We can all Help Ukrainians

Last Week:
"Mama! They don't have enough volunteers." Maha's daughter called her after finishing a shift at the train station in Berlin, helping the people responsible for receiving the daily arrival of thousands of refugees from Ukraine.

Her desperate call reminded Maha of a conversation with a friend, Husham, who wanted Maha to join him at the train station to help. He is a former refugee. After seven years of living in Berlin, he started an organization with a group of friends who volunteer for several good causes around the city. After the conversation with her daughter, Maha signed up on the volunteer-planner app immediately and so did her husband.

Finding accommodation is critical for refugees. Husham told Maha that by making some phone calls to friends, he found a 10-day stay for an Egyptian man and his family, an expat, coming from Ukraine. "I had finished my helping shift and was leaving, but the desperate look in his eyes, the fear and helplessness made me act! I could not leave him without doing something."

Technology can be helpful in finding accommodation. Google Translate helps with communication when a shared language can't be found. But Maha said that she doesn't need technology to connect with the refugees at a personal level. Her heart does that easily. Compassion in action is the key that opens many doors.

Maha Alusi, a Charter Board Member, lives in Berlin and is now volunteering at the train station every day, helping refugees from Ukraine. She takes the shifts from midnight to 5:00 am. That is when volunteers are most needed. There is no common language but there are many ways to communicate. In an attempt to connect with a young girl from Ukraine, waiting with her mother for their papers to be processed, Maha sat down by her with paper and colored pens. Together they created a work of art filled with hearts, animals, the flags of Germany and Ukraine, and the Street of Love as the picture above shows. They used the Google translator to exchange words of peace and write them on their art in both languages.

Maha asks that we all find a way to share our passion for life, especially in moments like these. Use life's sorrows to act with passion, and together with others, we create compassion. We are not that far apart, let us connect, let us find each other. Pick up the phone and make a call to an organization that is helping, to those who are directly in touch with the refugees, have a conversation, grow your compassion. You will see for yourself: Magic will happen.

We have set up a page on our website dedicated to updates on the Ukraine conflict; check out: https://charterforcompassion.org/Ukraine-Update. We thank Maha Alusi, Board Member of the Charter for Compassion, for sharing this story with you and with us. We have monthly Facebook fundraisers where 100% of donations will go to dedicated organizations vetted by Charter partners.