Arizona nurses, doctors head to Poland to aid Ukrainians who fled Russian violence
PHOENIX - Arizona nurses and doctors headed out to help Ukrainians who are escaping to Poland as Russia continues its violent invasion of the country.
As war rages in Ukraine, nurses in Phoenix worked to gather supplies for those families fleeing the country.
"We thought, ‘What can we do to help?’ Maybe we can gather supplies, medications," said Janet Semenova. Within 72 hours, they got thousands of medications, bandages, and other healthcare supplies – along with $45,000 in donations.
Semenova, along with three other health care workers, flew to Poland to deliver them.
"It's just been an unbelievably humbling experience. I think once we get there we're gonna know more, and we don't really know what we're gonna get ourselves into because the situation is just changing by the hour," she said prior to the trip. She know what it's like to be a refugee.
She and her family fled the former Soviet Union when she was just 7 years old.
"So I think seeing this unfold in Europe … I travel to Europe several times a year. These towns – to see them destroyed and the civilians in a matter of a week and a half is just almost unfathomable," Semenova said.
She's asking those in the states to do their part to help those suffering from this war.
"Whether it's donating to reputable donations, volunteering to pack items sent overseas, even if you have $5 to $10," she said. "This is gonna be the largest refugee crisis since World War II, so the need is immense."
That need is just getting greater.
"A lot of them are dehydrated. They have hypothermia because the temperatures are freezing on the ground. A lot of people are literally fleeing with the clothes they are wearing, walking for days," Semenova said.
Mostly women and children are fleeing, as men are not allowed to cross the border.
"We’ve done a lot of volunteer work, and we’ve collected supplies and brought them over to high risk areas but never been in a disaster zone like this before. My biggest anxiety and I know most of the girls' biggest anxiety, is just doing as much as humanly possible," she explained.
The team flew from Phoenix to London to Warsaw, and British Airways allowed them to take all they need on the trip with them. The team just made it to Poland March 9, and they say they've gotten straight to work helping to hand out supplies and assist refugees.
Seeing all of this devastation, of course, has been tough.
"It was shocking and devastating what we were seeing. There's literally thousands of people arriving at just this one refugee center every day by buses," Semenova said. "A lot of them on foot with just a couple of bags. They're bringing their pets with them. You're not seeing any men, you're seeing women children and the elderly because the men have to stay behind."
The team brought along with them 800 pounds of medical supplies and more than $45,000 in donations.
Those supplies are being used for the refugees in Poland, and they're also sending some of those supplies to people stuck in Ukraine. Getting them into Ukraine, however, has been challenging.
"Because the roads are closed or bombed and there is just not a lot of transportation so they have a lot of shortages, there's a lot of need," Semenova said.
She adds, "I talked to a woman today who said she was in a bomb shelter for five days before she could get out with her daughter. She and her daughter were finally able to get out, they tried to get on three different trains and were pushed to the side, and this is the story we're hearing over and over and over again."
While watching all this tragedy and grief unfold, what brings the group hope is seeing the many other volunteers who've dropped everything to help the Ukrainian people.
They say they're so grateful for the Phoenix community who donated supplies and money for them to take to Poland.
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