Our journey to the border areas of Ukraine continues.
„Very little aid reaches the border area here. When we ask for something, we usually get the answer: “You are too close to the front line,'" said the mayor of Jampil, who invited us to tea after the distribution of material aid was finished. Our team, led by Roman from ADRA Ukraine, the project coordinator, brought the aid here to Jampil. We personally delivered it into the hands of people whom everyone had forgotten. The village prepared a list and invited those who had fled from the surrounding villages with only a few belongings and found temporary shelter here. The majority of the group were women who also have to take care of their children. In addition to the food parcels and hygiene items for which she provided funds ADRA UK, we presented special packages to local women on the occasion of Women's Day. These were prepared for them by employees and volunteers from our help centre in Trenčín. Ukrainian volunteers from the Bratislava Help Centre Who will help Ukraine Aupark prepared packages of clothes for themselves. We also gave solid fuel stoves to several families living in very difficult conditions and without gas heating, for which we received funds ADRA Japan. When we combine our forces and resources in this way, we can help most effectively, and that is our goal.
It's hard to listen to these people's stories. Many of the women have their men at the front and are waiting daily for some news, some are already widows. They have found temporary refuge in this small village where they feel relatively safe. They say they don't know if their houses are still standing, or they know that they have already burned down and there is nowhere to go back to. They urgently need support and psychological help because it is too much for them. And why haven't they left completely? „We are at home here in this region. We have nowhere to go. We're waiting for it to be over and we'll go home again. I hope our house will still be whole,“ Ms Daria, from the nearby village of Druzhba, on the border, told us.
Our guide is Valentín, a cheerful elderly gentleman in camouflage. Only later did it become clear that he is in one person the coordinator of ADRA, the local pastor of the Adventist Church and also serves as a chaplain at the hospitals at the bedside of the sick and wounded. „I am terribly tired. Living under this stress on a daily basis is especially mentally very challenging. But we are here and helping as much as we can.“ Valentín knows the local conditions and risks, but especially the needs of the people. Everyone here knows him, and even the soldiers at the checkpoints greet him with respect. Our small ADRA convoy thus passes without problems where we would otherwise have difficulty getting to.
He converted the Adventist Church's prayer room into an aid centre and humanitarian warehouse. Today we are awaiting the arrival of a truckload of humanitarian packages contributed by our donor Japan Platform. How do we fit it into their church? „Don't worry, we have plenty of room. We can fit a whole truck on the ground floor, and another in the hall upstairs,“ Valentín assures us. The local church has about 60 members, but only the older people are left. The young have fled to safety.
We are glad that help has come this far. It is very difficult to provide help in such conditions. But when we hear the stories of these people, see their life situation and needs with our own eyes, it all makes sense to us.
Thank you
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