Tabernacle Ortega |
Madrid (EFE).- It will be one year since the war in Ukraine and humanitarian aid continues to arrive, but now more “selective” because priorities have changed. They no longer need a kilo of food or a coat, but generators, ultrasound machines, tourniquets, batteries, chainsaws or even orthopedic items.
María, Pedro and Eduardo know this very well, three “solidarity” who from Torrelodones (Madrid) and “side by side” with the Ukraine-based NGO I Can You Can have been helping the Ukrainian people since the beginning of the war.
It was Pedro who in March, ten days after Russia attacked Ukraine, had everything removed. He saw how people fled to the border and slept on the street at several degrees below zero. He thought that he had to do something, he tells EFE.
He is already retired, but because of his work he had up to 4,000 contacts on his mobile. He asked all of them for their collaboration and most of them responded positively. As Maria did, from the beginning in this “mission”.
Pedro knew that a friend had bought a van at a Post Office auction and, with the collaboration of the Torrelodones City Council, they managed to raise money to buy what they were asking for from Ukraine -especially technical clothing for soldiers and winter clothing for refugees-, and then take it to the border of Poland.
welcoming and welcoming
They did not want to return “empty.” The vehicles that had transported tons of aid returned with Ukrainian families – made up of women, children and the elderly – who were welcomed by others from Torrelodones and nearby towns.
Up to a total of 40 Ukrainians were welcomed, but none arrived in Spain without first looking for their “hosts”.
Virtually all have returned to their country. And it is that as Ukraine was recovering territory, the desire to return home increased.
The journey of the “Pegasin”
Eduardo is also retired. He has a degree in Physical Education and his promotion has responded to his call for solidarity with Ukraine since in December, after Christmas lunch with friends, he decided to do something.
He thought of a greengrocer who was going to retire and who had a truck stopped. Eduardo bought it “very cheap”, made repairs and filled it with winter clothes, medicines, orthopedic items, wheelchairs…
María nicknamed the truck “Pegasín” and with it she went to Ukraine from Krakow with vicissitudes, including a broken clutch.
But he reached his destination: the church of Father Yuri, in Ivano-Frankivsk, in whose basement a hospital is being built.
In total, this foundation, in which 14 people actively collaborate, has brought 6 tons of aid, in addition to other smaller shipments that María has taken care of.
The new needs
These three “solidarity” have seen how the needs of Ukrainians change. And they have had special orders, such as ultrasound machines. Although they have looked at medical societies and hospitals, there has been no way to get them.
“If someone tells us where to buy them, if they know of one that is discontinued but that works…”, they beg, aware that they are very expensive products.
They think there might be “second hand stuff” they could buy. “We would like to buy one and have five donated to us,” says Pedro.
On their trips to Ukraine they have verified that food is not so necessary. In fact, they witnessed how the women prepare dehydrated food in basements, which the troops and part of the population eat. But for the little ones, porridge and other foods are still necessary.
María, Pedro and Eduardo are critical of what is happening. They believe that international aid is only destined for the front, while the civilian population “is abandoned to its fate” if it were not for private initiatives like theirs.
“Now they need many light generators,” they recall. We have one in Torrelodones waiting for us to buy the truck,” says Eduardo, who begs for financial help to buy it because it would be for a hospital in kyiv.”
Batteries, LED flashlights, turnstiles…
In short, they are very specific requests. The night before the interview with EFE, María was asked for batteries from 75 to 120 amps. Because? “Because the generators at night make a lot of noise and give off heat. The drones detect them and the civilian population does not use them for fear of being bombed. With those batteries they can cut out the noise, she explains.
María has also been surprised by another request, that of chainsaws. She inquired and found that permits have been opened to cut down trees and make firewood for heat.
Another “highly priced” request is that of tourniquets, but some special ones, the CAT GEN 7, the best to stop bleeding when there is a bombardment, but each one costs 42 euros.
“The idea is to continue sending trucks and always donate them there once the aid is unloaded,” highlights Eduardo, convinced that bringing it empty is “absurd.”
And it calls for anyone who has a disused truck, SUV or van to sell it to this NGO. Or “if they give it to us, better.”
They recall that they can only enter Ukraine through an NGO and stress that they themselves have traveled to the city where Father Yuri is building the hospital and have found that this is indeed the case.
Original prosthesis to avoid revictimization
María, Pedro and Eduardo say that there are people, especially children, who have lost a limb or part of it due to the bombings. They need a prosthesis and are sometimes taken to the United States to have it implanted.
In addition to being expensive, this means “re-victimization” by being away from their families for a long time.
So they call for a Spanish company in the orthopedics sector to settle in Ukraine. Even to manufacture these products. If anyone is interested, you can call them.
Also call them the fire stations or emergency services that intend to ‘scrap’ their vehicles.
They may still be useful in Ukraine.
Thank you for your sharing. I am worried that I lack creative ideas. It is your article that makes me full of hope. Thank you. But, I have a question, can you help me? https://www.binance.info/pt-BR/join?ref=RQUR4BEO