Several times a week, Viktoria, an
explosives risk expert at the alliance organization
of Aktion Deutschland Hilft, Handicap International,
holds so-called CPP and EORE courses for Ukrainian
school classes in Chernivtsi, Vinnytsia, Poltava
and Dnipro. Behind these rather cryptic abbreviations
lies life-saving knowledge for children in war
zones. It's about nothing less than dealing with
mines, booby traps and the right behavior in an emergency.
Ukraine is now one of the most heavily munitions
contaminated places in the world. Not least because
there has been fighting here since 2014. "The children
usually already know something about the subject from
television, from their parents or from the Internet,"
explains Viktoria. "But they often have wrong or incomplete
information, so we teach them the right behavior. We show
the children what mines look like and tell them where to
find them - in trenches or on bases, in destroyed
buildings, on empty fields, in forests, on highways.
All of these places can be contaminated."
Mines in Ukraine: Children are more at risk
Children who are unaware that they should avoid such
places are at ongoing risk. Statistically, their
lives are far more likely to be in danger than adults
in former and active war zones because children love
to explore and touch everything they see. In the case
of mines and booby traps, however, curiosity can have
fatal consequences.
"Sometimes ordnance can be camouflaged or hidden in other
objects," says Viktoria. "In the Donetsk region, we have
seen explosive devices in toys, books and even mobile phones.
For example, if I ask children: 'If you see an iPhone on
the street, do you pick it up?' They usually say: 'Yes!'
That's what you need to avoid. The kids need to understand
that in war zones, everything is potentially dangerous."
"One move can kill"
Even if the war ended today, it would take over 100 years
to successfully clear Ukraine of mines. Generations will
be confronted with the consequences of war.
Viktoria and her colleagues are not discouraged by this:
"I do this work because I want to protect people from danger.
I used to work as a deminer and experienced a lot in the
process. A single wrong move can kill, so I want more and
educate more people in Ukraine about these dangers - and I
will continue to do so."
Our alliance helps people from Ukraine: in the country itself,
at all stages of their refuge and in the countries where
they seek protection.
Thank you for your donation!
Sirens wail, bombs fall, entire cities lie in ruins - and millions of people are
left with nothing.
The alliance organizations of Aktion Deutschland Hilft support the affected
families at all stages of the flight: in Ukraine, in neighboring countries and
at the place of refuge.
In the cold months, winter aid in Ukraine and neighboring countries is of
fundamental importance.
Several alliance organizations from Aktion Deutschland Hilft support the local
people: with blankets and thick winter clothing, stoves, heaters, solid fuels
and generators.
Thanks to your donations, helpers can distribute hot drinks and meals and
refugees can find contact points and soup kitchens to warm up.
In addition, our alliance organizations winterize destroyed residential buildings,
schools, kindergartens and community rooms. They renovate war-damaged buildings
and roofs, install new doors and windows, and repair heaters.
Alliance organizations have been delivering essential goods to Ukraine and
neighboring countries since the first days. These include field kitchens, kitchen
and accommodation tents and medical supplies and wheelchairs.
The helpers work closely with local partner organizations to ensure that the
aid arrives.
Hygiene items such as menstrual products, diapers or soap are also important
for people fleeing. Helpers from our alliance and countless volunteers lend a
hand so that the products reach the people.
A lot has changed in Ukraine since the beginning of the war, including for
agriculture.
Fields cannot be cultivated and crops cannot be delivered. Seed gur, fertilizer
and diesel have become unaffordable for many farms. There are also mined fields,
destroyed machines and a lack of animal feed.
We are strengthening agriculture in Ukraine so that small farms in particular can
maintain their production.
They hear bombs falling and sirens wail, experience violence and destruction: the
war in Ukraine hits the children with full force. Child protection centers are
set up, sick children are evacuated and girls and boys are helped to come to
terms with their experiences.
Bombs, fighting, expulsion - many elderly people from Ukraine have experienced
this before. In addition, fleeing is particularly exhausting in old age.
Particular attention is paid to the needs of older women and men. With local
partner organisations, the helpers provide food, medicine, blankets and help
cope with trauma.
Support, in the form of cash or vouchers, is of great importance to people on
the run. After the women and men had to leave everything behind, they are given
back a bit of self-efficacy in the form of cash or vouchers. So you can decide
for yourself what you need and want to buy.
You as a donor make this help possible. Thank you for giving new hope to the
children, women and men of Ukraine with your donation.
Regardless of the recent attacks on various Ukrainian cities, the
"Medikamentenhilfswerk" (medication aid agency) of our alliance organization
action medeor will continue to deliver aid.
"After consultation with our partners, we will continue to supply hospitals and
refugee facilities in the Ukraine as before. The humanitarian work will continue"
confirms Sid Peruvemba, spokesman for the board of our alliance organization
action medeor.
"We continue to consider deliveries to be responsible"
Since the beginning of the war, the "aid agency" has been delivering urgently
needed medicines, medical materials and medical technology equipment to
Ukraine - including to facilities in the cities of Lviv, Ternopil, Kyiv and
Ivano-Frankivsk, which have now been hit by missile attacks.
"We continue to consider the deliveries to be responsible", says Sid Peruvemba,
"we will make any adjustments depending on the security situation."
action medeor works with partners in Ukraine
The "world's emergency pharmacy", as our alliance organization action medeor is
also known, has dispatched more than 120 aid deliveries since the beginning of
the war. The aid transports are usually loaded onto large trucks in Germany and
then repacked onto small vans in Ukraine, which are less conspicuous and therefore
safer from attacks.
action medeor also cooperates locally with various partners. "We have now built
up a broad network of logisticians, hospitals, pharmacies and local aid
organizations with whom we work closely and trustingly", explains Peruvemba.
Alliance organization has secured medical aid since the beginning of the war
In recent months, tons of medicines, bandages, medical equipment and also medical
devices have been brought to Ukraine via this network.
"Among other things, we have supplied various hospitals with mobile ultrasound
and X-ray devices that can also be used in air raid shelters if necessary",
explains Peruvemba. Our alliance organization action medeor has sent
operating tables, beds and even entire ambulances on their way.
Three supply lines to Ukraine
action medeor has set up three routes over the past six months in order to bring
as many aid supplies as possible to the people in the Ukraine. The first supply
line runs via the western Ukrainian city of Ternopil, where our alliance
organization action medeor, together with a local partner organization, has set up
a distribution center for medical supplies that delivers to hospitals throughout
the country.
A second line of help was set up in Moldova and in the Odessa region, where
action medeor supports refugee families, a social pharmacy and several regional
hospitals.
The third variant consists of an increasing number of individual transports,
because more and more hospitals from all parts of the Ukraine are turning to
our alliance organization action medeor directly to be supplied with medicines,
bandages, medical equipment and technical equipment.
Thank you for your help in securing these measures!
The war in Ukraine has forced 14 million children, women and men to leave their homes. Many are seeking protection in neighboring countries such as Romania.
Aktion Deutschland Hilft is also providing emergency aid there. With food, drinking water, medicines - and sometimes simply with places of security.
You can read here what people from Ukraine report about escape and help. Thank you for giving hope with your donation!
Olga: "We are Ukrainians and we live!
A large plush teddy bear with a checkered scarf is sitting on a small hard-shell suitcase. He looks a little lost at the hustle and bustle at the Romanian border crossing at Siret, where refugees from Ukraine arrive every day.
A blonde woman approaches the suitcase, clutches the handle and says, "This is all that's left of our life in Mariupol." Her house is in ruins. Roof, windows, doors – everything was destroyed in the hail of bombs. "We had no water, no electricity, no gas and had to cook on an open fire," says Olga (48).
Escape from Ukraine: Loved ones stayed behind
"We wanted to go somewhere where no shots would be fired, further, further and further, by car, by bus, on foot." Olga's daughter Olesia joins them. Her father, her friends - they all stayed behind in Ukraine.
"I'm so worried about them," says the 15-year-old girl. Despite everything, like her mother, she exudes great strength. "Of course, we are Ukrainians and we live!" they say, and they even manage to smile. Mother and daughter enter the Malteser tent and stock up on the essentials for the onward journey. Biscuits, sandwiches, water, juice, toiletries.
The helpers from the alliance organization of Aktion Deutschland Hilft are present directly at the border crossing and give people a friendly welcome.
Humanity gestures at the border
"Helping is addictive," says Dumitru (46), a Romanian employee of Malteser. "People are so grateful, some have tears in their eyes, when we give their children chocolate or a stuffed animal." Humane gestures that do good.
"Thanks for letting us refuel"
"Thank you for letting us recharge our batteries here," say Olesia and her mother. They leave the tent and continue into their new, strange, uncertain life. A Romanian fire brigade bus takes them to the night train in the capital, Bucharest. Olga's second adult daughter is waiting there – with a visa for England. "I want to try to earn money there so that we can rebuild our house." Before she gets on the bus, Olesia hugs her teddy bear. "It accompanied me throughout my childhood. I can't sleep without it."
Lala: "My children give me the strength to endure it"
"My three children give me the strength to endure it, otherwise I would have gone crazy long ago," says Lala . The 36-year-old mother fled the war-torn Ukrainian city of Dnipro to Romania to bring her children to safety.
Serhan, her three-year-old son, seeks her closeness. The boy with the big dark eyes doesn't understand why he suddenly has to be in a strange place, far from home. "He misses his father very much," says Lala with tears in her eyes.
"War is like a nightmare"
"We were very scared. For me, this war is like a nightmare," she says, letting her little son climb onto her lap. She currently lives in Transilvania with her children. A local partner of Johanniter, Tasuleasa Social, took them in there.
The Johanniter, an alliance organization of Aktion Deutschland Hilft, also provide help for the people from Ukraine in Romania. "Now I feel safe. I'm very grateful for the support here, we get everything we need," emphasizes the woman, who was born in Azerbaijan and lived in Ukraine for 15 years.
Her dearest wish: to be able to go back home
The morning after her arrival in Transilvania, her husband called her to ask if she had arrived safely and if everything was alright. With a view of the soft green landscape, she replied: "I don't know if we're alive or dead, because we're in paradise here."
Nevertheless, Lala has only one wish: "I want to go home as soon as possible."
Our alliance will stand by the people in the long term. Thank you for helping with your donation!
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