Morsberger’s route during the Ukrainian mission trip.
(Editor’s Note: this story is pulled from remarks made by Emory Morsberger of Lilburn, who has just returned from delivering medical supplies to Ukraine hospitals. He spent 22 days in that part of the world, primarily working with members of Rotary Clubs in Ukraine. Locally, Morsberger teamed with Chris Brand, president of Friends of Adults and Children (FODAC), and Radu Zernoveanu Jr., a Buckhead Rotarian and native of Romania, to organize aid for the front lines.—eeb)
By Emory Morsberger
ATLANTA, Ga. | First, I want to first of all thank Radu from Buckhead and Chris from Tucker — two of the most amazing partners you could ever ask for.
Distributing food and supplies to this mother and her baby, some of the four million “internal refugees,” as the air raid sirens blared.
I came into this project when Chris was finishing the consolidation of 37 pallets (12,000 pounds) of medical equipment in the FODAC warehouse in Tucker. Chris mentioned that they were looking for an escort for the equipment and I immediately volunteered to pay my way and go. I really didn’t quite know what all was going to be happening, but I knew I should go; it was beyond comprehension.
I first flew on Delta to Bucharest, Romania, where I met with numerous Rotarians, who were working to organize shipments for Ukraine. Several hundred Rotarians in Romania have been working to move truckloads of food supplies and medical equipment across the border to Ukraine. There Ukraine Rotarians would distribute them to Northern Ukraine. About the only way to cross the border is with women driving you back and forth.
In Ukraine, I spent a few days helping with food distribution, and meeting a number of the refugees. Most of them were people just like us. I mean, you wouldn’t know them from your average American walking down Peachtree Street. They were disrupted and forced out of their homes, under great pressure, and suddenly ended up in all parts of Ukraine.
Dr. Olha Paliychuk (aka Ukraine’s Florence Nightingale) delivering some of the Atlanta Area Originated medical supplies to the head of the Cherkasy hospital near the war front.
In Kyiv, I met with a surgeon to give him Stryker Surgical Drills, each worth about $12,000. He looked at those and had tears in his eyes. He was very excited to receive the drills. There were several other surgeons there. They showed me pictures of how bombs basically harm people and what kind of operations they were dealing with.
From there I went to another hospital, basically moving toward the war zone. As we went across this one bridge, my woman driver, Dr. Olha Paliychuk, said, “The Russians keep hitting this bridge, but they haven’t gotten it yet.” And last week they hit the bridge again. You probably saw it on television, but it’s still functional. (It brings tears to my eyes thinking about her. She’s the “Florence Nightingale” of that area.)
Going into her town, I met with other doctors and saw the situation that she’s dealing with.
Emory stands with two Ukrainian Rotarians in the center of the devastated community of Moshchun, 20 miles west of Kyiv, with leaders who are planning to rebuild.
From there, we drove to the west side of Ukraine. And I was fortunate to be able to talk to many Rotarians who are leading the 65 Clubs in Ukraine and helping with distribution of all sorts of goods from around the world.
I was in five different Ukrainian towns. In three of those five, I heard air raid sirens while I was there. But I was not scared. I felt like I was meant to be there, was given a mission, and was carrying it out.
The Ukraine Rotarians are coordinating their efforts together beautifully. They’re very organized and committed. They are not giving up. We need to keep sending Ukraine everything we can for that nation to survive and thrive.
We are now working to fund the next shipment of medical equipment to Ukraine. We want to raise money particularly for more surgical drills, and incubators for new born babies. People wishing to contribute can contribute to FODAC at HERE.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
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