I’ll start with the good news. The really, really, good news. The prize money arrived!
I walked in the door yesterday after having delivered Hofer cards to some very sad residents of Vienna dorms, who have been without means of financial survival for months, and heard the good news. Today, I got to work. The first €2,000 worth of supermarket gift cards are already in the mailboxes. That is direct aid to 40 families across Austria. Many rural addresses, too, where it is important to remember there often is no charity on site or even in the local area.
A Russian-speaking acquaintance texted me today who has been helping many Ukrainian families in Austria, and she told me when she didn’t know who to turn to, she contacted the local church, told them about the refugee families in their local area, and the church community sprung into action. I was really relieved to hear it. As the state and NGOs become frozen / overwhelmed, as time passes, civil society will once again have to pick up some of the pieces. We cannot pick them all up, clearly. But it was a very good reminder to me that there are still places one can turn in Austria and ask for help when the usual suspects shrug their shoulders, as unfortunately, is often the case.
This week, as I wrote in my last post, I have visited many of the most challenging living situations in Vienna. I have met with the poorest Ukrainians, who have no money, who are receiving little (€40) or no money (one dorm in the 11th district the residents have never received any pocket money or otherwise, ever). Many are handicapped, in wheelchairs. Many are elderly.
They do not look well. They write me they are losing weight. They tell me their doctors have told them their blood tests show they have vitamin deficiencies. They are under the care of the EU and the Austrian state, and we are failing them, collectively. A €50 supermarket gift card one time is not a solution for six months of inadequate nutrition. More here.
Public transport across Austria started to cost real money, with no discounted ticket for Ukrainian refugees, as of November 1. As of last night, I had already heard two stories directly of fines, just from my Telegram group of 1,850 Ukrainians:
I met with refugees across several locations in Vienna over the past few days, and as of that time, none of them had received any information about single trip tickets for doctors’ appointments, etc. They were all told by the NGOs “on duty” in their dorms/hotels that travel is their problem. Now, today, I am hearing that some single use tickets are being given out by the “babysitters” for lack of a better term, but only with proof of a doctors’ appointment. A cancer patient, for example, was given two tickets for her upcoming hospital appointment, but was told to “walk” to her covid test she needs to take ahead of the hospital date. The walk is, by my calculation, a good 30-40 minutes for a healthy individual. She also told me ambulances were apparently being called to transport Ukrainians to their doctors’ appointments this week. Which is totally crazy. These residents have not received the €40 per month pocket money they are entitled to. Not once, not ever. There is no money to offer refugees discounted public transport, but the state is ok with refunding the cost of ambulance trips? It all just makes you want to scream at the top of your lungs, but that would solve nothing. So I blog about it.
A mom writes me today. I know I will soon receive many more messages like this. Full thread here.
No one can survive on €40 a month and being “fed” meals which more often than not consist of salty, spicy pre-fab food or bread and spreads. Certainly not parents of young kids. Certainly not elderly or sick individuals with special dietary needs. If you imagine dorm/motel food to be the equivalent of old-fashioned hospital food, it sadly, is not that at all. Quite the opposite. It is not healthy. It is carb-heavy, mass produced, with salty and spicy sauces, lacks adequate offerings of protein and fresh fruits and vegetables.
You see it in their faces. You see it when you meet the residents in person. It is very disturbing. I have no background in social work. I have no training for this. You are standing in front of very desperate people and are often the bearer of bad news. You have to say things like “you will have to figure out how best to fend for yourselves, don’t wait for a miracle here”.
In an ideal world, every refugee would be able to cook for him or herself. They would all receive at least the minimal money (currently €260 per adult and €145 per child) the Austrian government allocated to them. But even this, let’s face it, is nowhere near enough at today’s prices. If you missed it, and understand German, watch this interview with Maria Katharina Moser of Diakonie. She hits the nail directly on the head:
This is their seven-point plan.
I tend to think you need fewer words, more slogans.
The message is really extremely simple.
Ukrainians who came to Europe to seek shelter from Russian bombs are quite literally going hungry here, after several months of seeking temporary protection in the EU, an specifically, in Austria. Those going hungry are in the broken Grundversorgung system, and life is getting even more difficult for them now. Many are essentially now prisoners in their state-provided group housing due to the cost of public transport. They are given pills by doctors to treat stomach aches rather than adequate nutrition (a woman my age, in a wheelchair, already lost 5kg, she is extremely thin, she says she cannot eat the food on site).
I am sent an email about the family with a 17 year old daughter who only weighs 35kg. I am waiting for a response. I feel this overwhelming pressure, like I am seeing things other people are not seeing, and someone has to sound the alarm bell…yet at the same time, I tell them, I say to the Ukrainians: you have to talk with the management on duty in your places of residence. I cannot fix these local issues. I cannot provide money nor subway tickets for everyone. I can offer a Hofer card, one time, but that isn’t a solution for the situation you and many others find yourselves in.
In my Telegram group, they are fighting a lot. Things are tense. Many are scared and angry. One participant today concluded “they hate us here” while others then yelled at her, how dare you say that, how many people have helped us along the way. It is true. There are those who hate and those who have tried very hard to support. Nothing is ever that black and white. Many Ukrainians who did find jobs and were given better social housing because they arrived earlier last spring, they simply do not understand how difficult the living conditions are now for many in group housing. I try to remind them all not to judge, because unlike me, most of them haven’t seen how many of their compatriots are living.
And then, you think about what it is like in Kyiv right now:
Going back is not an option for many right now. They need to “winter” here. Their government has said as much. Privately, my advice is always do whatever you can to try and take care of yourself, look for ways of making a little extra money, ask for help of locals you meet along the way. It is an invisible crisis because you don’t see it, and will be even more invisible now that train tickets cost real money.
Some have been lucky. Some are doing well. Some are already well on their way to building new lives here. Like this story, from a middle-aged woman I met yesterday:
I have an idea but I am not sure how the authorities would react. I know the exact addresses of the dorms and hotels, at least in Vienna, and to a lesser extent in Lower Austria, etc., where refugees are most in need. Where they do not see fresh fruit every day or even every week. Where simple donations like a basket of apples or a tray of fresh pastries or even yogurts would be appreciated. Same for used winter clothes and shoes donations. I do not know how the various NGO “babysitters” on duty would react, but I am tempted to publish addresses known to me, so that we can collectively help with more than just Hofer cards. But data privacy etc. etc. — perhaps best if you DM me for now. I can think of five addresses off the top of my head in Vienna, one near Baden, another three deeper into Lower Austria…two in Salzburg, several in Tirol. You get the idea. I myself cannot be in the business of delivering crates of apples, but other people can help and many people prefer to deliver things rather than money, which I totally understand and respect.
An idea, for now. Would welcome your thoughts.
Thank you for reading. Thank you for your continued support. Look at what a difference just €20 can make: