March 1, 2014 Ukraine

Caritas CR: We will support health and help centres in Ukraine

The recent unrest and bloodshed in Kiev has affected not only the residents of the city, but has significantly influenced the lives of people from other regions of Ukraine. Having received a grant from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, further help from Caritas will therefore be directed specifically on Western Ukraine.

Caritas will support three health centres which have provided medical care for the injured during the recent unrest. The plan also includes creating centres for psychosocial and post-traumatic assistance through existing Ukrainian partners.

The grant provided to Caritas Czech Republic by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic will help make professional medical assistance available to beneficiaries in their place of permanent residence. The goal is for psychosocial centres to be fully operational even after the completion of the project, which runs until August of this year.

Caritas CR will ensure help in the above mentioned areas in cooperation with the offices of other Ukrainian Charities: Karitas Volyn, Karitas Stryj, Karitas Ternopil and Karitas Kolomyja.

During this time, P. Rostislav Strojvus, a representative from Caritas, has been operating in Western Ukraine. He and his colleague Joseph Kákoš from the Slovak Catholic Charity successfully negotiated the terms for further assistance alongside representatives from the local Caritas in Kyiv on February 25^th. Today, the team passed a one-time financial assistance package to families identified by Caritas Ternopil. In addition to this, in the same region, Karitas Kolomyia fosters a family with three children whose father was killed in Kiev.

"Originally we had only planned one of our regular scheduled visits to a candle workshop we helped to put into operation in the Catholic parish of Zolochiv. But given the current situation, we decided to go to Ukraine now. Five people who were injured in the recent unrest live in the parish of Zolochiv and it is those people we want to help," said Evžen Adámek, director of the Regional Caritas Znojmo. He will leave for Western Ukraine on March 3^rd.

Workers from the Prague Archdiocese Caritas have also joined in to help injured people in the region. They provide social services to patients from the Medevac project of the Ministry of Interior. The service involves assistance, interpretation, and small purchases which facilitate patient orientation in a foreign environment. Caritas Prague has been working on this project for the Ministry of Interior since 2006, and has assisted in the treatment of two hundred clients, many of which are from foreign countries.

Social care is now being provided for 27 patients at three hospitals in Prague who suffered serious injuries during the riots at Euro Majdan in Kiev. "So far, four of our employees are taking care of the needs of patients. It is possible that there will be more. In this case, we will turn to our long-term volunteers and interpreters, "said Pavel Simek, deputy director of Prague Archdiocese Caritas.

Caritas’ partner Slovak Catholic Caritas focuses on helping volunteers from Kiev. Caritas is offering a summer break in the Charity Home of Dolny Smokovec to approximately twenty-five volunteers. These volunteers operated under enormous psychological pressure in the basement of a Greek Catholic church to help hundreds of demonstrators in Majdan. The group consists of girls and boys aged 20-30.