.png)
What a whirlwind 4 days it’s been! Empact’s Pathfinders team has been very busy learning the “ground truth” about the #UkraineCrisis that will allow our work here to be a success. Not only has your team made it into every major reception center at the primary border crossings, but half of our team also made it into Ukraine proper to evaluate the living conditions in the cities there, evacuation corridors for wounded civilians, and the status of border crossings.
#Lviv is a city prepared for war. There is an unbelievable security presence and it was rare for our pair to go more than 4 or 5 blocks without being stopped at a checkpoint. While the soldiers, police officers, territorial guards, and civilians manning these checkpoints are polite, professional, and courteous, they are deadly serious and one gets the sense that they are prepared for anything, anytime. Ukrainians have much to be proud of right now.
The lines at the border crossings are long and becoming longer, despite the best efforts of the Polish Border Agency’s guards who are working under an extreme workload. The nation of Poland is absolutely rising to the challenge of this crisis, which has become the largest and most rapid outflow of refugees since World War II, with more than a million people already in #Poland and more than 100,000 crossing into Poland every 24 hours. Like their Ukrainian counterparts, Poles have much to be proud of. The people of this nation are pouring out everything they have to help their neighbors, donating their time, their money, their homes, and anything else they can to help those in need.
Your team has observed the checkpoints, seen the reception centers, and visited the affected nation, now it’s time to put all this to work. In the coming days, weeks, and months, we’ll be coordinating the influx of #volunteers, #medical and otherwise, to serve those trapped, those who have fled, and those who are stuck between. We are proud to be a part of the world’s response to this crisis as we work directly with the Polish government, the #WHO, the United Nations, and our partner NGO’s.
Now is the time when we must all come together to #standwithukraine and serve those most in need, but we can’t do it without you! Our supporters have an essential role to play in this response. Please go to www.donorbox.org/Empact-Ukraine today and donate to support this mission. This crisis will last for months, if not longer and we will need all of the support we can find.
Thank you!
Team #Ukraine