Monday, March 7: World Vision Australia CEO Daniel Wordsworth has led the organisation's first mercy dash across the border into Ukraine to deliver much-needed food and supplies, as the nation buckles under the weight of war. On the ground in Romania since the onset of the conflict, World Vision entered Ukraine to deliver two van-loads of food and supplies to a 600-bed regional hospital which issued an urgent plea for help to its sister town in Romania, Siret. World Vision Australia CEO Daniel Wordsworth said the conflict in Ukraine was starting to take an awful toll on supplies of staple items, including hospital goods within the country, and it would be the first of many deliveries. "We're hearing from within Ukraine that people are desperate for food," Daniel said. "On top of supply chain issues and their normal patient-load, hospitals are coming under added pressure as people flee their homes and flock to hospitals as safe havens to seek food and shelter, especially as conditions drop to below zero degrees. "Hospital supplies are already dangerously low, and there are real fears food will become a critical issue in coming weeks. There are vulnerable people who are sick and can't get across the border taking refuge in hospitals and schools." The cross-border humanitarian delivery came after World Vision met with the mayor of Siret to offer help with the refugee response. The Romanian border town has welcomed hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian migrants fleeing the conflict. "World Vision has been working around the clock with local leaders to find ways to meet the urgent need for food, hospital supplies and other goods and get them to children and patients in hospitals, in particular," Daniel said. World Vision's humanitarian delivery included hospital supplies such as mattresses, pillows, sheets, towels, soap and disinfectant, as well as food items such as pasta, grains, rice, oil, condensed milk and canned meat to hungry children and families and especially sick patients.
More shipments will follow and extra World Vision teams who are expert in food distribution partnering are being deployed to continue to delivering supplies to vulnerable children and communities within Ukraine.
"The incredible generosity of Australians has meant that World Vision has been able to respond fast to escalating needs during this conflict," Daniel said. World Vision has already been responding to the refugee crisis, the scale of which is growing by the day.
Staff have been supporting refugees since the outset with water, food, hygiene and child-friendly kits, as well as heaters and televisions to the mother-and-child rest stations at the border. The aid organisation also plans to provide psychological first aid to children and individuals arriving from Ukraine through a group of 45 Ukrainian-speaking psychologists.
