Getting nervous (Day 91)
On the one hand, it's great there is finally a a public discourse about the plight of Ukrainian refugees in Austria. On the other hand, feels like we are on a collision course for multiple crises.
The grocery card photos remain the highlight of my days and nights. They send them from inside Hofer stores, the check out line, with kids, dogs, grandparents, the food neatly displayed on a kitchen table or hotel desk or in front of a window with a few of a rural Austrian garden, the spring flowers poking their way into the photo. The photos are a reminder to all of us: me, Mario, every single person from around the world who donated money or gift cards, that what we are doing has real impact. It is putting real food on tables.
Can we measure who is the neediest? Not really. Can we check if they tell us the truth in their applications? No. Do I believe 95% of those who write us are really struggling to figure out how to stretch their money to the next appointment when the Austrian state may or may not give them a small cash payment? Yes, absolutely. I can sense the feeling of desperation growing. We have a perfect storm brewing: state payments are too small and in many cases still have not been paid, money from home has run out (savings were small, husband isn’t getting paid his salary, Ukraine’s economy collapsed too), getting registered and finding a job in Austria is anything but straightforward, and then the kicker — what if you are living with kind Austrians who opened their homes but now expect you to move out and find your own housing this summer? Or what if you have a free room in a dorm or former hotel provided and paid for by the Austrian state, but this means you cannot work, because if you get a job paying more than €110/month, you will lose your room and benefits…
A mess. It is a mess. And those of us in the thick of it. Those translating day and night for realties and friends and the greater Ukrainian community in Austria. Well, they are slowly going to lose their minds soon.
Mood. I’m usually pretty calm about my inbox exploding all the time because I understand people are desperate but sometimes even for me it is a LOT:
This Falter article came out today which really highlights a lot of the challenges and problems behind the scenes. I hate the photo of me, but it accurately reflects what I was feeling last Friday afternoon — the week I’d had, the lost Ukrainians, the Hofer card frenzy, frustration with everything imploding at once, and then having to do media interviews to explain why it is imploding, as if politicians didn’t realize a mom and kid cannot survive on €315 per month, as if Ukrainians would somehow buy food in different stores with different prices…
My inbox at the moment is a testament to things not working. At least not for everyone. For many Ukrainian families, they are experiencing little progress in “integrating” themselves into life in Austria three months into this war which no one, not even the brightest military analysts, can tell us when it will end.
Housing only until June, missing payments:
Finding a job is anything but easy:
And then I meet a pensioner from “that” hotel in Lower Austria this morning, and she whispers to me about what I am hearing from several women is already happening, across Austria:
Yes, bombs are not flying here. Yes, Ukrainians are “not sleeping on the streets”. I would expect Austria could do better than use that as a sole criterium of success. Perhaps I am naive. I think Ukrainian women and children deserve better.
Yes, the system is bad and broken. So blow it up. That is what the politicians must do. And they will only do it if they feel like voters want them to fix it. If people will vote on this issue. Will they? On the one hand, I have been overwhelmed by the generosity of civil society to donate grocery cards to Ukrainian moms and kids in need. On the other hand, what percentage of society is that? Will there really be enough pressure on Austrian politicians at both the federal and state levels to enact real change? To me that’s the million dollar question.
What I see now happening is: money running out, new money, when paid, is insufficient, housing may also be temporary, that too may come to an end, how to find a job and pay a security deposit and how to do all of this alone with kids…for many it will be too much and they will pack up and leave as soon as they think it is safe to return to Ukraine. For many others, there is no going back. Their neighbourhood, their home, their apartment — is gone. I guess the politicians are gambling on a lot of Ukrainians returning home this summer and to me that feels like a very risky gamble. I wouldn’t place any bets on this war. Way too many unknowns. Putin has an unlimited supply of untrained young men he can throw at the problem, and the U.S. seems quite willing to keep sending Ukraine weapons, so if I was a betting woman (I am not), I would rather bet on the war dragging out for much longer.
Which means tens of thousands of the 72,000+ Ukrainians seeking temporary shelter in Austria are here for the foreseeable future.
I am thinking about how we can be more creative in our fundraising, how to reach new audiences. For now, if you live in Austria, the best way to donate is the physical supermarket gift cards. Any chain, €50 each please. One card per family, one time. We don’t have inventory. They go out as soon as we receive them.
If you don’t have time for that, we can accept bank transfers to an Austrian account (all info here), and if you are abroad, I have PayPal which I use to buy cards myself for my little waiting list of empty pre-addressed envelopes. Mario’s waiting list is enormous; mine is smaller but my inbox is also receiving a continuous flow of requests. Yeah, 966 times €50 is a shit-ton of money. I know. We know. We are having sleepless nights about disappointing a lot of Ukrainian families. I keep telling Mario, disappointment is something they are used to — many of them don’t really believe us until the card finally arrives in their mailbox. Makes sense if most of their other experiences in Austria so far, particularly with “official” Austria, have been frustrating, to say the least.
So I’m brainstorming. I was thinking in my car this morning: if each school class has 25 kids, if each kid donated 2 Euros, that would be 50 Euros from each class, each class could give one family a grocery card, how many school classes are there…
Or you take the flip side. How to you reach really generous donors? Do you throw an event? And the price of entry is a donation of a €50 Hofer gift card? Do people want the social interaction, or do they want to remain anonymous and not be bothered. It’s hard to tell, really.
So I’m thinking. I’m using the last money I have received to buy 13 more Hofer cards today, and then I’m out. My kitty will be totally drained. Mario already pre-funded €32,400 of his own money which is just mind-boggling and totally insane and should never have had to happen in the first place…alas. It did. And he cannot do more. Nor should he.
This is the start of a long four-day weekend in Austria. I’ll be honest, I didn’t go to the train station today. I know what will happen: no tickets to Germany, no tickets anywhere until Monday, confused Ukrainians, no place to sleep, charity won’t know where to send them all, from next week the free lunch cafeteria in Wien for Ukrainians living here will shut its doors…it’s like everyone is trying to walk away from problems just as they are multiplying in number. I don’t believe in permanent handouts. I want to always help people to help themselves. I share links. I do not Google for them. But I worry. I worry the government will go on summer holiday for several months of schmoozing in fancy waterside locations, meanwhile:
Yes, this too is Austria. This too is who we are.
Thanks for your support. Thanks for reading. Do read the Falter article. Ignore my photo, read the article. Nina Brnada did a lot of research. Talk to the Ukrainians I say to anyone who will listen. They are the story. Ask them how they are doing.
I'm waiting for your daily report, learn so much, try to support you by donations (just via PCs für alle) and by retweets. Once a week volunteer helper at the Caritas. I do what I can.
YOU do so much, it's incredible and adorable. Please remember 1.) you can't heal the world 2.) take care of yourself too. I do worry about you, frankly.
Hope you don't mind me being candid/outspoken. Sincerly Regina
Another option would be to get endorsed by Ukrainian journalists etc. For example, yesterday Anastasiia Lapatina (@lapatina_) posted a request on twitter to raise $ 5,000 to buy a diesel car for her mother who will be using it to deliver aid around the Kyiv oblast, and as per the replies with screenshots of donations, quite a lot has been raised within 24 hours. I have seen a few more examples like this (journalist highlighting a need on twitter and requesting funds, followed by rapid response from readers) .
My point is that if some journalists tweet about your work (after checking your substack / twitter posts, Austrian media coverage), it will reach a wide audience. I discovered you when ex-Ambassador Olexander Scherba (@olex_scherba) had referred to one of your tweets…
I think even if a few of the following people on twitter can endorse your work, it will reach new audiences:
Journalists:
@olgatokariuk , @AnnaMyroniuk , @NikaMelkozerova, @olya_rudenko, @IAPonomarenko, @rommari, @KatyaMalofeyeva, @AseyevStanislav, @HannaLiubakova, @ngumenyuk, @KSergatskova, @lapatina_
In politics:
@lesiavasylenko, @olex_scherba, @IuliiaMendel, @InnaSovsun, @HopkoHanna
Others:@maria_drutska, @maria_avdv, @Mylovanov, @Kateryna_Kruk,@NataliaAntonova, @PopovaProf, @OlenaHalushka, @avalaina, @dkaleniuk,
Most of them have the DM option open. Maybe you can DM them with details of your work and requesting an endorsement on twitter?