Ukraine Tour April 22-27, 2023 – Medical Items & Donated School Bus
“As described earlier, the requirements for the Ukraine are constantly changing. Since we last time came to Ukraine in February 2023, 2 months are gone again, more than ever the hospitals close to the front line are overfilled with wounded patients which need to be treated in an emergency setting.”
Help us to finance the minibus for Ukrainian schools
For schools in Western Ukraine, which we visited during our aid transports, we would like to finance a new school bus. For the used Ford Transit we need 10.000€. We have already reached the halfway point. Please help us reach the target amount so that we can bring the bus to the country in mid-April. More information is available here from Ukraine project coordinator Matthias Straub.
“We entrusted our lives to you back then.” – One year after the first aid transport
A year ago, the photo was taken in front of the hotel in Poland. On this day, we had taken a total of 37 refugees from the camps on the Polish-Ukrainian border on the journey to Germany. Not all of them are in the memorable photo, but many of them are. And we have regular contact with most of them. How are families doing today?
“The Book and the People” – A Personal Review of a Year of “Land Abandoned”.
In the meantime, a year has passed since the start of the war in Ukraine. A year of immeasurable suffering for the people of the country. And for those who today have found their temporary home somewhere in Europe – in the hope that family members left behind will survive and that the cruel war will finally come to an end.
For me, things have changed since I participated in Menschenfreude e.V.’s first humanitarian aid campaign for Ukraine in March 2022. I developed a sense of the multi-faceted challenges refugees face. And I have developed a feeling for what it means for non-German speakers to find their way through the German bureaucratic jungle.
“Living with the war” – Again Ukraine transport with 2 tons of medical material and other humanitarian goods
We are on the road again. For me it’s the second time within a few weeks. Last time I was at the Ukrainian border on December 17, 2022 to bring some generators through the snow to some people waiting desperately, freezing in the dark after the Ukrainian electricity infrastructure was significantly damaged.
Humanitarian aid for earthquake victims – transports starting next week – appeal for donations
On a current occasion: We from Menschenfreude e.V. do not want to leave the people affected by the earthquake alone. Relief transports to the affected regions will start immediately – by truck and by ship from Greece. We ask you for donations to finance the transports and to be able to buy for the people on site. Likewise, we will be accepting in-kind donations on 2/25/2023.
Clinics, retirement homes, public facilities: Here are the generators arrived – an overview & a thank you video
Feedback after our aid transport in December 2022: Dr. Matthias Straub had set off for Menschenfreude e.V. to Ukraine. A total of 22 emergency generators – financed by donations – were handed over. Now the first acknowledgements of receipt have reached us – connected with personal words, pictures and huge gratitude.
Freezing in the dark. Ukraine Impressionen, 14. bis 20. Dezember 2022
Freezing in the dark, a concern for many people in the Ukraine nowadays. We want to do something about this, we want to deliver power generators which are hard to get in the Ukraine.…On December 14 I arrived in Bonn with 5 generators from the Netherlands. Given the winter weather I decided to leave on December 15 with a traget to arrive December 17. I picked up 17 more generators from Mönchengladbach and winter clothes from the Tabea warehouse in Swisstal donated from Menschenfreude people and then left. I intended to stay overnight at Nowy Tomysil in Poland.
“Our friends are holding out at 2°C. In the room.” – Electricity generators for people in Ukraine
From mid-December, volunteers from Menschenfreude e.V. will once again start a relief transport to Ukraine. In view of the impending winter, a total of twelve power generators are on board this time. The contact person is Dr. Matthias Straub, who, together with his wife Elka, has already accompanied previous relief transports of Menschenfreude e.V. and carried them out himself. Initially, the generators are intended for hospitals. Smaller equipment for schools and other institutions will also be brought into the country as part of further shipments. We therefore ask you once again for donations – and thank you at the same time for your previous support!
Donate, Follow, Collaborate – Help us bring joy to people!
Our non-profit association Menschenfreude e.V. is growing. We are very happy about it. About the many big and small joys we were allowed to give to people near and far in the past years. Projects in Nepal, Africa, countries in Europe, regionally in North Rhine-Westphalia, school projects and collection campaigns – our volunteers are constantly on the job and enthusiastically involved. The best way to get an overview of our projects is to stop by our blog or Instagram.