One Year On…
When Russia invaded Ukraine (just over a year ago), millions of Ukrainians fled their homes and since then almost 8 million people, predominantly women and children, have left the country, seeking protection in Europe, with 72,000 seeking refuge here in Ireland.
Irish charity, Team Hope has been working with our overseas partners to help those who remain in Ukraine as well as supporting displaced families in the neighbouring countries of Romania, Transnistria and Moldova, through which over 2.5 million Ukrainians have moved this year.
Within Ukraine, Team Hope has helped to provide emergency food, shelter and other essentials like firewood, medicines, first aid kits, blankets and warm clothes.
At Christmas time 31.9K Christmas Shoeboxes went to children in Ukraine (the largest number sent to any country). In many parts of Ireland, volunteers from Ukraine helped out at Christmas Shoebox Appeal volunteer centres!
In Romania, Team Hope has given emergency support to families who have crossed the border. The charity was able to provide partners with bunk beds, mattresses, food and hygiene products for those who needed to avail of their transit centre.
Team Hope partners in Transnistria have supported Ukrainian families with transport, food, hygiene products, employment assistance, clothing, medical supplies and help with finding suitable accommodation as they move on from the centre to more long term accommodation.
Nastia and her family were supported by Team Hope through partners in Moldova.
“We were living in small room in dormitory in Kharkiv. I was attending school and my brother was preparing to go to school this year. When we heard a strong sound outside in early morning, mom told me that probably something happened at the factory. But little after we heard many of those explosions, and women in the corridor were saying that the war has started and we all need to run away from here. Mom took us to the basement of the house. It was scary when something blown up very close and people around started to scream and cry. Then soldiers helped us to get out of the basement and we sat in a bus and left home. We were sleeping several days in different places. After, we got to the big crowd of people who were walking slowly somewhere. Mom said to me we need to walk too with them all. It was so cold outside and I was very tired, Misha was crying.
At the border a woman gave us bananas and juice, which I liked much. And a bus drove us to this place. We live here in a small room in a big pavilion. I was so happy when so through the window how you began to inflate your castle with air. It reminded me how we were last summer in a park for children in our hometown. I don’t know where we will go… And when I will see my father and grandma… And my cat.”
Looking to the future
A year on, the need for emergency support like food, shelter and transport, has transitioned into a need for ongoing support such as long term housing, practical training and assistance for those caring for refugees in their communities. Team Hope has been working to assist our partners in Moldova, a country where over 750K refugees have passed through and which is home to over 100K refugees as they integrate into their communities and seek employment opportunities.
We are supporting them in the provision of counselling, an often overlooked vital element of emergency response. This has included one-on-one sessions for adults, art therapy for children and a mobile counselling service where trained mobile teams provide psychosocial first aid in larger refugee reception centres.
We will continue to support our partners and to help them to train other churches and groups to provide similar care to displaced families in other areas.
To read more about Team Hope’s work, visit www.TeamHope.ie