April 10, 2022

 

A former Stanford student gets trapped in Ukraine and starts a food delivery program.

 

Vasily grew up in eastern Ukraine and attended Stanford University for two years, and he eventually established residency in Atlanta. He was visiting family and friends in Ukraine and bought his airline ticket home for the morning of February 24.  At 4:00 a.m. he was awoken by the sound of missiles exploding in his city and he, along with thousands of residents, scrambled in a panicked state looking for shelter or a way to escape.  He described the situation as utter chaos as thousands of cars clogged up the roads leading out of his city.  At first, he tried to buy a train ticket to escape the hell, but all the seats were sold out. 

His flight to Atlanta was canceled, so he literally ran for miles to the outskirts of the city where he was picked up by his cousin in a car.  They drove west to the border where he tried to cross into Poland but one hour earlier the government had shut the border to all men under the age of 60. Even though he was a resident of the US, he held a Ukrainian passport and was not allowed to leave.

He ended up at the western border city of Mosciska where he had family and friends.  Trapped in Ukraine and unable to go home he contemplated how to spend his time and energy. He remembered a Stanford professor telling the students that they couldn't control the past and to focus on the present moment. He encouraged them to take advantage of the present situation and turn it into a positive force for good in the world.

So Vasily enlisted members of his family and close friends and started distributing food to the women, children, and the elderly who were fleeing the country by the tens of thousands. They baked bread and handed it out to the refugees who were in a 20-kilometer line to the border. He described it as a chaotic, desperate situation. The refugees had to stand in line for several days in the freezing weather (end of February) to cross the border.

They started with baked bread and within a month, this loosely organized group of family and friends is now distributing tons of food, medicine, and hygiene supplies to the cities where the residents are trapped and literally starving. They work under the auspices of Caritas-Ukraine, an aid organization started by Greek Catholics. Aid organizations from all over Europe ship their goods to Caritas-Ukraine and they, in turn, coordinate the logistics of hiring trucks and drivers to deliver the supplies. 

I observed the operation on Friday as volunteers packed goods into boxes and loaded them into big rigs. As one truck pulled away to Chernihiv where residents are trapped and struggling to survive, I prayed that the truck would make it to its destination safely.

Vasily is one of countless number of individuals who despite personal danger and overwhelming odds, have decided to follow that Stanford professor's advice and take action to make the world a safer place for suffering human beings.

"I am a trak draiwer."

  

Last night I drove my last families from the border to the Krakow train station. I leave tomorrow to return home. 

Elizabeth (mother in red) and Lily, daughter in lavender pants) are from Dnepropetrovsk. Irina and Sergei are from Kharkiv, one of the hardest hit cities.

 

If you recall, I almost ran out of gas on my very first transport from the border (See my March 28th post). Wouldn't you know it, I almost ran out of gas on my very last shuttle. I thought I had enough gas to get to one of the very few stations on the highway, but I miscalculated, and I started sweating bullets and that awful cold feeling in the pit of my stomach reemerged. I kept thinking what a shame that my two weeks of successfully driving the families might end up in embarrassment and a huge problem with no easy solution. Just as the gas gauge counted down to single digit kilometers, the most beautiful sight in the world emerged in the distance--a gas station sign! I figured that even if we didn't make it, Sergei and I could push the car to the station.

It turns out that Sergei was a truck driver. I didn't understand at first what he was saying as his English was very limited. So he asked for a piece of paper and pen and wrote:

I understood immediately. He also wrote down his telephone number and said (via a translator) to call him anytime we needed help while he and his wife were in Krakow. All of them expressed their deepest appreciation ("from the bottom of our hearts") to me and to all of you who have supported my journey. 

Irina and Sergei were picked up by friends at the train station, while Elizabeth and Lily were on their way to Poznan, a five-hour train ride. I accompanied them to the ticket office where I helped them get their tickets. They didn't speak Polish, the ticket seller didn't speak Ukrainian, but the ticket agent and I spoke English, so I was able to get the job done. As I pulled out my credit card to pay for the tickets, the ticket agent told me that it was free. Ukrainians with a passport can ride free anywhere in Poland. And the same goes for Germany. The generosity of the Europeans continues to amaze me.