Ukrainian students and employees at the University of Twente started a campaign to help people affected by the war in their home country. At the beginning of March, they opened a collection point on the UT campus, where people could donate various items to be sent to Ukrainian refugees, army, and civilians in need.
After functioning for one and half weeks, the collections point was closed. ‘In total we were open for seven working days,’ says Mialyk. ‘On average, we got eight donations per day, which was a bit less than expected, and so we decided to close. However, it was certainly not useless. We are thankful for every collected item. It is great to feel support from the UT community, especially from international students that volunteered to help us.’
‘We mostly received donations from UT employees, not so many from students,’ continues Mialyk. ‘Most people brought things such as diapers, hygiene supplies, warm clothes and sleeping bags. Some UT research groups even brought boxes full of power banks and mobile phones, which we were very happy with.’
The donated items were moved to the central collection point in Enschede (Getfertsingel 45) and transported to Ukraine. ‘We have since shifted our focus to helping refugees,’ says Mialyk. ‘Together with other UT colleagues, we started a local initiative to help Ukrainians who are beginning to arrive to the Twente region. If people want to help, they can sign up to host refugees and they keep bringing items to the general collection in Enschede, which remains open three days a week.’
