Help keep the Ukrainian refugee center safe.

Hello,

This is PeaceWinds Korea Emergency Aid Team.

On October 1st, we had opportunity to interview new comers of NCUM shelter Natalia and Vika. We would like to share with you a heartbreaking story of these refugees we heard that day.

The NCUM(National Congress of Ukrainians in Moldova), a Moldovan NGO, is established by Ukraine to support Moldova. NCUM is managing a temporary shelter (RAC) for the population displaced from Ukraine to Moldova and help them to move safely to Germany and other European countries. They also support settlement in that area, where refugee want to live.

The NCUM’s refugees story

Natalia (62 years old) arrived in Moldova on 30 of September

Natalia was living in the Mykolayu city, a city about 4-5 km from the Russian-occupied territory. She just retired and she hoped that she will live peacefully after retirement, but war broke out. Many people died during bombing, and building where she used to work was also destroyed.

Natalia’s daughter-in-law and her grandson were taken by the Russian army to Russian territory and have been living in Kazan for 5 months now. Her sister and son remained in the Kyiv province, Ukraine, and Natalia came to NCUM shelter alone on September 30th. She has never been abroad and has no passports.

“I didn’t want to leave my house at all. I thought that I would be able to live comfortably in my own home after retirement, but now I can't do that either. About 2~3 more bombs were dropped every night. On September 21, around 5:30 PM, a bomb was dropped at a bus stop near my house. Twelve people were injured and three people died. I was so scared. That bus stop was the one I often use to visit my sister.”

Her son is divorced, and after divorce her grandson and daughter-in-law were lived in Rubizhne(a region located in eastern Ukraine). Then, the Rubizhne was attacked and her daughter-in-law and grandson had to hide in underground for three weeks. Unfortunately, her daughter-in-law couldn’t evacuate with the Ukrainians. As well as she has three children and her youngest is only three years old baby. Besides, she has grandfather who is very weak and cannot walk long.

One day, a car approached to the underground where they were hiding and people from that car told them to get into car if they want to get out from underground. First, they took them to Svatove, Ukraine, where they stayed for a few nights, and then they took them to Kazan, a Russian territory. Natalia says Kazan isn't that bad place and she glad that her daughter-in-law and grandson are in Kazan, not in other region.

Natalia didn’t immediately decided to leave Ukraine. One day, early in the morning a bomb dropped for the first time to the city where she used to live at. At the sound of a explosion, she ran outside. She didn’t understand what is going on. When she was going to work, she heard some women were talking that their husbands are soldiers, and that they said a war had begun. It was then that Natalia realized what was going on. She left the Mykolaiv City with her son on the afternoon of the same day and lived in Kyiv for 4 to 5 months.

“First we moved to a nearby village and lived there for about a month. Then we moved to Kiev (Northern Ukraine) and lived there for 4-5 months. But you know, I just want to go to my own home. You understand me, right?”

One day she hears that there are less shooting in the Mykolayu city, a city where Natalia's house is, and she decides to come back to home on September 28th. But the next day, on September 29, a bomb fell on a ninth-floor apartment near her home, and people were killed again in font of her eyes. She saw it from her balcony.

“I was so scared. You never know when or from where a bomb will drop. I was so anxious and scared that I barely could fall asleep. I slept a few hours during the day, a few hours in the evening, and at night I have no choice but to hide in the bathroom trembling with fear. My shelter was a bathroom. Accidental Emergency Broadcast says everyone to evacuate, but there is no shelter in the city where people can evacuate. My daughter-in-law invited me to Kazan, Russia to live with them. I love my grandson so much. But I can't go there. I cannot live in Russia, you know?”

Vika, 38, arrived in Moldova on 30 September with her two daughters.

Vika was living in the city of Mikolayu, and she fled to Moldova on September 30thwith her two daughters. She also didn’t want to leave Ukraine, but bombs kept falling on the city. After she saw it with her own eyes, she decided that she could no longer be in the city and she left the city with daughters.

She said that after bombs dropped on the city, people were extremely terrified and were unable to go outside. But, she decided that she had to leave to save her daughters’ life.

“I didn’t want to leave home until the very end. But when bombing started in the city, I couldn't stay there any longer. I was scared. My daughters’ life is precious. I had to leave only to protect their life.”

Vika is going to Germany, waiting for the bus that will take them to Germany. We sincerely hope that she and her daughters will be fine.

Peace Winds Korea will continue to do our best to support refugees in need. Thank you.

On the 28thof September PeaceWinds Korea emergency aid team has departed to Moldova, a country near Ukraine, for Ukraine refugee support. And the new member of Peace Winds Korea, Shin Soyeon informed us about the situation of Ukraine refugees in Moldova. We would like to share it with you.

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Hello,

This is Shin Soyeon, the new member of PeaceWinds Korea. I hope you all received my letters and liked them. I want to share with you in detail about the real story of Ukraine refugees here. So this is my fourth letter from Moldova.

On October 2nd, we visited refugee shelter near the Romanian border that was the university dormitory before. There was a picture on the office wall drawn by a refugee child. It clearly shows how psychologically unstable they are.

Last April, I was able to hear story of a family, Svetlana(55 years old) and Yuri(60 years old), from Odessa. Svetlana and Yuri with their son Bagdam (10 years old) and older sisters came to a shelter near the Romanian border. The decisive reason that make them to come was the air raid alarms in Odessa that sounded all day and they couldn't sleep. Bagdam, Svetlana’s 10 years old son, is ill and spends most of the day in bed, taking online classes from school in Ukraine.

Mrs.Svetlana was unable to move due to leg pain and doctors of shelter took care of her and she is better now. She expressed her gratefulness to the doctor for visiting and treating her with kindness. They said they are really appreciate the visit and support. And they also added that they are sincerely grateful for listening to their story. Mrs. Svetlana gave us chocolate and said that it is the most famous in Moldova.*^^* She also gave us jelly and several refreshments such as cola. It must have been difficult to give what I have, to others in these hard times, but I felt even more grateful for her the willingness to share despite the circumstances.

We also visited the orphanage run by Pastor Vladimir and we delivered food and daily necessities. The budget that had to go to social welfare facilities due to war goes to refugees. The state does not have budget to support its citizens. Moldova wants to cooperate with neighboring countries to form partnerships and attract investment. National income is low, prices are rising, and refugees continue to flow in. Everyone expects an influx of refugees, several dozen times more than the current number, this winter. It is ironic that the world is receiving refugees without conditions, even in countries where it is difficult for their own citizens to supply.

There was one child in the orphanage who was lying in bed all day. The boy had a grandfather, but he had to take care of another grandson, so he left the boy in an orphanage. A war that make a person to give up his/her life. It made me upset. I was really resentful of what the war was for.

On October 4th, Pastor Vladimir and our team bought items to take to Odessa, Ukraine. It is not easy to buy items for 80 people at a time, but it is admirable to see Pastor Vladimir delivering so many items from Chisinau to Odessa. I hope that Pastor's efforts will be of some help to people in Ukraine.

We brought sketchbooks and crayons from Korea for the refugee children in Moldova. When I told children, “You can draw anything you want”, they drew a variety of pictures, including the picture that eflects friendship between Korea and Ukraine, and pictures with the colors of Ukrainian flag.

One of the refugee child drew a house and her father in Ukraine, and said that she really miss him and really want to see him once. I wanted to ask more about her father, how he is there and also about the war, but I didn’t. Because I thought that it is hard enough for a child to just miss the father and I didn’t want to make her even sadder.

We also interviewed Teysha (29 years old, Ukraine) and Vavec (30 years old, Azerbaijan) married couple with 1 year old daughter Amina. They were pregnant when they came from Odessa to Chishinau. The two had been dating for about two and a half years, and found out that they were pregnant before getting married. Suddenly war broke out, and a missile bombardment broke out right in front of them.

They said at that time they took a bus to Moldova with all the money they had, and the bus was really narrow. Teysha said that while she was pregnant, she was worried because she didn't have a hospital while coming this way to Moldova, and she was afraid that Vavec could not legally protect her if something will happen because they were not legally married yet. Teysha already had two children, and Vavek was always by her side, taking care and helping her with her two children, and even the child in her belly too. He was not his father legally, but he was a father in all aspects except the law.

The couple arrived safely in Moldova, had a hospital, submitted legal documents, and were able to get married. They said that they are really thankful to the evacuation center for providing necessary items and helping with the preparation of documents so that they could even hold a wedding ceremony. They said they want to go back to Ukraine when war is over. I hope that war will end soon and they will be able to fully establish themselves in Ukraine.

The weather is getting colder while we're here. People who used to wear only thin T-shirts started to wear outerwear one by one, and some even took out their winter coats and jackets. Since Moldova is cold from now to April, half of the year is the cold season here. It's hard to just endure the cold season, but it's even harder to imagine how terrifying it can be when a war going on too.

I am going back to Korea this evening. While I was in Moldova, I heard and learned about the past, present situation of refugees and future plans for the refugee shelter. 

I will work on creating best ways of informing you about the real condition situation of refugees and consider and act what kind of support I need to provide to help everyone I met in Moldova.

Thank you

PeaceWinds Korea, Shin Soyeon