By Guy Glenny
Project Manager RAWCS Ukraine Crisis Appeal
Rotary Club of Sydney Cove
It is now 20 months since President Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Having established the RAWCS Ukraine Crisis Appeal in 2015 to assist the Ukrainian community in Australia provide humanitarian aid to their homeland, the events of February 2022 stirred the entire Australian community to aid this fledgling democracy in its existential fight for survival.
The partnership between RAWCS via the Rotary Club of Sydney Cove and the Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organisations (AFUO) has proved extremely durable over the past eight years. The AFUO has enlisted the support of the Ukrainian community and its significant fundraising capacity. Rotary’s name and reputation has been important in attracting donations from Rotary clubs and the wider community. With over $8 million in donations, it has been possible to rapidly mobilise funds to where they are most needed.
Some $1.4 million has been sent to Caritas Ukraine for Internally Displaced Person’s (IDP’s) short term accommodation as they move from the war zones in south-east Ukraine to the west of the country or transit overseas.
A child runs as she holds a Ukranian flag in front of the destroyed building of a cultural centre, hit in a missile strike. (Photo: Sergey Bobok/AFP)
Mental health care is also being provided to ease the anguish of traumatised families, with so many loved ones killed or suffering debilitating injuries. The appeal has recently responded to a request for an additional $150,000 for the inhabitants of Kherson devastated by the flooding from the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka Dam.
In June 2022, the appeal formed a partnership with the Rotary Club of Kyiv International for the establishment of long-term accommodation for IDP’s displaced by the war. The Kyiv team have liaised with local councils around the country to find suitable buildings that could be converted to accommodation, such as disused schools and hospitals. The appeal has funded the fit-out of these buildings, including beds, mattresses, bed linen, furniture, fridges, washing machines, microwaves and emergency medical equipment.
Children at the Caritas Ukraine for Internally Displaced Person’s Centre.
Over the past 16 months, accommodation has been provided for some 11,500 people at a cost of $3.2 million. One of the co-chairs of the AFUO has been a regular visitor to Ukraine during the war and has been overwhelmed by the feedback from the IDP’s, including children, who have cherished a secure place to live after seeing their homes and neighbourhoods devastated by the Russian onslaught.
The other main fund contribution has been for medical equipment. An AFUO subcommittee called Medical Aid for Ukraine has sourced equipment from hospitals and medical companies in Australia and arranged shipment to Ukraine at very favourable rates. Medical equipment costing $2.4 million, but worth significantly more, has been sent. The equipment includes portable x-ray and ultrasound machines, orthopaedic equipment, skin staplers and tourniquets. Rotary’s MediShare team has been extremely helpful in the logistics of storage and transport of equipment to ensure its prompt despatch.
MAIN PICTURE: Medical Equipment in transit to Ukraine.