According to your official channel, the Centre was founded on the initiative of a number of Ukrainians who were not indifferent to the problems of Ukrainians, and gradually a community formed around it. Can you tell us in detail about the stages of the creation of your centre? How did you put together a team of people?
The first stage was related to the real needs that existed at that time, which were: help in building routes for people, most of whom had never travelled abroad in their own cars, help in finding accommodation, especially for transit, as many people went through Romania to continue on to Europe. And then there were questions about paperwork, getting temporary protection in this country, what to do with children or how to get additional help. Later it became clear that there are many international organisations in Romania that would like to help and do help, but something was being duplicated and something was not being done in the other direction at all. This gave rise to the idea of telling more about the needs of the Ukrainians, which were extremely relevant at the time. So a group of people was formed: I, a refugee who had just arrived, and another Ukrainian woman, we studied together at the university on the same course. She lived in Romania at the time and was married. She and her husband were also involved in setting up the centre. In the first phase it was a private initiative of all those who cared, and then it turned from volunteer work to work.
One of the Romanian non-profit organisations, Asociatia Sus Inima, offered me a salary to continue volunteering so that I would not have to look for a job here, but could work in the same direction for other Ukrainians. That’s why I became their employee and have stayed until now. All further development of programmes for Ukrainians is already underway within this organisation. As for the Ukrainian Centre, for the first year and a half it really became the centre around which the Ukrainians who cared about Sibiu coalesced. They helped as much as they could. Some with their knowledge. Some with their hands. Some could give two hours a week. Some from morning till night. As much as they could.
Were there volunteers among the Romanian population?
Yes, and many of them. In the beginning there were only Romanian volunteers. There were also English, Italian, Hungarian, French and German volunteers. It was obvious that many Ukrainians felt confused.
What difficulties did you encounter?
It was quite busy. Many people were trying to find accommodation for the Ukrainians at the same time. There were Romanians who wanted to offer their flats and Ukrainians who were looking for them. How do you bring them together? So we had to create a whole network.
The first flats were different from each other. Someone passed on contacts that someone was renting a flat there. Then we created a constantly updated database of flats and which families needed them. If a flat is designed for three people, a family with eight children will not fit in. At the same time, a six-room house should not be given to a couple without children. It was difficult to organise all this.
The premises for your centre were also provided free of charge by the DWS (German Business Club).
How did you find out about this business centre? Can you tell us in detail how you got the premises free of charge?
I would like to thank the Romanian local authorities. They didn’t have the resources and a well-established system for dealing with refugees that some other countries have. But there was a great deal of concern. That is why, at the very beginning, they brought together the main aid organisations in a single group. I was present at the first meeting of this group, which included this German business club. That’s when the idea was born that it would be nice for Ukrainians to have a physical centre where they could come and ask questions and get advice directly.
Your organisation is not a governmental one. Is your work registered? What is your relationship with the local authorities? Have they tried to hinder or help the creation of the centre?
We have not registered the Ukrainian Centre as a Ukrainian organisation, but it operates within the framework of a Romanian non-profit organisation as one of its activities. At the moment, the Ukrainian Centre in Sibiu is an information centre where Ukrainians can physically talk to someone or use the place as a coworking space. We have free laptops and a library in Ukrainian.
We have a very good relationship with the authorities. A lot of Ukrainians expect something fabulous from the government, but in reality the best the government can do is to give us some autonomy and not interfere where we take our own initiative. The authorities listened to Ukrainians’ proposals and gave us permission for all requests that were well prepared and substantiated. The authorities did not force Ukrainian children to go to Romanian schools when we proposed the establishment of our own Ukrainian school.
The utilities were initially paid for by a German business club, but then it got warmer and there was no heating. So all that was left was the internet, water and electricity. So we, the volunteers, had to pay for it ourselves. Last winter, the issue of heating came up again. Once again, Asociatia Sus Inima stepped in to cover most of the costs. We received laptops from the UNICEF Education Project.
Can you tell us who helped you to set up your collection and whether it is successful?
We gradually received books from different funds. In the first phase we opened a library with 80 books. Now there are more than 1000 books. We have not bought any of these books. They are all donations from different organisations and people. Someone brought them from home. Some publications from Ukraine have been sent to us in dozens of copies.
People are using the books very actively. When we added up the results on the anniversary, we calculated that books had been borrowed about 800 times in the past year.
There is no strict control here. First of all, the library is absolutely free for everyone. We ask that books be returned within two weeks, but we understand that someone may keep the book and then return to Ukraine with it. Or simply forget to return it. We will not put up any kind of board of shame. If they haven’t returned it, that’s the way it should be.
The centre offers therapeutic support during the extra time. What does this therapy involve? What methods of therapy are used?
Most of the workshops are run by the Association for Freedom and Gender Equality. The main initiative of the organisation is to protect gender equality. But they do not only focus on that. In general, they are involved in educational activities and they have full-time psychologists, including specialists who can work with trauma. Their approach to therapy is through workshops. It is not working with a psychologist or psychotherapist in a meeting. Instead, it is a discussion of certain issues or something like art therapy. You do something together while you discuss a topic. And this happens regularly, at least once a week. The condition of all the participants is monitored very carefully, and the groups are also selected very carefully according to age and gender. Even if there is a theme for different groups, the psychologists adapt a specific lesson to the age group.
In addition, Sus Inima now has 3 full-time psychologists (2 of whom are from Ukraine). They spend most of their time with the children in our school and their parents. The rest of their time is spent on individual and group therapy with other adults and teenagers.
Is all this just for Ukrainians or do Romanians take part as well?
There are activities for Romanians as well, but the activities that take place in our centre are only for Ukrainians.
In addition to helping our refugees in Romania, you do not forget about Ukraine as a whole. Can you tell us more about how you help our country during this war? How do you choose who to help or are you contacted by specific units?
We work on the same principle as before. We have collected details regarding what exactly and how much of it is needed and in what form.
Why did we come up with the idea of nets? Because it was the most popular request. They needed camouflage nets. Why did we need jars and wax for trench candles? Because we got requests from there.
As far as Ukraine is concerned, this is a purely voluntary activity. Most of the Romanian organisations helping Ukrainians in Romania do not have permission to send anything to Ukraine.
Recently, one of the hotels was changing their linen sets and as they no longer needed them, they gave them to us, almost a hundred sets in total. It was quite good, not damaged. Then we organised everything and sent it to a hospital in Ukraine. Everything is happening gradually, some people took buses, others went to Ukraine themselves and delivered these things.
Your Telegrams portal states that you help solve complex and unusual situations. Can you give us an example of a non-standard situation you have worked with and how you helped to resolve it?
One of the most difficult tasks was to decide how to accommodate people with pets: three huge dogs or two horses. Of course there were some medical issues, such as a child with cerebral palsy who needed a wheelchair. In general, we encountered things that you don’t work with every day.
Let’s say I am a young professional who wants to develop the food industry in Sibiu. Can your centre help me to start a small business?
This can be classified as a non-standard situation, as there is still no normal legal support available here. This is one of the issues we are working on now: to have at least one part-time lawyer to help with the registration of individual entrepreneurs. First of all, for people who want to be self-employed. There are many such professionals: designers, hairdressers, manicurists.
What we can offer now is advice on how to do this, but we are not yet in a position to do all the translations and then hand over the registration certificate.
How has volunteering affected your life? How has your life changed since the centre started? How do you prevent burnout?
I see that different people deal with burnout in different ways. Everyone has their own approach and I don’t have a single recipe. I was motivated by the fact that everyone should have their own front today, and if I’m not in the trenches, is it fair for me to complain that it’s difficult now?
When you help a lot of people, at a certain stage they expect you to help them even more. The key point is that you have to, you have to help. I was saved by the realisation that sometimes you have to cool down a bit. Not to take everything personally. Of course, if someone tells a very emotional story, I may look like a completely indifferent person. But that is the barrier that every volunteer has to build, otherwise they will only have the energy for one or three such stories. This does not mean that there is no empathy, no, there is. But a certain coldness helps.
Contacts:
Instagram SIBIU Ukrainian Center
Translator: Ivan Chepaykin
