April 18, 2022

New Care Centre welcomes refugees

The first refugees are moving in to our new Care Centre! And we have videos to give you a tour. It has been an eventful week, both in Lviv as they set up beds and equipment that came in a large truck-full donated from La matrioska onlus in Italy, and in Germany where our volunteers made a big push to buy the final supplies needed to make it a great space for children.

A volunteer, Mike Willis, funded a rental van and gave a week of his time to pick up supplies in Germany and deliver them to Ukraine. It has been an eventful day in Lviv, which began with five missiles striking the city. But with our team he has kept calm and carried on, sheltering in bunkers when the sirens go off.

Mike first visited a hostel where Care in Action has been funding beds for refugee families. With 29 refugees there, the kitchen is also a classroom, social room and space for laundry.

“It’s interesting to talk to people. The parents were really happy there was an excursion last week so the kids could have fun and they could have a rest. They say what they need the most is a place where the children can go and study. One woman said in their previous place 80 people were in one room and they were much happier here. She was so thankful, really crying.”

Video tour of the hostel (Please click on the links to watch, then return back to this page)

Some children are determined to continue their schooling, while others play and mothers try to plan the next steps.

Mike’s next stop was delivering medicines to the Dzherelo Children's Rehabilitation Centre for children with disabilities. Over the last month the Rotary Club of Starnberg had carefully sourced medicines which were no longer available in Lviv. There Natalia said:

“We know what a hard job it is to gather the medicines, which are on our needs list. We are filled with joy that we will finally be able to distribute the medical supplies to our families, they are looking forward to that moment as well.”

Finally Mike arrived at our new Care Centre, where our team was welcoming the first refugees. Many things are already in place, and soon there will be laptops for study, shelves for personal things in the rooms, and bicycles for the children. There will even be a trampoline in the garden and table football!

Here is a video tour of the Care Centre

Maria, our Director in Lviv, added some insights to the work that will be done there in this video interview. 

For people who war has forced out of their homes, we are grateful that we can provide shelter and care for children. In April we will provide:

  • Over 100 beds a night in 2 hostels, 6 apartments, a big house, and our new Care Centre
  • 21 new laptops will help children attend school
  • Activities for children, teenagers and parents will offer play, education and therapy
  • A donated minibus from Germany in action to support our work
  • Aid deliveries of food and supplies
  • Funding for transport out of war zones and to help families in crisis

To every donor, volunteer, and partner organisation, from Denmark, Germany, Italy, Poland, the UK, the US, and beyond, thank you for making our work possible! 

Left: the team of volunteers who purchased supplies for the Care Centre and collected donations, with Mike who delivered aid to Lviv
Right: a truck full of new beds, mattresses, washing machines, kitchen equipment and food donated from Italy
A donated van to support our work was delivered to Ukraine by volunteer driver Walter Binder (centre). This will transport refugees as well as aid.

There are so many more people who need our aid, as the war escalates in the east of Ukraine. Every donation and volunteer makes it possible to reach more people in this great time of need.

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