Salesian Plans to Help Ukrainians Cope with Winter

Salesian Plans to Help Ukrainians Cope with Winter

(ANS – Kiev, Ukraine – January 19, 2023) – Winter in Eastern Europe can kill even in normal times: temperatures reach -20°F. Today in Ukraine, however, the situation is much worse than it usually is because many houses have broken windows or partially demolished walls, and the inhabitants don’t have adequate means to insulate their homes, nor do they have enough warm clothes or blankets. Therefore, Salesians and lay people co-responsible in the Don Bosco mission have begun a winterization program to help the Ukrainian population cope with the winter.

The project is funded by donations that various Salesian organizations have received and continue to receive from the Salesian Family and their donors around the world. The work is coordinated by the Warsaw Coordination Team for the Ukrainian Emergency, under the leadership of the Salesian Congregation's emergency response coordinator, Fr. George Menamparampil, and the Don Bosco Network coordinator, Angel Gudiña.

What has been done and is still being done? Coordination leaders answered thus:

-  We collected information from Salesian offices throughout Ukraine about the needs of people in their area. The basic needs are food, warm clothes, insulation, electricity generators, and fuel.

-  We rented a warehouse in Lviv to store food and non-food items brought in bulk from Poland. Local Salesian communities collect and distribute them throughout the country.

-  To date, three trucks have brought food, hygiene items, and thermos bottles.

-  We provide the Salesians in Ukraine with financial support for building maintenance, heating, and electricity, so that they become warm safe places for anyone in the area, especially for displaced people.  For example: in Bobrka, the roof was insulated, the chimney was sealed, and a water heater was purchased; in Przemyslany, the attic was thermally insulated and coal and firewood were purchased; in Zhytomyr, winter jackets, boots, and food were distributed; windows and doors were replaced to insulate them; and a water reserve tank was installed.

-  Four trucks and containers of thermal blankets provided by Salesian Missions of New Rochelle arrived at the Warsaw warehouse. Some have already reached Zhytomyr. They will protect field kitchens and secure doors and windows.

- In early February, two more containers, again organized by Salesian Missions USA, will arrive in Poland with rice and soybean meals ready to be transferred to Ukraine.

The organizations currently active in supporting the winterization project are: Misiones Salesianas of Madrid; Don Bosco Mondo of Bonn, Germany; the NGO Salesian Volunteers for Development (VIS), Italy; Jugendhilfe Weltweit of Switzerland; Don Bosco Mission Austria; Bosco Aid of Ireland; Don Bosco Mission Office of Canada; the SDB province of Great Britain; the Salesian Cooperators; Salesian Missions of Australia; Don Bosco Global of Spain; and the Polish provinces of Krakow and Warsaw.

The Warsaw Coordination team for the Ukraine Emergency adds, finally, “We do what we can. We would like to do more. A LOT more needs to be done. Our repairs and maintenance cannot keep up with the pace of fresh destruction day after day. Though lagging further behind each day, we are resolved to plod on, no matter what!”