Humanitarian--Belarus "Сафія" (Sofia)

 Belarus was our first country where we served starting in 2020. Due to COVID we were only there for 2 weeks. We served from home in the United States until May 2021. We did not return to Belarus but served in Kiev, Ukraine. We still received projects from our director in Minsk with "Sofia". 

 

Our director travels all over the country and finds boarding houses, clinics, and retirement homes that are in need of help.

Most of the projects include beds, mattresses, cabinets, kitchen appliances, washers and dryers.

This past year of 2021 there were 16 projects in 15 different locations.

The cities/villages are: Restyanski, Komarin, Kostyukovichi, Soltanovdski, Brest, Kozlovshchina, Novogrudok, Voronovsky, Torchilovo, Novoselki, Malorita, Nesvizh, Lyakhovichi, Minsk, and Beshenkovichi. 

Many of the organizations wrote articles and published them in their newspapers or websites. 

Article from Brest

Article from Malorita:

Our director is still going strong in Belarus and finding ways to help the vulnerable people. With the help of "Sofia" the people live more comfortably, and the doctor's and nurses are able to take care of their patients with more care and efficiently. 

Humanitarian--Turkey (Denizli Alzheimer's Association) and Dementia Alzheimer's in Mezitli, Mersin.

LDS Charities donated medical equipment for the Alzheimer's Association Denizli Branch clinic including: medical beds, walkers, handicap toilet seats, bed lifts, anti-decubitus mattresses, wheelchairs, crutches and tracking devices.

The Alzheimer Association is a non-governmental organization that has been founded by the caregivers of Alzheimer patients in 1997 and medical doctors specialized in the field of this disease. The Association is operating with 11 branch offices throughout the country, Istanbul, Ankara, Iİzmir, Mersin, Eskişehir, Denizli, Samsun, Kayseri, Erzurum and Bursa. 

LDS Charities donated motorized beds and electric wheel chairs for the use of the citizens with Dementia Alzheimer's in Mezitli, Mersin.

Humanitarian---Ukraine, too close to home

LDS Charities has purchased vans to help distribute food coming in from other countries to the villages/cities of Ukraine.

In return the vans help families to evacuate to the borders...mostly Poland.  

Food coming through the borders are stored around the various areas. Food comes from Poland, Germany, Romania, and other countries. 

This store covers 3 villages with 7000 people. Some of the food was donated by the Government but mostly from the Ukrainian people who are dedicated and honest and want to help their neighbors.

Our boss is living in Kyiv. His day consists of picking up supplies and distributing them, patrolling the temple grounds, patrolling his own apartment building, and contacting organizations for humanitarian work. He is standing in a local area which had been occupied for 32 days. 

               This photo was taken 10 km from Kyiv which is too close to home

 

Humanitarian--Moldova, At the Border

LDS Charities provided Medical Kits, medicines, and the printing of informational booklets to be distributed to refugees entering  Moldova from Ukraine.

AO Homecare is an organization based in Chisinau, the capital of Moldova. They assist and provide nursing care and volunteer help in cleaning, shopping, and laundry services in the homes of vulnerable people throughout the region. They have 23 villages/towns and 8 supply centers. 

During the Ukraine crisis they have offered their services at the borders by providing Medical supplies, medicines and informational booklets in the Ukrainian language.

The booklet provides the refugees with contacts to medical facilities, doctors, government, housing, transportation through the country to other borders, and religious organizations in the various cities.

LDS Charities has also provided the distribution of foods to the borders, and vests that distinguish the volunteers from the crowds. 

They are concentrating on the refugees combined with the government and other Christian organizations, however they still provide services to their own vulnerable citizens of Moldova.

AO Homecare was established in April of 2005 and a non-profit organization. Tamara Adasan is head of the Organization.

                                 A family at the crossing taking time away from the chaos

                      Finding a new home 

Humanitarian--Sofia, Bulgaria

For more than 25 years, Caritas Sofia has assisted the most vulnerable members of our society in finding their way to dignity and justice regardless of their religious beliefs, race, gender and other differences. More than twenty different staff teams work with  different vulnerable groups (refugees and asylum seekers; people with disabilities; elderly and infirm people; children and families at risk; and homeless people and addicts) across 11 towns and cities in Bulgaria through a variety of day care, home care and mobile street teams. 

Marcos (in the mask) is a University Volunteer from Austria. He will be there for 11 months.

Caritas have many centers in Bulgaria. This center is for social rehabilitation and integration of children and youth with disabilities in Sofia.

LDS Charities provided 2 special lifts for handicapped children and adults. One went to this center and another went to an elderly home. 

In this facility the ages range from 8 to 45.

They make pottery projects and sell them at special fairs in the city. 

Refrigerator magnets painted by the children. 

 

Humanitarian-Ukraine/Moldova Border Crossing

Moldova Christian Aid Society has reached out to several Religious organizations for help with the refugees.

Their organization has set up hot meals at three borders between Ukraine and Moldova. 

Volunteers from all over Moldova prepare hot meals in the early morning and try to get to the borders by noon. 

It is about a 4-hour drive from Chisinau to the borders where people are fleeing from Ukraine.

The hot meals consist of meat, potatoes, rice and vegetables. They also give out water, fruit, bread, etc. 

                                    Border Crossing in Palanca, Moldova

Crossing boarder guards also get involved and deliver the hot meals to the people while the vehicles are waiting in lines to cross the border.

Families crossing the borders on foot can find the hot meals waiting for them.

       Our thanks to the volunteers of Moldova

LDS Charities is providing food for refugees along with other Religious organizations of Moldova.

Exodus from Moldova to Germany, Our New Home

 Missionaries met at the Chisinau Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints on February 28, 2022. Photos were taken and goodbyes were said. 21 young missionaries were reassigned to serve mostly in the states. Two large vans and a trailer full of luggage crossed the borders into Romania. 

It was a 12 hour ride including a 3 1/2 hour wait at the border. 

In Bucharest, the Mission President and missionaries from Romania met us at the hotel at 1:00 AM with sandwiches and fruit. This was a welcome gift from the Romania/Hungry Mission.  After a 2 hour rest they left at 3:30 AM to catch a flight at 6:00AM from Bucharest, Romania to Frankfurt then onto the states. We spent a day in Romania and left March 1st.

We were with another senior couple and flew to Frankfurt and met by our good friends whom we shared a wall with in Kyiv. We are now housing in Friedrichsdorf, Germany. We have settled in a hotel until our next move. 

We are on phones and on the computer trying to get supplies to the refugees who are fleeing Ukraine into Moldova, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. 

We pray for our neighbors, friends, and branch members in Kyiv. We know that it is a disturbing place to be right now. We are grateful for the wisdom of the church leaders and all they do to make sure we are safe. 

We are missing our friends and partners in Moldova. Within a month we developed special bonds. Many Moldova people are opening up their homes for refugees, which makes us more aware of the good people around the world willing to help.

We have a hotel/apartment in Friedrichsdorf, Germany close to the temple.

Our mission has now taken on a whole new meaning. We have medical supply kits, medicine, cots and sleeping bags going to Moldova for the refugees fleeing Ukraine.

Refugees from Ukraine are fleeing into Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and even Estonia. We are working with the Red Cross. Estonia sent a food truck to Ukraine and LDS Charities will help stock their shelves in Estonia for their citizens and the refugees. 

Turkey and Bulgaria, our humanitarian area, is affected by the economics of this conflict. Gas is rising and the price of bread has doubled.  

We are grateful for our partners in the countries who have shown their generosity and love of serving their people and the people from Ukraine. We are all God's children and these trials we see and hear of has opened a better understanding of how much the Lord loves each one of us on the earth.

Frankfurt, Germany: March 5, 2022