Within two weeks of Leonid Avtukhov from Haradok and Viciebsk resident Jan Dzyarzhautsau were in Kharkov, where the volunteers participated in the "Human Rights humanitarian mission in Ukraine", organized by the Human Rights Center "Viasna" in cooperation with Ukrainian partners.
Belarusian volunteers, working together with the participants of the charitable public organization "Station “Kharkiv”", operating in Ukraine, provided various forms of assistance to internally displaced persons from the Lugansk and Donetsk regions and Crimea: unloaded, sorted and distributed humanitarian aid, working on "hot" line, advised , conducted a survey.
Vitebsk activists spoke about their impressions of the trip to Ukraine.
Jan Dzyarzhautsau:
– When the war started, many people came to Kharkiv. As we were told, first woman, wanting to help these people, simply cooked a large pot of soup, and carried him to the station. Soon he poured all people, and ran again to boil. The next day, she was joined by another woman with soup. Soon other people have joined the cause.
Soup soup, but it needed displaced somewhere and spend the night, because not everyone had a place to stay. Women turned to the chief of the railway station, he ordered that two cars were driven on sidings, where people have lived for some time. Later, the city was organized by the point for migrants eighty families, it works now.
The station "Kharkiv" – this is a great volunteer station, located near the station. They also have branches in the field. Volunteers work at the station. Most of these volunteers – among migrants themselves.
The station – a one storey building big enough. There is room size somewhere two hundred square meters, a few small buildings and a warehouse that stores clothing for displaced people – it brings the locals and it comes from all over Ukraine and from abroad. There is a warehouse for food.
Every day at the station for help turning on a hundred and fifty people. Many come with small children. In addition to clothing and food, immigrants provide legal and medical aid. Those who need it can get drugs, diapers. Tells people where to go to get a job, to solve housing problems.
We worked seven days a week, from morning till evening. Transport things from the stores that are in the city, to the station. I was engaged in loading and unloading, sorting. In addition, our Belarusian volunteers worked on the telephone "hot line", provided legal advice. Also, we have been questioning people: we were given a questionnaire that then through the analysis of these questionnaires could improve the performance of social security to migrants.
I was pleasantly surprised by the extent to which migrants are friendly as they are, with nothing to help each other. I have never heard them quarrel among themselves – combines mountain. But overall impression is heavy. I never thought that this could be our 21-th century, when 70 years have passed since the Second World War that the Russian attack on Ukraine, as once the Nazis attacked the Soviet Union.
Leonid Avtukhov:
– You could say that Kharkiv – as if frontline city. When I went there – it turned out to be somehow even very close to Russia, about one and a half kilometers from the border. There is a mental hospital, I dropped in there before the checkpoint do not reach all somewhere two hundred paces.
At the same time, Kharkiv – a great European city. What are people there! I was impressed: all smiles, life rages.
When we arrived at the charity station "Kharkiv", to us directly there treated very kindly. We were doing everything ordered. I'm basically doing chores, carried humanitarian aid for the region, for example, to a mental facility, its soldiers exhibited in GRT, he loaded the bags and conducted a survey.
Incidentally, when there is talk "refugees", people get offended. They say: "We are not refugees, we are temporary migrants. We are in the country cannot be a refugee."
In a nutshell impressions, Ukrainians – a nation that no one will win. Never nobody wins Ukraine. It is simply impossible.
Of course, there are difficulties. But the Ukrainians themselves no moaning – they understand how these difficulties. All they understand where they come from war – from Russia, though no Russian car numbers are not there. And they are willing to endure and fight. There are difficulties, but they are overcome.
And the government there has really changed. I visited the district administrations of the city of Kharkiv, in state institutions – officials there work well. When it came to the – did not ask us any questions, they treated us very friendly. The system works with immigrants has excellent, except the Migration Service a little fails, but everything is slowly improving, has no queues.
I got a very rewarding experience. We have seen how the system works volunteerism in Ukraine. All debugged per second, every point, every step – it is a living mechanism. It's not just the distribution of humanitarian aid, and hard work. And they have all done meticulously, every detail is taken into account. This is very useful for Belarusians, who went on a humanitarian mission. After all, God forbid, we have this happens. And now I know how to establish, for example, in Haradok volunteer activities.
Vitebsk Spring
