I have been thinking about all the little angels all over the world, and here in Austria, who come together to help people in need. Perhaps this is a phenomenon which is as old as time itself, but I didn’t experience it in this intensity before 2022. I liked others dropped in and out when crises demanded action, but for the most part, plodded onwards, largely unaffected by the suffering in other places outside of my range of vision. 2022 changed that, forever. For better or worse, half of Ukraine in Austria now has my phone number, and I am constantly drawn into personal stories, whether or not I ask to hear them.
But I am not alone. Just yesterday, I received glimpses of the collective efforts by kind Austrians working on their own to help Ukrainians here. All I did was provide the contact information.
Yesterday I also sold this e-scooter, generously donated to me by the journalist who wrote this product review. We agreed to sell it and use the money for Hofer cards, which seemed more fair than simply donating it to one Ukrainian (how to choose?). A lovely mom showed up at my building who wanted to buy it for her 16 year old son, but couldn’t afford the asking price. We agree on a discount, and giggled as neither of us could figure out how to turn it on (reader — we called the journalist, who graciously did not get mad about the Saturday interruption and walked us through it). She paid €200, sent me a photo of a very happy teenager (he will use it to get to and from school from one district to the other), and I immediately went to Hofer and sent her a photo of these four cards, one of which went in the post to a young woman in Lower Austria, and the other three I delivered this morning to residents of one of the temporary refugee “hotels” in Vienna.
The mom and I got talking. How did you end up in your apartment? Through an acquaintance. How did you get your recent job interview for an English-speaking office position in Vienna? Through an Austrian acquaintance. I nodded along, and wished her the best of luck. We talked about how important personal recommendations are here, and what an impact ordinary Austrians can have on the lives of refugees by simply making a few recommendations and introductions here and there. I hear this over and over and over. Every time I hear of someone newly, gainfully employed — they live in private housing and were introduced to their Austrian employer by a kind local who took the time to make the connection.
This morning I met two ladies who live in a hotel in Vienna. The hotel was always intended to be “temporary” and residents are continually being encouraged to get on buses to other parts of Austria, except when they do, many of them end up running back to Vienna, such is the horror that awaits them. One woman this morning told me about a family who arrived at a house in the middle of nowhere in Upper Austria, the house was reportedly quite literally falling apart, and they had to run away on their own dime (the transport usually drops you at an address and refuses to drive you any further) back to Vienna, where they are now back at a hotel waiting. Waiting for what? If some organization or central agency is actively searching for housing, the process remains a mystery. Others have reportedly been sent to another dorm in Vienna. The dorm itself is huge — it is a former bank building. The showers are in containers outside. Apparently the Ukrainians are told it will only be for a week or so until long-term housing is found for them in other parts of Austria. But they are skeptical — neighbours have also returned from there, and I have personally delivered many Hofer cards to this address and have met people who have been living there for months, many of them old or handicapped (there is an indoor shower for handicapped residents — 87 of them apparently sharing one key).
So the housing situation across Austria remains dire, across the country, and meanwhile authorities in Ukraine are gently suggesting more Ukrainians go abroad for the winter, as electricity cuts bite and a very cold winter becomes a real possibility for many.
This morning I was dealing with all sorts of messages asking for help and advice, like this one from a mom of twins in Lower Austria who has been coming to Vienna for German classes (she is taking her studies very seriously), and is now facing a bill of €800 from the integration agency which finances the classes because apparently they did not have enough hours in the classroom, but this mom explains that is not her fault, but rather the teacher failed to show up. In short, a mess. I post on Twitter, gather a bit of attention, give her a few names to contact, likewise hope that those who read me and can investigate will do so.
Then I get a message from a dad whose teenage son was fined €115 on the u-bahn yesterday but the family bought one monthly ticket to share and he asks me how can they fine a Ukrainian teenager on a Saturday?! and I have to say: just like that. They can and they do.
The ladies I met this morning told me they walked several kilometres to our meeting point (I had picked a cafe along their tram line but not their hotel itself because when I go to the hotel and don’t have cards for everyone I get swarmed by requests which I prefer to avoid as it can get a little bit uncomfortable). They walked because they do not have money for public transportation. I apologized profusely. They told me one resident of the hotel got caught recently without a ticket and was hauled into a police station where she was not treated very nicely so now they are all terribly fearful of being caught “riding black” as they say in Viennese.
Next I was texting with a mom of four whom I met last spring when she was nine months pregnant, about to give birth to her fourth child here in Austria. She wrote me her parents are coming to Austria, finally, and could I please send them a card. How are you doing, I asked? Her answer, I think, speaks volumes. I must preface by saying she is an incredibly positive person, and tries to make the best of everything. This attitude helps her, because she builds bridges rather than blowing them up. Those who complain non-stop and get angry — they blow up bridges and they end up worse off than those who are continually expressing gratitude and trying to build relationships. Naturally. So, in her own words:
“Everything is ok, we wanted to go home to Ukraine, but there is no electricity, they turn it on for a few hours in the morning and that’s it. Missiles are continually flying, but they aren’t reported on. There is a secret base in our city, a bunker for communications, five floors underground, perhaps that’s why they are quiet! Here we get real help from the Red Cross, they give us produce each week which lasts our family for three days. We take diapers at the mother & child center (run by Russian-speaking volunteers in the 10th district three times a week), we shop in social markets. We only buy at supermarkets meat for the kids and milk, we try to buy everything on sale. On the whole it is difficult, but tolerable.”
That is why Ukrainians here in Austria are not rushing to go home. Now matter how unbearable many of the living conditions here are, there is still electricity and heating, for now at least.
Next I rushed home to hand over two used pairs of winter boots I had from my daughters to a woman who wrote me and came into Vienna today from a little town in Lower Austria with her daughter. They took a bus, then a commuter train, then the subway, then another bus to reach me. Without a word of complaint. Her daughter is experienced with horses, and has been offered an opportunity to help out at a local stable. The boots fit. They were so grateful. She had written me yesterday her daughter only had a pair of sneakers and was freezing now that it finally turned cold. The mom is an experienced masseuse and has some private clients in the area. They are lucky to be in private accommodation as a local priest and his wife helped them settle when they left Kharkiv early in the war. The mom told me she is horrified by what fellow Ukrainians share in my Telegram group about the living conditions in the dorms and hotels. I know, I say, and nod along.
Next I set aside chocolates and packaging for 80 kids. A volunteer will take them to Tirol over the holidays. She is sick; her husband should pick them up. Hopefully.
Just when I think I am almost done I receive a very long message from a Ukrainian woman who was in Salzburg, lived in organized housing, worked somewhere, has since left Austria, and has now been sent what sounds like a very threatening letter to disclose all her earnings and income. I left her a voice message saying I will read everything but not today. Today my brain is done.
Tomorrow I am giving a radio interview, and buying three more cards (thank you). And so it goes. Step by step, day by day, and then you blink and it’s almost 2023.
Some recommended reading, in no particular order:
And these images.
Thank you for reading and for your continued support.