The European Union estimates that the number of refugees from Russia’s war in Ukraine could rise to seven million. Now about 1.5 million refugees live in Polish border towns.
Three New Yorkers drove over four thousand miles to see how they could help.
“When you see how people travel from Ukraine to Poland, someone has seven, eight, nice bags everywhere, you know, on their shoulders and arms, sometimes a child or two in their arms. And fatigue is visible, some kind of emotional load on the face, ”said Yogi Trivedi.
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Three men work as volunteers for the charity BAPS to help refugees on the Polish-Ukrainian border.
They’ve been on the border for over a week now, helping to deliver supplies to those who need them most.
The men say it was especially hard for them to watch Ukrainian children live with the trauma and horrors of war.
Travedi, Ravi Putni and Dharmik Shet are part of a small group of volunteers along the Polish-Ukrainian border who are doing their best to help people fleeing the war. The three know each other through volunteer work with BAPS Charities, a grassroots charity that originated in South Asia and currently operates in eight countries.
Aid is pouring into Ukraine from all over the world, and the three men say the vast majority of the work they do is to ensure that aid gets to those who need it.
“Ever since we landed here people have been saying we can ship and I think that’s the question everyone is asking. How can we contribute? People ask if we can send money to you? But that doesn’t really help, does it? Travedi said, “Because how do you transfer this money to people on the ground? And how do you do it effectively?
The vast majority of people in refugee camps are women and children. Men aged 18 to 60 are prohibited from leaving Ukraine.
Travedi has small children of his own and says it’s hard to watch Ukrainian children live with the trauma and horrors of war.
“You feel like their childhood has been soaked or stolen, and we see that when they cross the border,” Travedi said. “This is hard to watch. It really is.”
More help is on the way. At a meeting with the Polish president this week, Vice President Kamala Harris pledged more than $50 million in humanitarian aid to Ukrainian refugees.