the volunteers and donations, it's scary and sad to think how this will look in a week or a month or beyond, as numbers keep growing and volunteer fatigue kicks in. Many other European countries are willing to take refugees but as you can imagine a lot of these people are hoping this will end soon so they can go back home (if it's still standing). They don't really want to trek all the way to the Netherlands or Spain or whatever. At the same time, it would be nice if some non-EU "giants" (like the US) would drop visa restrictions for them, to not only let them start a new life (or connect with family), but also to ease the pressure on Poland, Romania, Slovakia and other nearby countries. 

In any case, it's been overwhelming to see how the locals are working to support in any way possible. We still haven't hosted a family yet...we've been contacted by a few coordinators but things have fallen through for one reason or another. Since we can only offer the living room sofa and floor mattress, and we have only one bathroom, we can only comfortably host 1-2 people max (considering their comfort and privacy as well), while most people coming in so far are bigger families. One of our possible matches actually told us she didn't want to disturb us after she found out we have a baby, because she has 2 rowdy and loud kids - she was very considerate and went back into the pool to find somewhere else to stay. So we still wait. 

There are several reception points going up around Warsaw, and the train stations are overflowing with people passing through, sleeping there, trying to figure out their next move. There are dozens of volunteers at the 3 main stations in Warsaw 24/7, managing separate stations of food, hot and cold drinks, hygiene supplies and medicine, diapers, clothes, and even an area for kids to play. Everything seems to be donated by random individuals or local businesses/NGOs constantly leaving bags of stuff at each station. It's heartbreaking to see what used to be a waiting room at the central station filled with women and children, with a security guard at the door, blankets and pillows spread across the floor, trying to keep a positive spirit while waiting for any kind of good news (I'm honestly not sure if many of them have any specific plan...some may try to settle in and work in Warsaw, but it's not easy). Every day there is a desperate plea from the train station volunteers on social media for anyone who sees the post to bring water or medicine or diaper cream or home made sandwiches (the needs change hourly). Over the weekend we've gone to the central station a few times to try and provide the most urgent needs.

Central Station in Warsaw

So far (with the huge help of donations from friends abroad), Zosia and I have been able to drop off 100's of diapers, baby wipes, diaper creams, lotions, cough syrup, nose sprays, shampoos and body wash, ibuprofen, applesauce packs, juices, cat food, and chocolate eggs (the kind with a toy inside). In the next day or two we'll probably do another run for more of the same (still waiting for Florian to be able to push a shopping cart). One of the local drug store chains (Rossmann) has a promotion for a 40% discount for most items bought to support refugees, so we'll take advantage of that. 

A few thoughts:
- Sometimes I'm sad, sometimes mad, often both. I don't understand the (even fake) justification for this war. 
- As new parents, it was hard enough to travel from Warsaw to Seattle with a baby even if we had weeks to prepare all of the supplies, and we knew more or less when we'd arrive at our comfortable destination. I feel so bad for these mothers and kids not knowing when they'll have a clean diaper or a sterilized bottle or any necessary medicine or creams. 
- The politics of whether or not NATO or the US should get involved are complicated - and I hate that
- If China (hypothetically) invaded Canada and a bunch of refugees crossed the border into Seattle, would Seattle help with this same level of energy? I'd like to think so. 
- If Spain (hypothetically) attacked Mexico and a bunch of refugees wanted to cross the border into the US, would it be the same?  
- What's the difference between this situation and war refugees coming from countries further away, like Asia or the Middle East? Maybe neighbors are more willing to help each other when they have a long, similar history of cooperation (and fighting), having suffered through the same crap and having similar enemies?
- I've heard that non-Ukrainian refugees who are also fleeing from Ukraine are treated worse at the border than Ukrainians. It's also harder for them to receive aid here (maybe it's seen that they have other options?). I don't know much about this, so won't comment further. I hope that people are willing to help anyone.

If you would like to make a donation but aren't sure where to send the money, you can always send it to me and I can buy more supplies for the people at the train station, to help any future family that stays with us, or those staying with our friends. Just let me know if you have any specific request. I'm on PayPal and Zelle - trisbo@hotmail.com

Thanks a lot for reading, and take care!