ISKCON RELIEF FOR UKRAINE

ISKCON Relief – Reports

Poland: This week in Warsaw we had a huge ‘wave’ arriving from the east of Ukraine — Donetsk, Krematorsk and other areas. They have been wisely advised by Niranjana Maharaja to leave as the army forces were coming their way. Maharaja has been so closely involved in helping his yatra so wonderfully.

The majority of elderly devotees want to stay in Poland, hoping the war will end soon so they can go back home, with some gong back to Ukraine already! Despite all the uncertainty they just miss home too much; being a stranger in a strange land is not easy and even in trying circumstances your own home it is easier to deal with.

Both the temple and the rented temporary house are now full with several families with children. “I have one more pickup at 2 am so I won’t be sleeping again.” (Rasikendra Das)

Poland Prasadam: The Sathya Sai Group in Harrow in the UK have expressed deep gratitude for ISKCON for their highly organised operation. They want to start to work with ISKCON as they feel we are a very organised group. On the 9th of April they delivered one truckload of fresh vegetables to Wrocław to support the Food For Life team at the train station, which was originally set up by Parasuram das. (See photos below).

Chech Republic: On the 9th of April devotees in Prague started prasadam distribution in the centre of the city. The main organiser is Loka Saranga das, who just spent two weeks distributing food at the Ukrainian border with Parasuram das from UK. After that Loka Saranga das and his team started to organize everything from zero. What a wonderful example for other temples!

Turkey: So far 4 devotees have used Istanbul as a passageway to travel to other destinations in Europe. The devotees from Turkey are in contact with more Ukrainian devotees who want to travel from Russia to Turkey to go to Europe or Canada.

Croatia: 14 devotees from Ukraine are now accommodated in Croatia, including one newly arrived devotee who came via Russia and Istanbul. His wife and child will join him soon via Poland.

Sweden: One more devotee from Mariupol arrived at the Almvik Community last week. Now there are 17 Ukrainian devotees at the Almvik farm. There is also one in the Stockholm temple, two at the Korsnäs Gård temple and two at the Gothenburg temple. As well as a few more who have found other accommodations.

France: New Mayapur does not have any Ukrainian devotees yet but is preparing to receive many families soon.

Portugal: ISKCON has offered support and helped non-devotee family members and friends fleeing from Ukraine. “2 young boys (one of them is the cousin of one of our devotees) that arrived last week were professional football players in Ukraine and great fans of CR7, so we were able to enrol them in a well known football academy near Porto.” See news article below.

Ireland: The devotees in Ireland have accommodation in the temple for Ukrainian devotees. Please get in contact with them for more information. The temple is part of the UK even though it’s located in Ireland.

ISKCON Relief – Photos

ISKCON Relief – Videos

Italy, Villa Vrindavana

https://drive.google.com/file/d/137U9BIvnxghsc4PeaEOoj-IQpZq6KdtH/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1H5lm-XoYtZSRDNcMxj2Ejv64nu3IggMp/view?usp=sharing

Czech Republic

ISKCON Relief – Resources

Relocation Services

The ISKCON Relocation Services is run by Loka Pavani Devi Dasi and three of her Vaishnavi colleagues. They work tirelessly to put together useful and updated information about available help which can be accessed in different European countries. Such information includes government benefits, government accommodations, relocation in temples and devotee’s homes, or a list of ISKCON centres especially equipped in helping women and children to get safe facilities. Refugees can find different options, and make informed decisions on where to go. You can find all this information at the ‘Country Specific Fact Sheets for Ukrainian Devotees’ at

http://eurorgb.org/ukraine-crisis-resources/.

Crisis Management Support

Compassionate Listening Circles with Rambhoru Devi Dasi.

Every Sunday 8:00 – 9:30 pm CET on Zoom.

Contact and registration: Rambhoru@gmail.com

Crisis Management Team

The Crisis Management Team has appointed local coordinators for several countries. These local coordinators offer help to refugees and the assisting devotees. Don’t hesitate to contact them.

A list of the national coordinators for several countries can be found at:

http://eurorgb.org/ukraine-crisis-structure/