Maltese Volunteer Gets As Close To War-Torn Mariupol As Possible To Deliver Medicines And Essentials
A Maltese volunteer disgruntled by the Ukraine war, together with Polish NGO Fundacja Zmieniami Zycie, successfully made it as close to Mariupol as possible to deliver medical supplies among other things.
Marc Edward Pace Portanier felt like he wanted to do something to help, so he decided to go to Ukraine to offer his help and deliver supplies to struggling victims of war.
“During the past three months, particularly our last trip just over two weeks ago into the South-East part, we managed to get as close to Mariupol as possible and delivered eight pallets of hospital grade medicine and medical aid, generators to run field clinics and food,” Pace Portanier told Lovin Malta.
“Basically, the area we got to, which we cannot reveal for security reasons, is now under heavy Russian Bombardment and parts of the Zaporizhzhya Region have fallen to Russia,” he explained.
“Whilst we were there we drove through minefields and saw trenches and fortified positions being dug and built as the chatter was that an offensive was approaching,” he said.
“We basically had to drive for 18 hours straight as we were a potential moving target as any aid going into the South East according to Russia is a ‘legitimate target’,” he said.
“Recently I even posted about how our lives changed. To me, it was a no-brainer answer when I was asked to help with logistics.”
“It went from picking up refugees at the border in a rental car and morphed into picking up over 1500 refugees from the border and organising safe passage for over 150 Ukrainians from inside Ukraine. We sent the first bus inside after just six days of the conflict,” he explained.
Pace Portanier detailed how he has been working closely with the Polish NGO Fundacja Zmieniami Zycie, and how they recently even set up a foundation house to host families.
“We have also set up a foundation house where we are hosting four Ukrainian families and have helped refugees relocate through partners,” he said.
“Through another group which we are supporting called ‘Lilliowa 5’ we have provided temporary shelter, hot meals, showers, and supplies to over 3,000 refugees, mostly Ukrainian women and their children,” he detailed.
Fundacja Zmieniami Zycie, The Changing Life Foundation, was established to change the future of adolescent children by initiating a healthy lifestyle from an early age.
Check out their Facebook page if you would like to help out.
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