Thanks to the mechanics at Bas4Cars, two more Land Rovers have been checked over and are ready to leave. In Ukraine the ETOC volunteers use them for aid work and evacuations. It is hard to think of a more useful job for them.
Tags: transport
Roman teaches mathematics in Kharkiv and volunteers with ETOC, the organisation we work with closely. Everyone in the city pitches in. Roman is in the Netherlands to collect a vehicle loaded with supplies, and has time to talk about what is happening in his city and in his community. The evening is hosted by Hack42 in Arnhem, a hackerspace that has contributed to our work for years.
The latest shipment has arrived at ETOC in Kharkiv, with thanks to everyone who helped arrange the transport. Four pallets of supplies from ambulance stations and directly from Almeva are hugely welcome. This time they hold personal protective equipment and trauma materials of the kind used in Dutch ambulance care as well: tourniquets, haemostatic gauze, infusion materials and tracheostomy sets. The doctors and nurses are delighted with them.
The Pajero that Ron drove over was filled with supplies for the volunteers in Kharkiv. Some of them help with clearing up and first repairs after a strike. Helmets and practical protective gear from the ambulance stations and from a large maritime company let them work more safely. It also tells the volunteers that their often dangerous work is seen and supported.
Board member Ron Roozendaal drives back and forth regularly. There is a lot we can learn from Ukrainians: how people organise themselves and how they deal with the war. What can you still do yourself, what does a society depend on, and how does that actually work? He wrote a blog post about it on his own website.
Thanks to the mechanics, two vehicles are ready for the next run: a Land Rover Discovery 1 and a Mitsubishi Pajero. They carry a batch of personal protective equipment for the ambulance service in Kharkiv, a number of generators, and if we can manage it, more trauma care consumables such as tourniquets and haemostatic gauze.