New Hampshire volunteers experience danger while bringing relief to Ukraine
New Hampshire volunteers are in
Ukraine
this week with a relief group bringing supplies overseas and said in just the last few days, they've experienced both rewards and dangers.
New Hampshire residents Lisa Mure and Susan Mathison are no strangers to the sounds of sirens in Ukraine. The two women are on their twelfth service trip to the war-torn country for a charitable group called the
Common Man for Ukraine
. Their mission is to provide food, supplies, and support to Ukrainians in the face of Russia's attacks.
On Saturday, their trip took a dangerous turn. As the group was preparing to leave Kharkiv Square, sirens went off. They packed up and left their destination. Just 10 minutes later, they got word that the square had been bombed.
"About 10 minutes later in the van, one of our Ukrainian translators said he heard through his friend that Kharkiv, the square where we had just been, had been hit with a drone attack," Mure recalled. "And for the next hour or two, we heard large sirens and large booms from downtown Kharkiv."
Though they were not directly in the line of fire, the proximity of the explosions and ongoing sirens left the women shaken.
"You know it's real, but you don't think it's going to happen to you," said Mure. "And then when it is happening, it's almost like, you don't know what to do, you're kind of frozen."
The group's focus has increasingly shifted toward helping children in the region. Mathison said as a mother of boys, she identifies with the families she sees here.
"I can recognize that fear in their eyes," said Mathison. "And I can see that they're trying to figure out, 'How do I protect my child, how do I comfort them when the air raid sirens are happening, how do I get the food that they need?' I want to be there for these moms as they struggle in the face of war to raise healthy, young children."
The Common Man for Ukraine organizes several convoys to Ukraine each year, spending weeks in the country distributing aid. Since its founding, the organization has raised over $4 million and donated more than 20 tons of food.
"You know what Mr. Rogers said, right? 'In a disaster, look for the helpers,'" said Mathison. "And we hope to be the helpers and telling Ukrainians that Americans care about them."
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