We handed over life-saving generators to hospitals in Zaporozhye.
Together with our partners from ADRA Ukraine we have successfully delivered four large generators to hospitals in the Zaporozhye region. These will provide the facilities with a reliable source of electricity in difficult times.
In a village near the capital Zaporozhye, ADRA is assisting a renovated clinic that provides health care for more than 5,000 residents from nine villages. The staff of the clinic consists of a doctor, a nurse, who also manages the pharmacy, and an orderly.
The nurse was thrilled with the donation of the generator and expressed her gratitude by saying, „Your donation is an invaluable help to us. Thank you! We are often left without electricity... We have refrigerators in the pharmacy where we keep vaccines and medicines for children. However, the fridges need a stable temperature, which we cannot provide without electricity. It is really impossible to practice medicine without electricity, computers and machines nowadays..“
We moved to the centre of Zaporozhye, where our 100 kW generator will provide electricity for the surgical ward with operating theatres. This generator represents a significant step in lifesaving care for patients.
On the outskirts of the city is the largest hospital, which has a capacity of more than 800 beds and employs 1 300 doctors and medical staff. In this unique hospital, we have installed the largest power generator. The hospital is located in the immediate vicinity of the front line and plays a key role in providing first aid to civilians and wounded soldiers.
Meanwhile, the air-raid alarm was heard again in the city - these days the area is being shelled very intensively. But people don't seem to react to it anymore, everybody is doing their job and the city is living its life.
Our last stop in the Zaporozhye region was a small village to the east of the eponymous city of Zaporozhye. To get here, however, we had to pass through several checkpoints with very strict controls. The front line is only 15 km from the village and entry here requires a special permit. Our big truck and bus are unmissable, so we immediately got a stop sign. It was only after the village mayor intervened with the commander that we crossed the last checkpoint so that we could bring the generator and hand it over to the local small clinic and humanitarian aid centre.
A grateful mayor tells us: „Power cuts are very frequent here. Last winter was really harsh. You can't imagine what help you have given us.“.
Our coordinator Adriana immediately made friends with the local humanitarian aid coordinators. When she was frequently asked about security, they replied with a laugh, „We are already used to it. We are not going anywhere. We decided to stay here and help. And if we sleep at night? We sleep well. Only in the morning do acquaintances call us (if there is just a signal) that how we survived the night bombing and shelling. We slept through them as usual“.
We hastily pack up and leave the zone on deserted asphalt roads covered with tanks. We endlessly bypass the roadblocks. It's depressing, like a bad sci-fi movie. Only here and there we encounter damaged cars painted in dull green (even the plates are painted over).
We try to leave Záporožie before dark. The security team recommended us to spend the night on the outskirts of the Dnieper. After two nights of sleeping on the bus, dinner and a night in a hotel bed suited us very well.
The purchase and distribution of the generators are the result of the MoFA project, which we are carrying out in cooperation with our partner ADRA Japan.
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