November 19, 2015
Ukraine
From the 15th until the 25th November 2015, the workers from the humanitarian department of DCHOO and ACHO undertook a monitoring journey of the humanitarian project and they had the chance to take part in handing over the last packages to people affected by the conflict in Donbas in Ukraine.
Although the conflict can be considered “dead” in the Czech Republic, there is still tension and fighting in the East of Ukraine. People living in the affected areas and people resettled to safe places lack basic supplies.
Thanks to the common project of ACHO and DCHOO, via Caritas Ukraine, 440 food and hygiene packages were supplied, each with a value of 41 EUR. Each package contains food and hygienic supplies for a three-member family for the period of about one month.
Caritas Ukraine handed over the packages to the partner organisations of DCHOO and ACHO – Caritas Melitopol and Caritas Mariupol which, on the basis of their social research, distributed the packages to people in the affected areas and to the internal refugees.
A refugee from Doneck, Ms. Natalia, has come to Caritas Melitopol for a food package. Ms. Natalia has fled with her disabled husband, daughter and grand-daughter to Melitopol. The director of Caritas Melitopol gave her the package after she showed him the documents of resettlement. She was very grateful for the package: “If it wasn't for Caritas and donors from the Czech Republic, I don't know what I would do.“
On 20th November 2015 a convoy of humanitarian workers from Caritas Internationalis, Caritas Ukraine, Caritas Germen and the representatives of ACHO and DCHOO accompanied by soldiers will set off for the affected areas, where fighting took place just two days ago. The rest of the food packages will be distributed during this monitoring journey. The packages from the Czech Republic will be distributed in the places which are situated in the conflict zone. The packages supported by Czech donors is a new way of immediate aid to villages where the conflict is still continuing and people have no access to basic food. The handing over of the food takes place in so-called logistic or neutral zones which are situated between the two armies; the Ukrainian and the rebel army. People can come to this zone without required complicated permissions and they can receive the aid from the Czech Repubic. Not only people themselves, but also local media were interested in this pilot project.
The project could not be realised without the active participation and courage of our colleagues from local Caritas.
From Donbas on 19th November 2015 Veronika Mechová and P. Rostislav Strojvus.
