August 3, 2022 – Newsletter
Thanks to your generous donations, the Claretian Missionaries serving on the frontlines in Ukraine have been able to deliver three vanloads of supplies to people in need! The missionaries were able to travel to three separate cities along the border of Ukraine and Poland and distribute donations to hospitals and refugees. Among the donations were an electrocardiograph machine, an ultrasound machine, a defibrillator, 700 pairs of sheets, countless bandages, pain medications, sleeping pads a stretcher, water purification tablets, food, and much more.
While delivering the supplies, the missionaries were so close to the front lines of fighting that they had to take cover from artillery fire and missile strikes. They literally risked their lives to get the supplies to the people who needed them. In other words, your donations are going directly to the most dangerous parts of the border in order to bring humanitarian aid to people in need.
As the violence worsens, more and more refugees are caught up in this forced migration, fleeing and finding themselves in need. As one of our missionaries said, “We want to help the refugees, the families, the soldiers, the hospitals on the front line, but we can only bring this help thanks to your contributions. May these spiritual sacrifices ask God for mercy and an end to this war.”
Read the recent update from the aid workers in Ukraine below!
Update from the front lines:
Dear brothers, benefactors and friends,
Thanks to your donations, for which we are very grateful, we were able to bring aid to war refugees in Poland during the month of July and to support families, hospitals and soldiers in Ukraine.
After many difficulties during our sixth trip (June 26-28), the Volkswagen Caddy car was delivered to the Pitburz School. The car was loaded with gifts, which we delivered to the Sisters, along with food and hygiene products for the families, plus bandages and painkillers. We brought a new defibrillator to the hospital in Boryslav, where it was previously unavailable.
Two weeks later, on July 12-16, another trip took place. The trip was combined with a trip to the front line in the Donetsk region. This trip was made possible with the cooperation of the Boryslav Baptists, who organize aid in the areas near the front line. After many hours of driving, we arrived at two hospitals where wounded soldiers from the front line are received.
We delivered an autoclave of sterilized surgical instruments, 700 sheets, and a large number of wound dressing materials to Konstantinov hospital. We took bandaging materials and an electrocardiograph to Pokrovsk hospital. In these hospitals, everyone was very grateful for the help provided. When asked what else they needed, they asked for surgical instruments to operate on wounded soldiers, a portable ultrasound machine, bandages, pain pills, a mobile stretcher, and other items. Whatever we manage to buy for them will be delivered from August 10 to 13.
After visiting the hospitals, we went to see the soldiers at the frontline; we were seven kilometers away from the trenches. We donated food (canned goods, ready meals, sweets, etc.), and hygiene supplies, including a large quantity of wet wipes, which are very useful due to the lack of access to water. We also donated gloves, binoculars, and two night vision devices. All items purchased were worth about 40,000 euros. Within 2-3 hours we were at two locations close to the front line.
We constantly heard explosions of artillery fire in the distance and in the evening, after returning to Dnieper for the night, the alarm sirens sounded. It wasn’t long before we witnessed an artillery bombardment. We saw rockets fly over our heads and one of them hit two kilometers from our lodge.
During this trip we traveled about 3,200 km, but, thank God, happily and without any bad experiences. The eighth humanitarian transport was attended by Mateusz–a volunteer from Lódz. With two vehicles, we delivered a large amount of bandages, sleeping pads, painkillers, water purification tablets, soluble vitamins and minerals, as well as 40 pairs of shoes and T-shirts for the soldiers. On the way back to Warsaw we took two war refugees from Kharkiv.
In July, we provided assistance to Ukrainian families in Lódz, Warsaw, and Wroclaw, Poland in the amount of 12,000 Euros ($12,300 USD). To date, and thanks to all donors, we have been able to provide about 270,000 euros ($277,00 USD) in aid. Thank you very much!
We still have about 40,000 euros ($41,000 USD) left to use. The war in Ukraine continues. We saw it with our own eyes, being close to the front line. Unfortunately, more and more cities in Ukraine are being shelled with rockets, so the number of war refugees is increasing again. We want to help the refugees, the families, the soldiers, the hospitals on the front line, but we can only bring this help thanks to your contributions.
From July 26-30 we will travel to the frontline areas in and around Sumy. We will bring humanitarian aid packages to the people and families living there despite the war. They are mostly elderly. Thanks to your donations, we were able to buy products for these packages.
Once again, on behalf of the Ukrainian people, we thank you and may God reward the good-hearted.
–Your Claretian Missionaries from Poland
