Voyteck Białek, representing the Together-Razem arrived in Poland to purchase medical supplies from the funds raised as part of the fundraising campaign run by Together-Razem in March.

The collected funds were used to purchase painkillers, bandages, thermal blankets, Israelian bandages, compresses, non-woven plasters, gauze, disinfectants, gloves, eye dressings and compresses, tourniquets, dressings for burns  – all to the value of PLN 37,444.17 (€ 8,120)

2 euro pallets of medical supplies were transported to the TRATWA (The Raft) – the Center for Catastrophes and Natural Disasters in Wrocław on the April 5, 2022.

More about the organization’s activities can be found on their website https://tratwa.org.

We are presenting the document of purchase of medical supplies and the protocol of the transfer along with the statement from the charity TRATWA confirming goods received.

We would like to thank everyone who contributed to the fundraiser.

The purchased medical supplies will be transferred to the aid centres in Ukraine, such as hospitals, and field places for treating the wounded people. Employees of the TRATWA charity, who regularly transport goods to the East, said that such an amount of medical supplies would make it possible to supply even a few places in Ukraine. Transport on behalf of the organization from Wrocław to Ukraine will be carried out for us by Mrs. Irena Chermoshentseva.

Soon we will provide all donors with photos of their final destination.

confirmation of goods received

On our behalf, we would like to thank all those who donated funds for the purchase of the medical supplies.

How it is done in Poland

The TRATWA (The Raft) for Ukraine in Wrocław supports refugees in a very practical way from the beginning of the conflict.

In the former tram depot “Dąbie”, there is a 24/7 collection point, coordinating reloading, sorting, and providing goods to those in need who came to Wrocław.

During the first month, about 60,000 refugees (2,500-6,000 people a day) benefited from humanitarian aid there. The TRATWA accepted over 300 tons of donations from individuals, schools, organizations, and companies.

They are also involved in sending goods across the eastern border, supporting Ukrainian hospitals and outpatient clinics. They co-founded the Humanitarian Aid Center in Shegini, the only European aid point for civilians operating in Ukraine.

In addition to food, hygiene and household chemicals are also distributed, and even school supplies for school pupils.

Here is a short video of how The Raft works:

https://youtu.be/kg-KSTyy7HI

About 1,000 people from all over the world, including Poland, Ukraine, Brazil, and France, were involved in volunteering for the Raft.

In addition, in cooperation with the American Worlds Central Kitchen https://wck.org, a hot meal programme was launched, where people from Ukraine can eat a hot food.

Refugees keep coming

Voyteck Białek also spent the whole day at the Main Railway Station in Wrocław, where he looked at the process of supporting refugees arriving by trains from Ukraine via Przemyśl.

The photo documentation is below.

Arriving refugees are greeted on the platform by volunteers, who provide information, interpretation and help with luggage.

“I accompanied such a greeting personally. Apart from the volunteers, all the representatives of the Church of Jehovah’s Witnesses and members of defense forces  greet everyone on the platform.

The family I accompanied with a dedicated volunteer came from the vicinity of Kharkiv after 2 days of travel and needed to travel further to their relatives in Germany.”

Since he knows the Russian language, it was easy to communicate and establish the further part of the route for this family towards Berlin. By the way, he was immediately offered to volunteer there, because people who speak Ukrainian or Russian are in great demand.

While waiting for the next train, the family could go to the waiting areas where the sandwiches, food, and information were provided.

Employees of the Wrocław City Council and the Provincial Office are located in the hall of the main railway station and provide basic information and allocate temporary shelter for newcomers. Short-term accommodation is located in sports halls next to schools and in hostels, and long-term accommodation in towns far away from Wrocław. The defense services and fire brigades deal with the transport of refugees within the Wrocław. There is a shortage of long-term accommodation places and people arriving in groups try to rent flats, the rental costs have gone up recently.

Interestingly, the officials, as they say, also act as volunteers and volunteer their own time to help refugees.

Officials told Voyteck that the number of refugees has slightly decreased, however, as the conflict develops, another wave of refugees is expected.

Among the advertisements for refugees available at this information point, you can find offers from non-governmental organizations from France or the Netherlands, inviting people to come to their countries with transport offered from Poland.

During the conversations with officials, Voyteck witnessed the arrival of three minors aged about 14-16 years without passports, who had crossed the border with Poland on their own.

Next to the information point, there is also a medical point where doctors and medical students provide medical assistance to people coming from Ukraine.

On a side of the railway station building, there are tents with meals and drinks available to visitors from Ukraine.

From Voyteck’s own observations, it was determined what organization coordinates or manages volunteers and whether volunteers are Garda Vetted – as it turned out, it was difficult to determine who coordinates the volunteers, and the Garda Vetting verification does not take place at all, and to become a volunteer it is enough to sign up to the list, introduce what the volunteer wants to do, and they can work at predetermined hours.

The lack of procedures for the care of minors coming from Ukraine is also concerning.

However, Voyteck is very pleased with the strength of grassroots initiatives, although as Together-Razem is informed by people involved in the coordination of humanitarian aid, volunteers slowly crumble, and the question is, how much time the current volunteers can last?