The idea arose between the members of the board of On My Way UA and the new Keep Them Warm group to make a trip to the border together. As the two groups are melting together and working together to make the initiative great again, this trip was the perfect time to do so. So, four from the present Keep Them Warm group were on the trip and two of the previous. Johanne came along from the Nijmegen board to help and Julie and Jochem also came along! A trip was born.
On October 27th in the morning, the Humanitarian Aid and two other busses set off for Otto in Friesland. Once arrived, we helped Otto load up our busses with all the neccesary (mostly medial) supplies. He once again reminded us of how many supplies he has and how much the trips are needed right now.
Filled with medical supplies, blankets and even a stroller we headed to our first stop: Wroclaw. After a very long drive, with some traffic jams on the way (unfortunately), we arrived in Wroclaw at about 2 A.M. We then took our well deserved rest and set off again at 10 in the morning to Przemysl! When we arrived at the border our first stop was the distribution center right near the border. This was a crazy experience as we witnessed the huge line of traffic waiting to enter Ukraine. At the centre we unloaded all three of the busses, which were filled to the brim.
Now all the supplies and busses were unpacked and put away in the distribution centre, now waiting to be brought into Ukraine. We then headed back to our hotel as we were done for the day. The following hours and the day after was the time for us to rest and to put our heads together for the organisation. The day after we also went to take a look at the Hope Shelter in Prezmsyl, where we met the people we were bringing to the Netherlands.
9 A.M. the next morning we filled our busses with blankets, pillows and food for the Ukrainian refugees and headed to pick them up at the shelter. Again, two long days of driving were ahead of us. Our job now was even more important: brining these people to the Netherlands safely! Which we did.
After a good night of sleep in the hotel we arrived with them in the Jaarbeurs in Utrecht the next day! Here we said our goodbyes to the people we had taken with us, who were immensely grateful and all wanted to take a picture with us. This goodbye was rather strange but we were all very happy with the fact we had brought this people to the safety of the Netherlands.
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