Great News was received this morning—the Sea Star Kids group (Nashville, TN) had bought 270 sleeping bags in Munich with the assistance of the Lord’s Church there. There was a question about how to get them from Munich into Ukraine where they would be given to children who had not evacuated. Thankfully we have connected with a DHL volunteer who arranged the pick-up, transportation and delivery to our specified recipient. These are now in Ukraine and on their way to the final destination.
The past few days have been crammed full of various meetings and discussions regarding our efforts. As in all such actions, just when you think all is lined up and progress will be smooth, something suddenly trips you up! We have run the emotional gamut; we have fallen into bed weary and pulled ourselves out still weary; and, we have played and been played by intrigue.
The major focus has been on the security and distribution of the shipments we are directing (see below for more on this).
Everyone we talk with is asking for food and medicines/med supplies. We have several containers on the water with these commodities and the first should be arriving April 6. Thankfully we have some European connections that can bridge the gap until our shipments begin. Today we spoke to an NGO in London that is willing to send a truckload of food for a minimal cost-plus transportation. This has been scheduled because a lack of food is at a critical level in some of the cities that Russia has surrounded (Kharkov & Kherson are two of these locations but there are many more). A footnote to the lack of food…the Russian troops are not supplied with food so they break into homes, shops and groceries and take anything they want to eat.
We continue having some donate air cargo for reduced prices and we try to get the most urgent commodities into Ukraine quickly. We should have at least three shipments via air arriving in Poland this week. We have received absolute validation that previous air freights reached our final destination.
Charita is now planning the next 20 containers for shipping. Those who are waiting on loading dates, it will happen but we are really slammed for time in getting scheduled. Plus, the time difference has a huge impact on things.
Media & Congregation Involvement
Yesterday, we did a zoom TV interview with Knoxville, TN WBIR (Thanks Mike Lawson!). This should air on that network’s news on Wednesday. I will send the link but from over here I cannot see it because the link is blocked.
The various collection sites are AMAZING! Sunday afternoon saw Dalraida’s bucket packing event and over 240 Family Buckets were packed in LESS than one-hour. We are also hearing from the Sherrod Avenue Church of Christ in Florence and reading of their excitement in not only collecting items to ship but also to schedule a container loading there if needed! Will Tucker (youth minister, Chase Park in Huntsville, AL) says they will load a container in Huntsville as well. These are only three of COUNTLESS locations involved in this effort. It is wonderful to see the Lord’s Church mobilized and working!
Concerns of Corruption
The past few days have been spent in some unpleasantries that tend to overshadow the nicer things. Reports of corruption pirating medical supplies are coming to us. I have personally talked with med evac & recon units that report to me regarding these issues.
Thankfully, so far none of the missing med supplies are a part of our shipments. We are also learning of food that was sent for humanitarian aid but is stored and not sent on to the towns and cities that are hungry. One report personally came to me this morning—a doctor at a hospital between Odesa and Mykolaiv (also known as Nikolaev or Nikolayev) said the war has been hard in his area and they were told by a humanitarian group that medical supplies were being shipped to them. He said the only things received in the last 25 days were 20 rolls of gauze all other items were gone.
And the corruption is not limited to just this region of the world. Here is a link to a BBC article discussing fraud: https://news.yahoo.com/ukraine-war-fraudsters-exploit-crisis-002100471.html.
Not only is there stealing but there is also the stimulation of suspicion and distrust within Ukraine. All warfare includes misinformation and disinformation. So, it is not uncommon to be told that the people you trust are not trustworthy and suspicion is planted and then nurtured by slander. So, the energy of the last few days has been spent in the draining actions required to confront and correct such. We are also working to solidify the network of clearance, transportation and distribution so our shipments go to those intended.
Update on Louisville, KY
The medical supplies offered to us in Louisville is a fluid situation. We are still trying to arrange air transport for these 250 pallets. There are 50 more pallets of controlled substances that are available, but we cannot transport them with a caged security.
Here is where we are today: (1) We are still trying to find donated air freight services from SDF to WAW. (2) The doctors in Ukraine are going through the inventory to make sure all listed are needed at this time. (3) We are still searching for warehousing space. We do have a lead on possible space, so that is positive. These pallets are lightweight so they can be stacked 3 high thus reducing the square footage needed to store. (4) We will schedule shipping immediately so storage is short-term (maybe only 1-month total). (5) IF we have donated air freight or donations to pay for reduced air freight, then we can whittle this number down. (6) As soon as repacking of the pallets is made we can begin removing the pallets to whatever storage facility we have available.
Some of the pallets contain items we cannot ship so the manufacturer is removing these and rewrapping the pallets. If we can secure a storage facility we can begin removing pallets with the help of those who have trailers. This will prevent having to move all in a short period of time.
I know a number who are working on this in KY—THANK YOU! There is a way there to get these critically needed meds/pharms into Ukraine. We just need to keep looking until it is found.
It has been a long day, but continues to be good!
John L. Kachelman, Jr.
(Warsaw, Poland)
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