Gratitude (Day 63)
50+ supermarket gift cards sent today. Lunchtime ticket counter translation in Wien HBF. McDonalds, cigarettes, medicine, how about Denmark? Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, Odesa. Gratitude. So much gratitude.
Today I put 51 supermarket gift cards in the post. Handed out another 3 in person at the train station. Incredible. If you stop and think, that is €2,700 of crowd-funded groceries, direct aid to Ukrainian families living in Austria, in 24 hours. I am only the vehicle. None of this would be possible without the generosity of ordinary people who want to help their neighbours in need. I am so inspired to discover how many people care and want to help.
My days have taken on a strange rhythm of paperwork, running to Hofer shops to buy more cards, post boxes, filling out and stamping envelopes while sitting in my car, my lists falling all over the place, answering a zillion messages (my zero inbox self is learning to live with imperfections), leaving another zillion unopened, and then heading into my “day job”: helping translate for the lunchtime “rush” at the Vienna main train station ÖBB ticket counters. Today I was busy again for those few hours.
I met two moms and three boys who decided to leave Germany and try Sofia, Bulgaria. They didn’t say much about Germany, but it was clear it wasn’t what they thought it would be. There is a direct train to Bucharest from Vienna, but it is not free. If you want to go for free, as a citizen of Ukraine, you have to take the train to Budapest and ask for another ticket there. 25 minutes to go. Quick Google, discover flights would still be mega expensive, and one boy doesn’t have an international passport. Give up on that idea. Race with the moms and kids to pick up a few free waters, apples, sandwiches from the charity, show them to the platform to Budapest. Good luck, you say, before turning back to greet the next crowd.
Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, Odesa. So many people from Mykolaiv. The people from this area of Ukraine are as magical as their famous governor Kim. I love them. When the war ends and Ukraine is free, I will head first to Ukraine’s south. I want to see Odesa and Mykolaiv for myself.
I advise everyone heading to Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy: you need seat reservations. Yes, they cost €3.50 per person. We can help if you need help but it’s better to pay than get told you have to get off the train, which can happen if it is full and you aren’t allowed to stand without a seat. Tickets secured, the next step is food. Do you have enough time to go to the charity cafeteria? Yes, then head this way, and ask them for a ticket. Yes, you need a ticket. Yes, they can watch your luggage for a few hours, but only until 7pm. Not so much time? Let us invite you to McDonalds. Here are a few vouchers. Use them all here in Austria, they won’t work in Germany. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.
I met two moms and two teenage sons from Mykolaiv. What do you think about Munich, they asked? I think it’s already full, I replied. What about Belgium, Denmark? Sure, they said. Open minded. Very good. We asked about the night train to Brussels. Full until May 1. So no Belgium. Copenhagen? Yes, you could take a night train to Hamburg and as there in the morning for a connection to Denmark. Good good, we’ll take it. Night train tickets secured — McDonalds. Moms ask if they can smoke outside. I run to buy them a few packs of cigarettes. They haven’t realised yet how much it will cost in Europe. I ask one mom for her phone number. I send them links of aid groups in Denmark for Ukrainians over Telegram. I tell them if they have the strength it’s better to keep going to places where there aren’t so many Ukrainians yet. They agree. I love their openness and optimism. I wish them good luck. In the afternoon, a volunteer from Denmark already reaches out. I have a good feeling. I hope something good will work out for them. In any case, better than overcrowded Vienna or Munich.
I met a group of six women from Mykolaiv. I had no more McDonalds. They asked for pain killers (ibuprofen) and something for a sore back. I took them to the charity, asked for a ticket (“oh…are you a volunteer translator?” I was asked and had to laugh to myself sometimes I want to scream this is my second home where have you all been but I digress “I’m at the ticket counter” straight face ticket thank you done). I always grab bags. I always try and lighten the load a bit. Tomorrow my middle child has “learn a profession” day and she will shadow me. I will have her carry bags and do the McDonalds tours. For that she needs no Russian or Ukrainian. Drop the family at the cafeteria, run to the pharmacy, buy the pills, run back, pass them over before I might get in trouble for breaking some rule, somewhere. Good luck.
Come home. More envelopes. The mailman is my new best friend! Today 34 cards arrived in the mail! Transfer them to pre-addressed, pre-stamped envelopes as fast as I can. Run down the hill to the mailbox. Toss them in. Keep answering more messages. In between, helped coordinate so some of you kind and generous souls could sent some extra funds to a family with a child in a wheelchair and the mom of the little boy in the photo whose first birthday is next week. Sometimes little alarms go off when you hear stories and you think, these people need a little extra help. Then you try and make it happen. I am only a telephone, I say to myself. I am only a connector.
I gave a phone interview to an Austrian journalist researching how Ukrainians are being met in Austria. I was blunt. Perhaps too blunt. Perhaps not enough. I have stopped choosing words. I have nothing to hide. I tell it like I see it. I am only holding a bucket under a leaky roof. I can stop the water from spreading all over the floor, but only temporarily. Ultimately the bucket is still going to fill up and spill all over the floor if the leaky roof isn’t fixed. The government and corporate Austria could fix the roof. If they wanted to. For now, we private individuals and small organizations are holding the buckets. I do not intend to be Tanja “deliverer of supermarket gift cards” long-term. The state could deposit money to the Erste Bank account of every Ukrainian who asked for social payments and help Ukrainians in Austria to be able to afford food now. I hope by talking about it more Europeans will realise many Ukrainians are being offered insufficient means of survival in Europe in a financial sense plus many of these payments have not even taken place yet. I have dozens of messages from Ukrainians in Austria saying they arrived weeks ago and haven’t received a single Euro yet. They cannot all be lying.
Then there are the messages of gratitude and photos of groceries. My phone is full of those too. I try to share as many as I can so that those who sent the cards see they were used immediately to buy food, and even treats — pizza, fruit, chocolate, Coke. Shopping without stress. Without having to worry about where the money will come from. One time. €50. It’s not much, but it gives people the feeling they are not alone. Others want to help. I think the psychological impact is almost as important as the food itself to be honest.
And then, this happened. The most bonkers thing. The weird part? I now remember the family. From Kherson. I (we) paid them a hotel room for one night when the charity refused. And I swear the little car (a tiny American-made model) is still sitting there. I swear I drove past it this morning, and thought to myself, wow, it’s still here. Well now I know why it is still there. Because the owners are in Bulgaria! Bonkers. And yet…this is the new normal for so many displaced by Putin’s insane campaign against an entire nation for daring to speak Russian and not be part of Russia.
To end on a positive note, read this:
Thank you for reading. Thank you for your ongoing support.
"my zero inbox self is learning to live with imperfections" this is a good sign, Tanja. Do what you can when you can and do not regret your efforts.
I love the vision of you dashing off down the hill to the post. As if you were an elite athlete competing to win. I can not wait to hear what your "shadow" has to say about the situation and the volunteer work. ;-]
OMG! The little person is soo Cute! Avocados make excellent chew toys!