They give doctors lifts to hospitals, they buy respirators and ALV ventilators, and they feed the homeless. A new wave of volunteering is sweeping Ukraine. In 2014, at the start of Russian aggression against Ukraine, it was the army and internally displaced people who most needed help; today it is medical staff and those citizens most hard-hit by coronavirus quarantine measures — in short, the poorest layers of society with the least protection. Why, once more, does it seem that the state cannot cope without a helping hand from volunteers?
Waiting for a Telegram
"In the distant past, I was a successful director. In the present, I'm a crazed volunteer who has never slept enough," began Lesya Litvinova when introducing herself to Hromadske Radio, an independent Ukrainian media network. These words are from 2015, when Litvinova was working in Ukraine's capital Kyiv, where she coordinated assistance efforts to displaced people from the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. She then established her own foundation, Svoyi (Ukrainian: "Ours") to help patients in palliative care. She now receives requests for assistance from hospitals all over Ukraine. In short, after six years, Litvinova is still a volunteer. When comparing her activities back in 2014-15 to today's emergency, Litvinova says that obtaining much needed supplies has been more difficult during the coronavirus pandemic.
"Right now, everybody has problems getting the right equipment: we do, so do likeminded foundations, government agencies, and other countries. There are queues outside the manufacturers. Everywhere offers used equipment of uncertain origin, but that's a complete waste of money. You can buy a mechanical ventilator which was made in Korea 15 years ago, but it'll only work for a couple of days. There's a lack of these things worldwide. I got a call from a girl in Italy, from the Ukrainian diaspora, who had helped us out before. She said: 'we're at capacity here, could you let us use at least one oxygen concentrator, temporarily, from those which we gave you?' And I couldn't, because the borders were closed. And it really torments me. Many people have helped us out over the years, but now we can't help anyone," says Litvinova.
