Independence day
Thinking a lot about what this really means, for all of us. A family from Mariupol needs a short-term flat, a Ukrainian artist shares her work, yet another scandal in Austria.
Yesterday Ukraine celebrated Independence Day, and on the 23rd, flag day. I really wanted to share these stories with you yesterday, but in my house, the 24th of August is also my youngest’s birthday, and that of my goddaughter. I also learned yesterday, from a tireless volunteer in Budapest, her daughter was also born on 24th of August. What are the odds of that, two women, one American, one Russian, both having daughters born on the day Ukraine celebrates its freedom, now both of the birthday girls’ moms having lost all sense of time and place, consumed by new roles we took on for ourselves without really understanding how it would change us forever. I really tried yesterday to sign off. I ended up having to all an ambulance for a deaf man in a wheelchair (again), and to have some conversations with journalists which could not be delayed (deadline). It is what it is. We tried to celebrate like in before times. I took the kids zip-lining in the woods. We went out for all you can eat Asian food you order on iPad. My older daughter baked red velvet cupcakes. It was nice. I see all those moments so differently now. I appreciate each and every one of them. I am always thinking of those who cannot have such moments right now.
This week I met Natalia, who arrived very recently to Vienna from Georgia with her family. With most of her family. Six of them are here; her eldest son, also recovering from injuries he received in Mariupol, is still in Georgia. Natalia took her 18 year old, Kostia, to an eye doctor here in Austria. Another surgery has been scheduled for 30 September. They hope to restore sight in his injured eye. He underwent several surgeries in Georgia; the family hopes Austrian medicine can now help. The boys were hit by shrapnel in their Mariupol flat. Their cousin died on the spot. The family fled. This is their story (with photos from Natalia). The family told their story to the Economist here while in Georgia.
I would love to help them find short-term accomodation for 6-7 people in or near Vienna for three months. I know this sounds like an impossible ask the moment. Perhaps we can crowdfund? Perhaps someone knows someone? Ultimately, the family would like to go to Canada, but as Natalia rightly said, “you have to be ready to work when you arrive, we need to get healthy first”.
This week I also met Mariana. We first met in early April, during a very depressing volunteer translation shift at ACV, which was then a central processing place for all Ukrainian refugee paperwork in Vienna. Mariana enjoyed a fellowship for Ukrainian artists (must have been internationally funded) which provided her with a studio (and a small bedroom) in Vienna. Unfortunately, that is now coming to an end. She will pack up her paintings and move in with friends, until she finds a job and can be self-sufficient. She invited me over for coffee, and walked me through her art. Mariana’s story is here (with photos of the paintings, all of which are for sale). You may contact her for viewings and to inquire about her work via her Instagram.
The painting above, with dragon wings rising above Sevastopol, I found particularly moving. The dark tears on the water, the wings rising above, the promise of a new, better day. And her flowers. Mariana’s flowers are just gorgeous, and the detail is incredible. And the colors! All the colors. So bright and uplifting.
Finally, I would like to share with you a story which came out this week which may sound familiar to you if you read my Substack last Friday. I only have the photos in German, unfortunately. Link here if you would like to try and translate it. Ukrainians describe being asked to sign new “contracts” in August which would make them hand over all their money received in Austria for room and board (Grundversorgung payments plus Familienbeihilfe plus even perhaps the 40 Euros per month “pocket money”). In short, Ukrainians describe in detail, Austrians involved deny. The article refers to illegal (because on Grundversorgung, or state care, refugees are forbidden by law from earning more than €110 per month) work of €7.50 per hour; Ukrainians told me €3.50 per hour, and shifts of 14 hours instead of the promised 10. So for kitchen and cleaning work from 6am until after dinner, they received €45 (in some cases €35), eight times a month. This occurred all summer, while apparently, the state was paying the owners for their room and board.
(there is a paywall, I was sent a photo of these pages, will delete if I must but I feel this article is in the public interest)
The article also explains payments were made by the Lower Austrian government to the private organization running this accommodation until the end of July, but a contract was never signed. As of August, it appears the local government decided to no longer fund this accommodation, the owners put these dubious three contracts in front of roughly 130 Ukrainians (many of whom are still there and signed under duress/fear). It is also important to note that in this case if the government of Lower Austria was funding this accommodation, albeit without a proper contact, it also bears responsibility for rehousing these refugees once it decided to stop paying for this location. That also hasn’t happened yet. Those who fled are currently in a federal dorm in Vienna, waiting to be assigned housing. The majority of residents signed away their future income until November, and stayed.
I have been busy helping on a few other pieces of journalism which should come out soon. I wrote these tweets in frustration last night and will not comment now more than what I said. I have a terrible feeling bad actors and bad situations are not limited to a specific political party or geography or operator, but rather endemic in a system that has developed over decades with apparently no real consequential oversight or accountability. And remember, caring for refugees is almost all taxpayer funded.
Yesterday, a Ukrainian told me about cleaning dirty toilets inside a facility for €1.60 per hour, maximum eight hours per week, paid out in cash once per week (yes you read that right I asked a second time to make sure I heard correctly) and in the next breath asked me where the Ukraine Independence Day celebration would be that evening. I was screaming inside. The injustice of it all.
I feel like I stumbled onto a lot of this purely by accident, I didn’t go looking for it, I am out there doing what I always have done — simply delivering €50 supermarket gift cards donated by generous caring people to Ukrainian families in need, and in the process, they tell me their stories, they share their lived realities. They often don’t even fully realize what they are telling me would be considered really wrong by our society. They have other problems. They are simply trying to survive.
I received a beautiful thank you note last night, and translated it into German. From one Ukrainian to the Austrian people.
I will be picking up and delivering more cards this week. I am in contact with groups of people from new addresses. Yesterday, one woman begged me for baby formula. I didn’t know what to do. I ordered it on Amazon to her home address. The demand for clothes, baby food, diapers, all of this has not subsided. Charities will tell you their own stocks are low. They say this is normal, six months into a crisis. People are tired. The public is tired. Yes, I understand, I too am tired, but these problems have not subsided. This local ORF TV report from Carinthia does a good job of presenting them, and includes an interview with Lilia, one of the many moms we have helped via Cards for Ukraine.
This morning I will give an interview to an academic working on a paper about grassroots volunteering and the war in Ukraine. I look forward to the cerebral break. I will then go pick up more Hofer cards (thank you!!!) from a frequent donor at Wien HBF. My little pile of envelopes awaits. Addresses across the country. Mario has a huge waiting list on the website. He can only distribute what we have funding for. I know it is a really difficult ask. We have no corporate, state, nor NGO funding. We are simply putting bags of groceries on tables, one family, one donation, at a time. I am so incredibly grateful to be able to keep helping. I know how expensive everything is right now and how hard it is to donate even €50. I feel it. With three kids, I feel it, I know it, I don’t take any of it for granted. Thank you.
To donate towards €50 supermarket gift cards for Ukrainian families in Austria, please click here or here. Thank you.
Grateful to know you, Tanja. You inspire us all.