'There are thousands of women, children, grannies and dogs'
Mullingar man describes what life is like in a refugee centre on the Polish-Ukraine border
A Mullingar man who is currently volunteering on the Polish Ukrainian border says that it's hard to describe the harrowing scenes he has witnessed and has put a call out for donations that will be used to fund the transport costs of refugees fleeing their war ravaged homeland.
On Monday Colm Smullen and his son Dara arrived in the Polish border city of Przemyśl with a van load of vital medical and other humanitarian aid donated by the people of Westmeath. It was the well known courier's second trip across Europe with locally donated supplies for Ukraine since start of the war in late February.
For the past few days Colm and Dara have been helping out at a refugee centre that has been established in a disused supermarket. He says that is hard to describe the scenes that he has witnessed since he arrived.
“It's unbelievable over here. There are thousands in this closed former supermarket building; thousands of women, children, grannies and dogs. Basically there are none of the big charities or organisations here, absolutely none of them. It is all being run by volunteers from Ireland, England, France, Netherlands, Belgium, everywhere. It is totally being run by volunteers.
“We are now helping the Irish guy who is here. He is helping people who have no money at all and are not sure where they are going. He is figuring out where they want to go. If they want to go to Ireland, if they have no money he is actually paying for the flights out of funding he's raised and now I am adding the couple of thousand that we raised before we came and since we got here as well through Revolut.”
Below: Dara playing football with young Ukrainian refugees in the centre.
Full of praise for the generosity of local people and businesses over the past six weeks, Colm, who will be staying in Przemyśl until at least Saturday, says that he has been deeply moved by what he has seen in the refugee centre in the past few days and put a call out for further donations that will help fund the travel costs of refugees.
“If anyone can afford anything send it to my number 0868615973 through Revolut anything big or small. If companies want to send something bigger it would be brilliant because the centres are just getting fuller and fuller. People just need to get out of the centres because they are overcrowded and the facilities aren't great. It's very hard to describe. Flights are pretty cheap, even if it it's not to Ireland, it's just to get them away from this place because bus loads are arriving every few hours. I could talk for an hour about it. It's mad,” he said.