Ukraine: Humanitarian Unity in Kharkiv
A plethora of nationalities unite under one flag — humanity
During my time in Kharkiv, Ukraine in September and October of 2022, I had the opportunity to work with over ten independent humanitarian teams. Nearly all of the people I worked with came from all over the world: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, Poland, South Africa, Singapore, United Kingdom, and United States. Each of them had very different backgrounds from each other, but what they all shared was a calling to venture out to this war torn part of the world to make a direct impact on human lives.
I was inspired in many ways from the personal interactions I’ve had with these selfless humanitarians, and wanted to tell their story. My hope is that through learning about each of these teams, those who are looking for a way to contribute in some effective way to humanitarian efforts in Ukraine, can support one of these teams (all donation links are at the end of the article).
H.U.G.S. Ukraine
Paul Hughes and his son Mackenzie have been doing humanitarian work in Ukraine since March 4, 2022, operating under their independent Canadian NGO “H.U.G.S. Ukraine”. As of this writing, they’ve been working in Ukraine for over 250 days, and have completed their 160th humanitarian mission. They started off providing shelter and aid to people in a school building they managed in Lviv, before moving east to begin doing missions in cities like Zaporizhzhia that were experiencing heavy shelling from Russian missiles. They’re now based in Kharkiv, coordinating efforts between several of the teams there.
I first met Paul and Mackenzie in a hostel in Kyiv. I had just received my Press pass in Ukraine and wanted to go east, so they welcomed me to join their humanitarian work in Kharkiv region, even giving me an apartment to sleep in after I arrived there. We didn’t waste a moment getting to work; the first morning I woke up to knocking on my door, and was told I had five minutes to grab my things and jump in the van.
To give an idea what a typical day on mission with Paul is like, we would wake up shortly after 5 in the morning, still pitch black outside in unlit Kharkiv, with the frigid air of zero degree late-October biting us the moment we step out of our apartment. We load into our vehicles, picking up a few others on our way to our gas station meeting point for all the vehicles in that day’s convoy. After a quick refueling and briefing, we set off to the villages we need to deliver supplies to, sometimes hours away due using detours because of destroyed infrastructure such as bridges.
I would end up going on seven separate missions with Paul, and one thing I learned is he’s extremely motivated to get the job done, by instilling timeliness, discipline, and urgency. I never turned down an opportunity to join his missions; I knew I’d witness the most humanitarian impact on his convoys. And he always goes above and beyond; on our way back from a town where we delivered five-hundred supply bags, we stopped at a destroyed bridge to help a group of Ukrainian soldiers carrying supplies across on foot, and then stopped again to help change a tire for someone stuck on the side of the road.
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Frente BrazUcra
I first met Clara from Frente BrazUcra on a mission to Chervona Polyana on September 29. She’s from Brazil, and had already been working tirelessly as a humanitarian in Ukraine since March. Offering me a ride and set of body armor on my second time returning to Kharkiv, we spent more time together and I got to know her and her story better, as well as the sacrifices she makes to continue doing her humanitarian work in Ukraine.
I was shocked when I learned that Clara spends each night sleeping in her car, having to leave it running all night to not freeze inside. I couldn’t imagine the accumulating stress from this lifestyle after several months, based on my experiences going on humanitarian missions on consecutive days. She was already nearing her ninth month in Ukraine, and even though she told me she’s at the point where she could really use a vacation, she couldn’t get herself to leave. When I asked her why, she said she’d feel like she’s abandoning all of the people she helps in the country.
Based on my personal experience, I have a tremendous amount of respect for people like Clara, who have spent so much time in the eastern, war-torn part of Ukraine doing humanitarian work each day. The daily air raid sirens closing down cities for people to go into shelters, constantly checking the news to see locations of the latest Russian missile attacks, and worrying if the apartment building you sleep in would be hit by a missile, were all aspects of life in Ukraine that everyone had to adapt to. But carrying on with life in this way is far from a calm life.
Working with Clara is Misha, who comes from Lutsk in the far west of Ukraine. One topic that kept popping up on multiple occasions was about the difference in the realities of life between the west and the east of the country, where the war zone is. The differences are stark: western cities like Lviv would go for months without being bombed, while a regular night in Kharkiv involves hearing the loud explosions of a missile strike somewhere in the city. This led to something that many Ukrainians, including Misha, have told me; that Ukrainians in the west of the country are “forgetting” about the war. Misha wanted to push back against that, so he quit his job and signed up to do humanitarian work with Clara, to contribute as much as he could to the war effort.
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Davaj Ukraine
Davaj Ukraine is an independent team from Australia that so far has rescued 426 refugees, delivered 47 tons of humanitarian aid, and organized 81 buses. I’ve been on several missions with members of their team, Richie and Jarred, and have seen firsthand how professional and coolheaded they are even under stressful circumstances.
On October 22, I rode in Davaj Ukraine’s vehicle to deliver aid in the gray zone close to the border between Kharkiv and Luhansk regions; areas only recently liberated, not far from the Russian front line and still in the enemy artillery range. Upon arrival in the first village, Pershotravneve, the Ukrainian soldiers there warned us of Russian drones flying above, and we heard loud explosions from nearby artillery while delivering the aid. Driving past a field on our way out, we heard a loud explosion near us and smoke rising from the grass where artillery had just hit, with Ukrainian soldiers running to their armored vehicles and tanks to get on the road next to us and evacuate that area. It was amazing how calm the Davaj team remained throughout; it was just another day on mission for them.
Leading up to Christmas, the Davaj team is hoping to deliver food for families to have warm meals for the holidays, as well as other supplies such as warm winter clothes, hygiene kits, and toys for children. They’re running a fundraiser for support with this.
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Mission Kharkiv
We also had paramedics from Mission Kharkiv join our convoys when we delivered humanitarian aid to villages. This team focuses on raising money to cover the costs of lifesaving medicine and delivering it to these recently liberated villages that are not far from the front lines of the war and don’t have access to medical care. The paramedics meet with each local resident that requires medical attention to determine what medicine or care they need. Mission Kharkiv also works with local partners in the region, such as Red Cross Kharkiv, for help with delivering medicine.
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Brotherhood of Ukraine
The volunteers from this nonprofit NGO hail from many different countries, including Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, South Africa, and the UK. They work with other local organizations in the region such as H.U.G.S. Ukraine and Red Cross Kharkiv to distribute food and other humanitarian aid to villages. The first time I worked with them was on a mission to deliver oil to a group of Ukrainian soldiers in Kupyansk on October 19. We would work together several more times, including when we delivered twelve tons of flours to a humanitarian hub for distribution to the Ukrainian Army.
Talking to one of their team members from England, I was left with a quote that stayed in my mind: “I’m proud to say I’m not sitting back and doing nothing; I came to Ukraine to make a difference”.
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