(Images by Vanessa)
By Cecilia Nasmith/Today’s Northumberland
The urgency of getting humanitarian medical resources to Ukrainian refugees in Poland is pressing especially hard on two Cobourg residents.
Both Yvonne Kay and Dr. Maria Marszal were born and raised in Poland. In the coming weeks, both will travel there to offer hands-on help with this devastated community of people.
And prior to that, they are appealing to members of the local community for donations to purchase the vital supplies that will make this help possible.
Both women have kept up contact with their friends in the Polish medical community, and are getting graphic accounts of the care being given to Ukrainians fleeing the war zone their country has become.
“Since this horrible war in Ukraine has started, we have been watching things closely, and definitely decided we have to do something – but living so far away…” Kay said.
Dr. Marszal leaves on March 19 to join the effort personally. In advance of that, the women approached their entire friends-and-family network for donations to cover the medications and supplies that will help so many people fleeing their devastated home communities.
“I am in touch with the medical community in Warsaw, Doctors of Hope. My plan is to bring medications but, most importantly, money to help with the purchase of immediate medical supplies and deliver help to most needed in the war region,” the family physician wrote in her own e-mail appeal.
“We are facing humanitarian crisis of unprecedented proportions and Canadians are very generous with help.”
Now they would like to maximize their efforts and appeal to the broader local community that has proven, time and again, that they come through for those in need.
With input from their friends in Poland, they are assessing the needs of the children, the elderly, the expectant mothers whose husbands had to report for combat.
“Essentially we work with the medical community there, right on the spot, and assess the situation on a daily basis,” she said, adding that there seems to be a focus on pediatric needs and first-aid kits.
Dr. Marszal will work in Poland until the beginning of April. The fundraising will continue, however, as Kay will be making her own trip in May.
Kay describes it as grass-roots work of the kind she and Dr. Marszal have done before. Seeing the need in Polish refugee camps, she said, “we can’t just sit back and not do anything.”
The news brings this home to them every day with stories of people afraid to leave their homes, elderly Ukrainians who can’t be moved, even the efforts made to evacuate and save animals in the zoos.
She made it clear that this is their own project, not a charity that can issue medical receipts. But they have complete faith in their trusted community of friends and professionals in Poland, from the people who are caring for the refugees to the families hosting them in their homes.
“It’s just a tragedy,” she declared.
“It’s all going down to what these people really need, and it’s really very basic needs.”
There is infrastructure in place to ensure these refugees have food and clothing. Kay and Dr. Marszal want to support the infrastructure that is ensuring they get the medical care they need.
“We know the Red Cross is doing a lot, and the government is doing a lot. But I think this community has such a big heart – that these people have such a big heart,” Kay said.
If you can help, Dr. Marszal is accepting donations until March 17 at her office (5A-609 William St., Cobourg). Office hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesdays.
