HUMANITARIAN CORRIDOR: LVIV-BCN

HUMANITARIAN CORRIDOR: LVIV-BCN

29 Jun 2022

Autocar Lviv-Bcn

 

The war in Ukraine, which began in February 2022, has caused a major humanitarian crisis. Bombs continuously threaten cities where the lives of thousands and thousands of people are in danger, and have already caused more than 6.8 million to flee to seek refuge in other countries.

The HUMANITARIAN CORRIDOR project arose from the urgent need to flee a country at war in search of a country at peace. The humanitarian corridor is a safe, effective and regular route from Lviv to Barcelona. The aim is to facilitate the evacuation of particularly vulnerable families who are fleeing because their lives are in danger. This project has been approved and receives logistical support from the Human Rights Committee of the Ukrainian Parliament, as well as collaboration from various local NGOs.

HOW DID THE CORRIDOR COME ABOUT?

Since the beginning of the conflict, ASL has sought to respond to the humanitarian crisis that was unfolding. On 9 March, ASL staff travelled to the Ukraine-Poland border to assess the situation and the possibilities for intervention.

At the end of March, a campaign was launched to send medical supplies to hospitals that were running low. The campaign secured the collaboration of FAHID (Humanitarian Aid and Development Fund for the Clinical Hospital), Alliance Healthcare Spain and the company Sassatex. FAHID provided us with medical and healthcare supplies, Alliance contributed healthcare supplies, and Sassatex provided personal protective equipment for firefighters. Between 29 March and 2 April, four ASL volunteers made their first trip with two vans loaded with all the supplies that had been collected through the campaign: nearly 200 boxes and 500 kg.

Through the contacts made by ASL volunteers during this first trip, it was decided that it would be more efficient to collaborate with an existing initiative that was in line with our objective and made efficient use of available resources. Among the proposals, one stood out from two volunteers from the ‘Casa Nostra, Casa Vostra’ platform, who were already responding to the need to evacuate war victims via a safe route. Thus, the ‘Lviv-Barcelona humanitarian corridor’ project was born.

ASL quickly embraced the initiative, mobilising to offer all the organisational, technical and logistical support and co-leading the project alongside other organisations such as the Human Rights Committee of the Ukrainian Parliament, the Red Cross and FAHID, among others.

WHAT WE DO: THE CORRIDOR, STEP BY STEP.

The mechanism for each convoy is quite similar. A coach with two professional drivers is hired in Ukraine, which picks up the evacuees in Lviv, from where it begins its journey to Barcelona.

There are two stops along the way, where several Red Cross reception centres provide support so that families can sleep and rest. Food and drink are provided throughout the journey, as well as medical and psychological assistance. They also receive detailed information on the procedures required to apply for Temporary Protection in Spain. This permit will be valid for a minimum of one year and may be extended depending on the situation in Ukraine. The rights under European Directive 2001/55/EC on temporary protection include a residence permit, access to the labour market and housing, medical assistance and access to education for children.

On some occasions, free accommodation has been provided during the journey to Slovenia (Velenje) and France (Nice), but this is not a contractual requirement, which means that on some convoys, accommodation costs have had to be covered during the journey. After three long days of travelling, the coach arrives at Fira de Barcelona, and ASL accompanies the people throughout the reception process carried out by the Red Cross. The coach itself is sent back to Ukraine, once again filled with humanitarian aid.

HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE BEEN ASSISTED

On the first trip at the end of March, ASL was able to transfer 9 people (6 women and 3 minors, accompanied by 3 pets) to Catalonia.

On 29 April, 45 people (17 minors) belonging to 20 family units were transferred.

On 5 May, 46 people (14 minors) from a total of 22 family units were transferred.

On 10 June, 50 people were transferred on the Open Arms humanitarian flight, which provided the seats.

On 11 June, another 50 people were also transferred.

Two coaches are scheduled to depart: one at the end of June and another at the beginning of July, each carrying 50 people.

In total, 200 people have already been evacuated, and the total number is expected to rise to 300 by the beginning of July.

HOW WE DO IT: WHO FINANCES US.

Initially, all donations came from local citizens and businesses who collaborated in solidarity and enabled us to start the project. Subsequently, we have also received funding from Fons Català, which has contributed to the continuity of the project.

In addition, partnerships have been established with local NGOs, making it much easier to distribute materials within the country and carry out the project with the involvement of Ukrainian organisations.

At the same time, thanks to the initiative of volunteers, charity events have been held, such as the Cinefórum S.O.S Refugiats (19/04/22), the Charity Concert in Sant Just Desvern (20/05/22) and the CORREDOR HUMANITARIO Charity Concert in Sant Cugat del Vallès (19/06/22).

The war continues, and so does our work. In order to continue, the project needs to keep receiving support. At ASL, we are still looking for resources to keep the corridor running, as the waiting list now exceeds 1,000 families: mainly women and children trapped in Mariupol, Donetsk and Kharkiv.

FURTHER INFORMATION: Humanitarian Corridor

A project supported by:

Ajuntament Hospitalet
Fons Català de Cooperació al desenvolupament
AJUNTAMENT SANT JUST
CREU-ROJA
logo Carrenca
FAHID
CENTRIS-EVENTS
LANXESS
NESTLE
PAH

Preventive action to minimise the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic in Senegal, Honduras, and Nepal.

Preventive action to minimise the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic in Senegal, Honduras, and Nepal.

9 Oct 2020

Preventive action to minimize the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in Senegal, Honduras, and Nepal.

The current crisis caused by the arrival of COVID-19 in Europe has led to the mobilisation of organisations working in humanitarian aid to assist the most vulnerable people around the world.

At Acció Solidària i Logística, we are also committed to this cause. As an organisation working on development cooperation and emergency projects around the world, we believe that at a time like this it is important to call for ‘global solidarity’, because this crisis affects us all. The consequences of this crisis will be devastating for many people, not only from a health perspective, but also socially and economically.

The pandemic has already reached more than 200 countries around the world, many of which do not have the structures or minimum conditions to deal with a pandemic of this type and where the consequences (health, social and economic) are expected to be very serious.

A.S.L. is launching a campaign to raise funds and take action in three of the countries where we are currently carrying out development cooperation projects: Senegal, Honduras and Nepal.

Our action aims to help minimize the effects of the arrival of this pandemic in these countries by ensuring the disinfection of spaces, providing preventive information to the population and facilitating their confinement by supplying food and other basic necessities.

Senegal:

In Senegal, a large part of the population lives below the poverty line, and the country does not have adequate health structures to deal with a pandemic of this type.

Senegal has a poverty rate of 52.3%. In terms of health conditions, 147 women and 219 men per 1,000 inhabitants die in the country. In addition, the country has other deadly diseases, such as malaria (almost 65 people per 1,000 die from this disease) and tuberculosis (with 122 people affected per 1,000 inhabitants).

Medina Boudialabou is a rural village of 860 inhabitants, most of whom live from agriculture and fishing. However, in order to purchase most of their food and basic necessities, as well as to obtain energy supplies, the population is forced to travel regularly to the nearest town, Ziguinchor, which is 14 km away.

The families in the village do not have a sufficient water supply and therefore do not have the minimum conditions necessary to maintain good hygiene and reduce the risk of infection.

Actions:

Since mid-April, ASL has been working in different phases.

The first shipment of funds was used to purchase equipment to control the three access points to the village and to disinfect people and vehicles returning from the city.

Awareness-raising and training activities have been carried out among the population.

Disinfection of houses and the village in general.

Purchase and distribution of food to all inhabitants to encourage the reduction of population movements, helping to comply with the lockdown order decreed by the government. (1,700 kg of rice).

After one month of working at the local level, and although there are more cases of COVID-19 every day in Senegal, the disease has not entered Medina.

We continued our pandemic prevention work during May, June and July, maintaining our efforts to raise awareness, train and inform the population about the activities being carried out.

Operational maintenance of disinfection equipment (3 entry points to the village, 1 entry point to the gardens and 1 mobile unit), monitoring of entry checkpoints and the use of disinfection materials.

Door-to-door awareness-raising and information campaign on COVID-19 in the 56 houses in Medina, carried out by the mobile team.

Purchase of 1,500 kg of rice (34 50 kg sacks) and distribution of 25 kg to each family in the village, this being the second food distribution to the population.

The government is reopening schools on 2 June, which means that pupils and teachers will start travelling to educational establishments. For this reason, ASL is distributing 100 additional face masks to pupils in the village (from the primary school and secondary school in the neighboring village of Djibonker) to improve safety conditions.

We are buying more bleach and liquid soap to reinforce the checkpoints.

Total disinfection of the Medina primary school before reopening the center.

On 5 July 2020, the Senegalese Ministry of Health reported 7,400 cumulative cases of COVID-19 and a total of 133 deaths in the country.

Raising awareness among the population, purchasing disinfection materials and products, together with the food aid that has been provided on two occasions, have been key to ensuring a reduction in the mobility of people who travel regularly to the city and to controlling the pandemic.

The involvement of the population of Medina on the one hand, together with the continuous help of ASL on the other, have yielded good results. Since the arrival of the pandemic in Senegal, Medina Boudialabou has had zero cases of the disease.

Since the end of July, our representative in the country has been working in the area after returning from lockdown, and we are trying to resume the activities planned in the town as part of the cooperation projects we are developing.

In September, we continued to help protect Medina against COVID-19 by purchasing the following materials for distribution among the population:

1.5 tonnes of rice (30 50kg sacks per family), bottles of liquid soap and bleach (2 boxes of each) and 100 face masks.

A general awareness session was also held to remind people that the disease is still present in the country and that protective measures must continue to be maintained.

ASL has funds available in Senegal to enable it to act quickly on any task related to the pandemic, both for new actions and for replenishing stocks of preventive materials.

Disinfectant materials.

Entry point to the town.

Food distribution.

Distribution of face masks to schoolchildren.

HONDURAS:

Honduras has a poverty rate of 19.3% and a malnutrition rate of 177 and 170 men/women per 1,000 inhabitants. Other diseases are also present, such as tuberculosis, which affects a total of 38 people per 1,000. The country does not have adequate health structures to deal with a pandemic of this type.

During the month of May, 1,685 cases were detected and a total of 105 people died from the virus.

The Honduran government has decreed a lockdown for the population. In the towns where ASL works, the vast majority of people are engaged in informal trade and transport, while many others depend directly on remittances from their emigrated relatives (many of whom have stopped receiving them as a result of the emergency).

A large part of the country’s economy is based on this informal trade, and people who sell on the street (71% of the economy comes from these traders) are suffering a loss for many families due to the ban on leaving home.

For this reason, it is difficult for the population to comply with the authorities’ lockdown recommendations and stay at home, as they do not have the food they need to survive or the money to buy it.

El govern hondureny realitza repartiments d’aliments a les famílies que consideren més necessitades però, no obstant això, en un país amb gairebé 8 milions d’habitants, aquesta mesura no arriba a tothom i resulta insuficient.

ASL vol intentar garantir un millor confinament de la població, evitant els desplaçaments i assegurant l’arribada dels productes de primera necessitat a famílies del municipi de La Masica, on ASL hi treballa en diferents projectes de cooperació al desenvolupament.

Al país la ONG sempre ha col·laborat amb els bombers i alguns dispensaris locals. Aquests col·lectius estan en primera línia en l’assistència a la població davant l’emergència. La idea és ajudar-los amb materials de prevenció dels que no disposen en la quantitat que necessiten.

Actuacions:

A finals de maig, ASL adquireix menjar i productes d’higiene personal per elaborar bosses solidàries que es reparteixen a les 200 famílies de l’aldea de La Masica. El repartiment d’aquests productes és imprescindible degut a les condicions d’aïllament físic d’aquesta població i on els aliments governamentals no hi han arribat.

La bossa solidària consta d’arròs, llegum, farina, pasta, salses, sal, sucre, mantega, condiments, cafè, avena, sopa, sabó per a roba i vaixella, clor i desinfectant. Calculat per a que les famílies puguin aguantar durant un mes.

Durant el mes de juliol s’adquireix i es reparteix materials de prevenció als bombers de San Pedro Sula, Potrerillos, Villanueva i el Centre de Salut de Monterrey. Entitats amb les que ASL sempre ha col·laborat i que mantenen equips d’intervenció en primera línia d’assistència a la població.

El repartiment consisteix en desinfectant, alcohol antisèptic, mascaretes de protecció i quirúrgiques, guants i bates.

Preparant les bosses solidàries.

Repartiment de les bosses.

Donació al centre de salut.

Donació als bombers de San Pedro Sula.

NEPAL:

A finals del mes de gener de 2020 va aparèixer el primer cas a Nepal, semblava inevitable un imminent contagi de tota la població, agreujat pel precari sistema de salut i els pocs recursos per lluitar contra l’epidèmia. Res mes lluny de la realitat ja que la situació es va contenir moderadament. Al país, el segon cas de contagi no va arribar fins la tercera setmana de març, quan es va declarar el confinament. La situació d’alarma a tot el mon, només fa presagiar lo pitjor pel Nepal, un dels països mes pobres del mon.

El 24 de març, seguint  l’exemple de l’Índia, Nepal declara el tancament total de fronteres, aeroports i tots els negocis, amb només dos casos declarats de Covid-19. Provocant lo que finalment serà una situació insostenible, escassetat d’aliments i ensorrament total de l’economia de subsistència de milions de famílies.

La situació tampoc es econòmicament bona als països d’acollida dels emigrants nepalesos, dels que en depèn l’economia del país, tenint en conte que la primera font d’ingressos es l’enviament de diners dels milions de nepalesos que treballen a l’estranger. Al ser una crisis mundial, molts d’ells es queden sense feina i forçats a tornar a casa des de països amb alts índex de contagi. Això acaba per provocar que el virus es propagui al Nepal.

El principal problema del Nepal a dia d’avui, no ha estat el Covid-19, si no les conseqüències derivades de la seva prevenció. Els casos continuen augmentant considerablement cada dia. Però, l’índex de letalitat es insignificant en proporció a la població. Es molt probable que mori mes gent de fam o altres raons vinculades al confinament, que del propi virus.

ASL va començar a treballar al Nepal durant el terratrèmol de 2015, realitzant diferents tasques d’ajut d’emergència i prosseguint després en projectes de cooperació al desenvolupament en diverses àrees i àmbits. En aquests temps de treball, coneixem entre d’altres organitzacions, a Hugging Nepal. És tracta d’una ONG amb  seu a Palma de Mallorca i que conta amb molts voluntaris espanyols i internacionals, que durant aquesta crisi i tancament de fronteres, s’han dedicat a  adquirir, cuinar i repartir aliments, porta a  porta i en llocs comunitaris, a les persones més necessitades de la capital i nucli de població més gran del país, Kathmandu.

La confiança en  la gran tasca d’aquests voluntaris confinats a Nepal, i el repartiment dels aliments a nuclis de població on ASL esta treballant en cooperació, ens porta a col·laborar, en la mida del possible, en aquest projecte.

Actuacions:

A mitjans de juliol, ASL realitza un enviament de fons econòmics que permet l’adquisició i repartiment d’aliments durant alguns dies en les zones de treball de la ONG.

A finals d’octubre vam rebre la notícia del suport econòmic per part de l’ajuntament de Sant Feliu. El dia 29 del mateix mes, vam fer una aportació que va repercutir en el subministrament de 1.145 kg d’arròs entre d’altres aliments, resultant en una ajuda alimentària a 265 persones i aproximadament 70 famílies.

A mitjans de desembre, vam enviar una donació econòmica als nostres companys de Huggings Nepal, coincidint amb la inauguració d’un menjador social. Aquesta instal·lació és necessària a causa dels impediments de les autoritats locals a realitzar aquest repartiment casa a casa i al carrer. Des del menjador es pot controlar més les quantitats i l’aprofitament dels aliments. ASL pretén col·laborar amb el manteniment d’aquest projecte  tan imprescindible en temps de pandèmia al Nepal.
El nostre suport es quantifica, aproximadament, en 1.100 kg d’arròs i 600 kg d’altres aliments per cuinar al menjador social.

Nens en la cua del repartiment.

Repartiment de menjar cuinat.

Local del menjador social

Help for migrants in Velika Kladusa (Bosnia)

Help for migrants in Velika Kladusa (Bosnia)

10 Mar 2020

Context and background of the action

Last winter, a volunteer and member of ASL visited the towns of Sid (Serbia) and Velika Kladusa (Bosnia) to produce a photo report exposing human rights violations in this area of the Balkans.

During his stay, he identified the main need to be addressed: providing warm clothing to the refugee population living in poor conditions in the Velika Kladusa camp and surrounding areas. All the testimonies he collected reported brutal attacks by the Croatian police during their failed attempts to cross the border into Croatia.

A few months later, our volunteer made another trip in a van, filled with clothing and supplies to help these migrants cope with the winter, but it was insufficient given the size of the migrant population settled in this area.

In addition, when refugees attempt to cross, their shoes and clothes are often torn due to the difficulties of the journey itself and the nets and obstacles they encounter.

Given these circumstances, refugees are forced to remain at the borders for months, in deplorable conditions, which intensify and become even more difficult to cope with during the cold months.

Photograph by Pau Coll

Given that around 900 people are currently trapped in the Velika Kladusa refugee camp and that the flow of migrants in this area is increasing, ASL wants to help meet some of these families’ basic needs by providing materials, clothing, and basic foodstuffs to make their wait a little more dignified.

The project

To address this issue, Acción Solidaria y Logística launched a clothing drive to send items to the field, with the aim of providing these families with enough supplies to protect themselves and better withstand the harsh weather conditions.

First phase

The first phase of this project was the result of detecting a lack of clothing, footwear, and basic hygiene supplies among young people who are temporarily living in the city of Velika Kladuša, Bosnia.

In early July, ASL called on its NGO partners to collect, organize, and pack these clothes.

This action was carried out in cooperation with the NGO No Name Kitchen, which was mainly requesting summer clothing and footwear.

In this way, ASL obtained donations, mainly clothing, from its partners as well as from various collaborating entities dedicated to collecting used clothing.

In addition, ASL received a donation of 2,000 doses of children’s vitamins and minerals from Nutrigen (part of the company Belleza Estética y Salud S.L), which will be used to supplement the nutritional deficiencies of young people and children in the countryside.

The two volunteers’ intervention lasted a total of six days, of which they spent three traveling and three working in the field.

The tasks carried out by the volunteers generally consisted of sorting and distributing clothing in conjunction with the organization No Name Kitchen, which works to provide basic and legal assistance to migrants.

The two volunteers reported on the harsh conditions in which these people find themselves. Not only do migrants suffer from the helplessness of not being able to cross the border after more than 10 days of trying, but those inside the camp complain about the conditions in which they live: they live in very small spaces, without adequate medical care and without anyone giving them the attention they deserve.

Second phase

The second phase of the project consisted of a food collection and awareness campaign in different schools in the province of Girona, complemented by a second trip to the field, with the aim of carrying out improvement works on the No Name Kitchen volunteers’ house.

 

Food collection and awareness-raising in schools

Acción Solidaria y Logística held various talks and workshops in a total of five schools: La Noria and Levantino schools in Mar de Sant Antoni de Calonge, Escuela de la Villa de Palamós, Fornells school in La Selva and Vall-llobrega school.

Some of the schools decided to collaborate in the food collection, such as the Fornells school in La Selva and the Vall-llobrega school.

In addition, ASL visited the Palamós Municipal Library, the Mes Gavarres gym and the Quitxalla nursery (Vall-llobrega).

Improvement works at the No Name Kitchen volunteer house

In October, ASL organised a second trip to Velika Kladusa to carry out work on the house of the volunteers of the No Name Kitchen organisation, with the aim of improving conditions before the arrival of winter.

The improvements consisted of closing the openings in one of the floors and installing doors to keep out the cold. Windows were also installed to make the most of natural light.

Improvement and rehabilitation of wells on Dibo Island (Mozambique)

Improvement and rehabilitation of wells on Dibo Island (Mozambique)

9 Mar 2020

Improvement and rehabilitation of wells on Dibo Island (Mozambique)

On 14 March 2019, for the first time in history (since records began), a cyclone of Idai’s magnitude struck Mozambique. It was the country most severely affected, along with Malawi and Zimbabwe, causing more than 600 deaths and leaving nearly a million people homeless.

A few days later, on 25 April, Cyclone Kenneth struck Mozambique again, along with Tanzania.

Specifically, on the island of Ibo, Cyclone Kenneth affected more than 8,000 people, who lost their homes, their livelihoods and decent access to basic social services.

Access to drinking water has been an ongoing problem on the island, although it is true that after the two cyclones this problem has worsened considerably, as many of the island’s water wells have been affected and there is a lack of hygiene and sanitation systems.

For this reason, the lack of safe access to drinking water and basic hygiene infrastructure is the main source of gastrointestinal diseases and child malnutrition.

ASL’s intervention

Following the passage of two cyclones through Mozambique, the Fons Català de Cooperació al Desenvolupament (Catalan Fund for Development Cooperation) and ASL’s EREC team decided to carry out a joint intervention to assess the damage and study which sector should be prioritised in order to improve the lives of those affected. With the support of the IBO Foundation, which has been working on the island for years, the members of the EREC team carried out an analysis of the damage, focusing on access to drinking water and housing.

First trip to the field

On 20 June, two volunteer members of ASL’s EREC team travelled to the island of Ibo to assess the most appropriate intervention, given the damage caused by the two cyclones (Kenneth and Idai).

After studying the damage and taking into account the economic and time factors available to us, it was determined that the most effective and urgent intervention was to repair and improve some thirty community wells that supply drinking water to the population.

The analyses carried out detected that most of the wells contained bacteria that cause gastrointestinal diseases in the population, as well as excessively high pH and salinity levels.

Of all the wells visited, eight did not have any type of cover to prevent animals and other sources of contamination from falling in; six did not have a pump or had a broken pump; two were in disuse; and most had leaks of contaminating groundwater.

With this information, ASL decided to send a second team to the field to repair these community wells and continue testing the water to determine the problems with each well and the required chlorination levels.

 

Second field trip

The second field trip focused on improving community wells to make them safer for the population. Two ASL volunteers travelled to the island of Ibo in mid-August.

First, the wells with the highest usage and consumption by the population were chosen in order to maximise the number of people benefiting from the project. Local staff were hired to carry out the initial tasks: building a cover to secure the well, laying the foundations for the well and building a washing area to facilitate the cleaning of clothes, thereby helping to divert dirty water and reduce contamination of drinking water.