ResourcesForTheUkrainians

Our last couple of days were bittersweet in Poland.  On Saturday, we visited the Red Cross-operated center (a former Tesco store) that houses Ukrainian refugees in Przemsyl for 48 hours upon arrival into Poland to make sure the water we purchased was delivered.  We learned that those refugees had a choice to either take a bus to Warsaw or a train to Hanover, Germany.  Can you imagine?

Anyway, we met with Agata again (the head administrator) and she encouraged us to purchase toys as the ones they had (from different donors) were given to the current children and another group of children were due that evening.  So, we did a toy run at 2 stores, cleaning them out of stuffed animals, baby dolls, trucks, etch-a-sketches, animal figurines and some infant/toddler items as well. 

On Saturday, Paracrew asked us to focus our last amount of donations on food, so we headed back to the Cash & Carry; given how much we had cleaned them out, we were positive our names and faces would be on the front door with some sign like “these women are not permitted!” but fortunately, we could shop AND they had re-stocked.  To shop at this store, you are suppose to be a member (think Costco) and/or a retail store, but we simply said “American, Engleshee and humanitarian” and they let us through each time. This last visit was efficient as we have become absolute “pros” at working the wholesale warehouse – Ivana and I each grabbed a huge cart and we split up, and she focused on canned meats, specifically the canned fish that the Ukrainians apparently love, and I did the fruits and vegetables and snuck in some cookies and coffee (can you imagine going through caffeine withdrawl at the same time as living amongst a brutal war)!  We decided to pick up some toys for the Paracrew team as we had given out most of the toys purchased earlier in the week to the shelter outside of LVIV on Friday. 

Also on Saturday, we picked up an order that we had placed (2,000 meters of gauze) at the first medical supply store we found, and while it arrived Friday when we were in Ukraine, the shop owner [Pawel] was happy to come in on his day off to help us.  This gauze was requested by a hospital on the Eastern front.  By the time we did all of this, we managed to spend all of your kind and generation donations and did so safely with all of your prayers and good wishes.

Each time we delivered to the Medyka warehouse, you saw the robust activity of trucks lined up for a mile, gas trucks lined up for ½ mile, new people walking over the border, others going back and forth and a burst of activity among the small cafes, “Kantors” (foreign exchange) and the local grocery store (where we never shopped as to not ‘clean out’ much needed supplies for early arrivers and aid workers).  It took us about 25 minutes to drive to that border each time – and then we’d empty out into a very primitive warehouse.  As we delivered our last ‘haul’ to the Paracrew warehouse, we looked around and realized our donations and purchases nearly filled the warehouse which was practically empty when we had arrived a week ago.  They told us it would take 5-6 or so van runs into Ukraine to delivery everything and would take a couple of weeks (to drive into Central Ukraine, it takes 12 hours/ to go all the way East, its 20 ish].  When they arrive at their outposts, they then have to use their network to get what is needed where.  Its really amazing as this group, paracrew, has very little in the form of language skills but has figured out a network during the months since March when they arrived. 

A little about Paracrew.org – they are a very lean organization that runs on a budget of about Euro 1,000/month. No one is paid a salary or hourly wages.  Everyone is a volunteer and the finance their own food and supplies.  Donations pay for their rent, diesel gas and the supplies that go to the Ukrainian people and soldiers. That’s it.  They are a bare bones operations with several folks with military training; others with good organization and administrative skills; others with carpentry skills (working on shelters, etc) and others with big hearts.  They live in a communal space with bunk beds made out of 2” x 4” and mattresses (see pics in this email); they pool their food together and cook and eat most meals together.  There are younger members such as 30-somethings but also a mother of 3 now-adult children who is a principal back in Norway, and she took a year off to do this work.  It was incredible to see their devotion to this cause.  They were so thrilled for us to come with our donations as money and supplies have dried up with the conflict being over 6 months old now and no longer in the headlines; yet, the conflict is as difficult as ever.  They taught us about an app called “LiveUAMap” that provides up to date conflict information about missile strikes.  They use this app, among other sources, to determine where it is safe to go for deliveries.

Finally, with our donations put to good use and delivered, we decided to head out Sunday morning to stop at a small town called Zailipe which features 3 generations of locals participatingin a custom of painting their homes and outdoor facades with vibrant colorful flowers.  And then we had a single address of where a cousin of mine lived – they didn’t know we were coming and we weren’t entirely sure where it was but Google GPS got us there and I was able to meet a cousin (from my dad’s mother side) in a small town south west of Krakow – and we explained to them what we had done and it felt like the trip went full circle – ie, my family roots were part of the reason I felt called to do this work and then I was able to meet a family member (using Google Translate the entire time!). 

Thank you all for trusting us with your hard-earned dollars to be put to direct and purposeful use for the Ukrainian people.  We were honored to receive so many and appreciate your support!  It is Monday mid-day and we are headed home on a direct flight to Chicago today.  See you around!

Laura and Ivana