Ukraine to Spain: 3,207km to start a new life
Zurich Spain employee Cesar Estefanell is using volunteer days and all his spare time to bring Ukrainian refugees from Poland to Spain. He’s part of the Ayudamos Ukraine (We Help Ukraine) charity, who have relocated more than 1,400 people to Spain since the conflict began.
By Tim McMahon
“I remember when we first met Julia and her two daughters, 11-year-old Daria and 5-year-old Anna,” recalls Cesar. “It was in the refugee center in Warsaw where they arrived from Lviv in the west of Ukraine.”
Julia had been forced to leave her home and husband behind and bring her family somewhere they could be safe. “They arrived with nothing but the clothes on their backs and apart from Ukrainian, spoke just a little broken English. They were in a terrible situation, yet despite everything, they were so nice, always smiling and incredibly thankful for whatever support they received.
“They won the hearts and minds of everyone who met them – so my friend Carlos from Ayudamos Ukraine and I decided we would try to help them start a new life in Spain,”
This is just one example of the more than 1,400 people Ayudamos Ukraine has brought to Spain since the crisis broke out in Ukraine at the end of February. It was formed when two charities from Spain – SOS Malawi and Clean Community – met in Poland while helping refugees and decided to join forces. “One of the SOS Malawi founders is my friend,” says Cesar. “When he told me about the work they were doing, I had to get involved.”
Since Cesar joined, he has been helping all sorts of different people relocate to Spain. “I’ll never forget this one family,” says Cesar. “Two sisters and their three children. One sister was eight months pregnant, and the other was recovering from brain tumour surgery. They not only needed a new home, they also needed medical treatment and they needed it fast.”
In Spain, Cesar could arrange a host family to stay with and medical treatment – but getting there was the problem. The family couldn’t spend two days on a coach in their physical condition and at the time, Ayudamos Ukraine didn’t have the funds for a flight. “We shared their story on social media and asked people to donate what they could. Within 15 minutes, we had the money needed to send them all to Spain.”
Hope of a better life
Zurich and the Z Zurich Foundation have been supporting Ayudamos Ukraine and Cesar in their efforts: the Foundation made a donation while Cesar was given some additional volunteer days by Zurich Spain so he could travel to a refugee center in Warsaw and spend time there over Easter.
“Being in Poland working with Ayudamos Ukraine was eye-opening,” says Cesar. “I met a lot of people who had left Ukraine and wanted to travel to Spain, usually because they had friends or family there. We’d get to know their personal circumstances and explain the support offered in Spain. If we felt we could help them, we’d register their details with the Spanish embassy.
“We’d then look to transport people from Warsaw to Madrid, either by hiring coaches to drive the roughly 3,000km, chartering flights or, where available, placing people on spare airline seats through the partnership Ayudamos Ukraine has with SEPLA-Ayuda, the charitable foundation of the Spanish Union of Airline Pilots."
Then came the challenge of finding them somewhere to live. “Typically, we help people contact friends or family. But often, we connect them with host families through NGOs and online platforms or large international charities and government initiatives. No matter which solution we go for, we always talk to all parties and accompany people throughout the whole experience.”
As well as taking refugees to Spain, Ayudamos Ukraine also brings donations to help those still in Poland. “We list what’s needed on our website – things like medicines, food, sanitary goods, clothing and electronics. People donate what they can and local government agencies, volunteers and SEPLA-Ayuda work together to drive them out to Poland in convoys of vans.”
Putting people first
While it’s impossible to help everyone, Cesar and the rest of the Ayudamos Ukraine team do what they can with the resources they have.
“Our goal is to accompany people from the moment we meet them until they are settled in Spain,” shares Cesar.
“As an example, we helped one family whose child had leukaemia but hadn’t received treatment for nearly two months. We got them to Spain with a host family in Madrid. However, the nearest hospital that could treat the child was over one hour away. So, after making some phone calls, I was able to elevate their case with the local Red Cross who found them a new family closer to a facility that could treat their child.”
Right now, Cesar is back in Spain, but he continues to support Ayudamos Ukraine. “In my spare time, I’m helping with new arrivals, trying to secure partnerships with companies who can provide employment opportunities and reaching out to people we have placed to gather feedback.”
He keeps in contact with many of the people he helped to bring to Spain and supports them wherever he can. “Most speak only Ukrainian or Russian – maybe some English – so they need help while they learn the language.”
And how about Julia, Daria and Anna? “They are doing great! We secured them a friend’s apartment near Barcelona, and they just received their official permits to live in Spain. Daria and Anna are starting school, and Julia is learning Spanish while she looks to continue her career in psychology.
“Carlos and I are in contact with them every other day and see them once a week. In fact, we took them to see a concert recently – it was great to see how well they are settling into life in Spain.”
