Imagine having to flee your home with nothing but a winter coat, your dog and some personal documents (if you are fortunate enough) or being forcibly displaced to the neighbouring country where you hate to stay. Trying to access a safe place, you will meet a lot of troubles and obstacles, especially if you have never traveled before, if you don't know a foreign language or suffer a health issue.
If even you can move to other countries visa-free, there are so many mundane tasks one has to complete: buying bus/air/train tickets, finding a place to stay while waiting for your trip, tending to your family and pets, keeping yourself clean. This is what happened when Russia attacked Ukraine: thousands of people had to seek safety elsewhere. Estonia has put a great effort to welcome refugees on its land or give them transit (i.e. by providing some free bus trips), but the government lacked people and resources for more personalised aid. And this is where the volunteers stepped in.
Friends of Mariupol in Estonia, a volunteer group spontaneously formed in the first months of Russia's war against Ukraine, started helping people complete these tasks and successfully reach their places of destination. Mariupol's Friends united with the country's social services to help the Ukrainians fleeing the Russian aggression and seeking refuge in Poland, France, Germany and a number of other European countries. From March to December 2022, the team has helped more than 6,500 people. On some days, people arrived in Tallinn and Narva by hundreds. A huge part of them came from the ravaged Mariupol, hence the origin of the group's name.
The video coverage was prepared by a Russian-speaking Estonian blogger Daniel Kurakin, however, subtitle translation is available
Though I've missed the date of this organisation's anniversary, I nevertheless find it crucial to tell its story to the world. First, because of its great impact on hundreds of other human (and not only human) lives. Second, I actively participated in their activity in summer 2022, when I was writing nothing here (still shocked and numb because of the atrocities taking place in the heart of Europe).
We did a vast number of things, from developing personal itineraries for the refugees who had a definite spot on the map in mind to organising sleeping rooms at the bus stations in Narva and Tallinn. In these rooms the refugees could rest up to one day, have snacks, water and hot beverages. First, the volunteers bought this stuff themselves but then some companies and Estonian Food Bank joined to regularly provide water, snacks and hot meals twice a day.
Some people, especially elderly ones, had trouble buying tickets online, as they had never done this before (a number of carriers such as FlixBus were only selling tickets on their website and kept quite out of reach). We had to give them instructions or sometimes fill in the forms for them.
Other refugees just needed to be guided online or via SMS through their trip that usually included numerous points if transfer. Every week we needed to assist men and women with special needs. Some carriers had strict COVID restrictions, others had complicated rules concerning traveling with kids or pets, and my fellow volunteers (they called themselves "supervisors") informed the travellers of the alternatives or helped them meet the requirements.
A lot of cooperation and support came from two Ukrainian ladies. There was Tatiana from Kiev who was hired as a social worker and registered the refugees on arrival, giving them guidance and a lot of emotional support. And there was Olga from Kherson. Soon after her arrival in Tallinn she found a job at the bus station to sell tickets or provide free ones (as long as they were available) to the transit refugees. When they needed some specific info, she directed them to the volunteers.
Now the flow of refugees to Estonia is down, but Friends of Mariupol are still provide remote help to the Ukrainians who need to get to safe places. They also started to provide more assistance to Ukrainians remaining in Estonia. This winter, they carried out a fundraising campaign which resulted in Christmas gifts for 280 children from refugee families.
When I was on duty at Tallinn bus station twice a week, I used to join our Ukrainian guests at tea. And they were telling stories that brought me to tears. I'm going to share some of them in this blog, as only now do I find the resources and energy to write something personal.
And here is some feedback published on the group's social media:
Anna
"Here comes my huge thank you to the entire volunteer organisation, and personally to volunteer Yara, my direct coordinator within Estonia. Yara also helped me on the Finnish side when I was having some trouble with settling in. I would also like to thank the volunteers in Narva (help centre at Vaksali 19) and in particular the administrator, Ekaterina. I was able to take a shower, have a meal, rest and sleep in a safe place after the long journey. This comfort and cosiness and safety I felt thanks to the guys led by Ekaterina. Thank you all very much, you are doing a priceless good job.”
Alina (name changed)
"We were picked up at the border in Narva (Estonia), volunteers found us a room in a Ukrainian help centre where we could rest, sleep and have a decent meal. They helped us to purchase bus tickets from Tallinn to Warsaw, guided us from station to station (by calling and paying for a taxi), helped us to find the shortest route and dealt with the paperwork for letting in our 2 cats (vaccination, chipping). The trip went well, we got safely to our destination, which we are very pleased and very grateful for!"
Friends of Mariupol on Instagram
