As soon as the Russians invaded Ukraine, local Ukrainians got organised. In Tours a new charity called Touraine-Ukraine was set up within days. They networked with the Préfecture, created several depots where people could leave donations and organised collections of clothes, food and medical supplies, which they then delivered to Poland or Ukraine. On the return journeys they bring back refugees, almost all women and children. Local people stepped up and offered accommodation both short and long term.
Near us the village of Chambon has been particularly active, with residents driving vanloads of supplies to Ukraine on three occasions, and now we have a number of Ukrainian families living in the area. The city of Bourges, which is twinned with Kharkiv, sent two buses to pick up refugees and bring them back to safety in central France. The village of Bossay sur Claise organised a fundraising concert and one of 'our' Ukrainian refugees, who is a piano and flute teacher, led a singalong of Ukrainian folk songs as part of the programme.
The kids at the primary school in Preuilly have wrapped the symbolic Tree of Secularism in front of the school in blue and yellow as a gesture of support.
1 comment:
I wonder how many of these poor refugees will take root in France because they have no home left to go back to because of this horrible agression by the dictator Putin?
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