12/24/2023 6:00 am (current 12/24/2023 6:00 am)
A Caritas team distributed firewood in remote villages ©APA/CARITAS WIEN
A team from Caritas Austria visited many of its aid projects in Ukraine before Christmas. “Especially now, in winter, the need of people, especially the elderly and children, is particularly great,” said Caritas director Klaus Schwertner, according to the broadcast, after a seven-day visit to the country marked by war of aggression Russian. “The consequences of this war are brutal, the suffering of the population is enormous.”
The country was still a long way from being a “Christmas miracle” in the second winter of the war, Schwertner said after the trip that took him and his team to Kiev, Zhytomyr, Irpin and Butscha. “Ukraine is attacked by drones and missiles every day,” he concluded. “We should not fool ourselves: although Ukraine has largely disappeared from the headlines recently, the war here continues to rage with undiminished brutality.”
“Since February 2022, authorities have recorded more than 35 thousand aerial alerts”, listed the director of Caritas. “At best, each individual means only psychological terror, but at worst, an alarm is followed by death, suffering, destruction and sadness. The psychological consequences are devastating, especially for children.” In recent days, there have been the strongest drone and missile attacks on the Ukrainian capital in many months.
According to the report, the Caritas team was forced to visit shelters several times during the trip. “It is clear: with each day that this war of aggression continues, with each additional rocket and each additional drone, people's suffering and despair increase. The border with Ukraine is the same distance from Vienna as Bregenz, and Kiev is as close as Paris. “We must not abandon our neighbors!”
Schwertner: “We said from the beginning: we are not running a sprint, but a marathon of aid. It is perhaps the longest marathon that Austria and Europe have had to run since the Second World War. But we see: our aid works and does the difference “It makes a big difference for many men, women and, above all, for the five million children – especially now at Christmas”. According to Caritas, more than 17.6 million people already depend on humanitarian aid in the country. ” More than five million Ukrainians have become displaced people in their own country. More than six million people have fled their homes.”
On their trip, the Caritas team visited numerous projects for children, winter emergency aid or “warming points”, but also facilities that provide inpatient or mobile home care for the elderly and people in need of care and people with disabilities. “Together with Caritas Ukraine, we distribute firewood in remote villages during blizzards and subzero temperatures, provide people with food, hot meals and sleeping bags, and visit child protection centers where something like childhood during war should be possible,” Schwertner reported. “And if there is good news at this time, it is: we can help and our help reaches many people – specifically more than four million since the war of aggression began on February 24, 2022, mainly women and children across the country. It is no exaggeration to say that this aid guarantees the survival of many people.”
Last but not least, the willingness to help people in Austria has made it possible to deliver 500 tonnes of aid since the start of the war of aggression, the humanitarian organization said, and a quarter of a million people in Ukraine have also received support . in the form of food packaging, hygiene products and drinking water.
The director of Caritas called on Austrian federal government officials not to slow down on humanitarian aid to Ukraine next year and to provide appropriate funds, for example from the foreign disaster fund: “Aid must continue – because the need is increasing as the war continues.” Faced with the tense situation, Caritas continued to ask for donations from the local population: “We are asking for this help at a time that is also challenging for the Austrian population. But the experience of recent months makes me confident that many Austrians and Austrians want to work with us to make a small Christmas miracle possible for our neighbors in Ukraine.”
With a monthly, freely selectable donation, it is possible to care for children in Caritas protection centers in the long term, says Schwertner. “The grant application is limited to one year and automatically ends at the end of 2024.”