Cork convoy diary: Groups of all shapes and sizes doing incredible work at the border

CORK Humanitarian Aid Ireland’s convoy finally made it to Ukraine at the weekend.

On Friday, Kyiv-based cardiologist Dr Anastasia Koloka drove 400 miles (640km) through a war zone to collect almost 7 tonnes of humanitarian aid from Cork Humanitarian Aid Ireland.

When Polish officials turned the Irish group back from the Medyka border crossing, Dr Koloka begged them to reconsider, saying children’s lives were on the line.

She waited 24 hours in her truck, as temperatures dropped overnight to -10C, until finally the authorities bowed to pressure from the Ukrainian consulate and the Irish shipment was let through.

Dr Koloka made the return journey to Kyiv, which takes eight hours. She said the Irish aid would help to address critical shortages of baby food and medical supplies in the besieged Ukrainian capital.

I’ve seen commentary saying it is better to send money rather than medical supplies or baby food and that it is preferable to send money to “professional” charities rather than supporting local initiatives sending or bringing humanitarian aid to the Ukraine border.

Some have noted that what they presumably see as well-meaning amateurs have delivered some truly useless items to refugees in places such as Medyka.

I can’t argue that. There are mounds upon mounds of clothing beside the border crossing at Medyka. The young Polish volunteers sorting through the black bags told me much of it is rubbish, second-hand, dirty, and useless.

In Cork, where the public donated €25,000 and 25 tonnes of medical supplies, food, and clothes for people in Ukraine, almost a tonne of donated clothing had to be thrown away. Despite being repeatedly asked not to bring second-hand clothes, people continued to do so right up to the day the convoy left Cork.

Professional charities such as the Red Cross and Médecins Sans Frontières are doing incredible work the Medyka crossing. So too are so-called amateur groups offering food, assistance, and warmth.

I met Christians, Jews, Muslims, Sikhs and atheists, Polish, Ukrainian, French, Lithuanian, Portuguese, English, Scottish, Norwegian, American, Indian, and Irish people, who are all there because they want to help.

The weekend before the Cork Humanitarian Aid Ireland convoy left Cork, The Late Late Show Red Cross appeal raised over €3m to aid people in Ukraine. By the Sunday, the people of Cork had donated over €12,000 to the local appeal. The following day that sum had more than doubled. By the Sunday too, Cork people had brought over 12 tonnes of humanitarian aid to Cork’s North Cathedral and again, by the next day, that figure had doubled.

I know people who refuse to support the larger charities because, unfairly or otherwise, they are convinced a chunk of their donation will be frittered away in administration fees.

I also know people who won’t support ‘amateur’ humanitarian missions. Even though the two charities that make up Cork Humanitarian Aid Ireland — Cork Penny Dinners and Cork Missing Persons Search and Recovery — pay no staff or administrators, the work they have done along the Polish-Ukrainian border has been hailed by those working on the ground as literally life-saving.

Dr Koloka told me precisely that, saying many Ukrainian children’s lives had been saved by the Cork volunteers. She didn’t differentiate between professional and amateur charities when kids’ lives were at stake and I doubt many Ukrainian children would either.