Darina’s journey from Kharkiv, Ukraine, to Bulgaria took 4 days by train and bus. She was very pregnant. Now, holding her peaceful child in her arms, she wipes her eyes as she lists the names of the volunteers who helped her in those early days when she fled the war in her homeland.
“These women – Maria, Katya, Romy, Stanislava – are the people I met by chance and all they wanted to do was help,” she says.
When the refugees first began arriving in the country, the Bulgarian Red Cross set out to work, mobilizing paid staff and volunteers to provide practical assistance to people seeking refuge, food, medical and hygiene products, and clothing.
“We have all put in close to 34,000 hours of volunteer work,” says Dr. Nadezhda Todorovska, Deputy Director General of the Bulgarian Red Cross. “About 5,000 volunteers participated, not only in the capital, Sofia, but at all refugee arrival points within our country.”
Coordinated support for Ukrainian refugees
The Bulgarian Red Cross is just one member of the Bulgarian government’s coordinating body that includes the WHO country office in Bulgaria, the United Nations International Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and the International Organization for Migration (IOM). and other international NGOs. They have worked together to meet the vast needs of refugees.
The Red Cross, with support from the WHO country office in Bulgaria, is working to ensure that Ukrainian refugees like Darina are connected to medical and psychological support.
“I was cared for when I was in the maternity ward and got the medicine from the Red Cross,” she says. “Fortunately, they provided everything, including for my child, which means that I can rest easily. I gave birth in Sophia Hospital. I was not worried, because the staff were very kind. Everything was like a fairy tale. ”
Alexandra, who was also pregnant when she arrived from Kherson, Ukraine, recalls, “There was a lot of moral support from the Red Cross. They gave a stroller, diapers, clothes, medical and legal information.”
Dr Skender Sylla, WHO Representative in the WHO Country Office in Bulgaria, leads a 3-person team in Bulgaria. “With our small team, we needed to spend more time dealing with our partners, but also interviewing the refugees themselves, to understand the main priorities in which to invest,” he says. “We also have support from our regional office to assess the situation, identify key priority areas and provide support to people in need, wherever they are, regardless of their origin.”
The WHO country office in Bulgaria is working to ensure that medicines are distributed in Red Cross centers faster, and their successful partnership with the Red Cross in Sofia will be expanded to other cities with a high refugee density.
Civil Society Support
The Bulgarian people also opened their hearts and homes to the refugees.
When they are in a foreign country, they do not know the language or the laws. “They need a helping hand,” says Juliana Kolokina, head of the Center for Education and Integration, Ukrainian Beehive. “We must not forget that these people came from the war, some of them lost everything. Their homes, their families, their loved ones. They came emotionally and physically exhausted; many of them suffer from various health problems.”
She explains how volunteers at the Ukrainian Beehive support refugees with language instruction, legal advice and information that helps them integrate and adjust to life in a new country.
“Navigating the health system in Bulgaria is the biggest problem. A lot of disabled people came. They came without their papers, because they were left behind under the rubble.”
Not surprisingly, refugees also need mental health support. Rimma, 23, who fled with her boyfriend and pet dog from Odessa, describes how, when she first arrived in Bulgaria, she used to panicked at the sound of a garbage truck, thinking it was a bomb exploding. “You feel helpless. You can be killed at any moment and there is nothing you can do about it.”
Expand medical and psychosocial support
Although refugee numbers in Bulgaria have decreased since the peak influx, coordinating bodies are making contingency plans to ensure the physical and mental health of Ukrainian refugees is supported during the coming winter months. In addition to promoting access to medicines, the WHO country office in Bulgaria also provides psychosocial training for those working with refugees and employs Ukrainian speakers to work on an extended helpline.
Originally published at San Jose News Bulletin
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