The Brazilian NGO Frente BrazUcra, responsible for humanitarian aid in the war in Ukraine, was ordered to compensate two people who worked on Ukrainian soil during the conflict, after an online fundraising “crowdfunding” did not pass on the amounts to volunteers .
The conflict between Russia and Ukraine began in February 2022, when Brazilian Alysson Guimarães Vitali, 46, one of the volunteers, seeing the situation of the local population and the NGO’s actions through the media, went to the Ukrainian border with Poland to help the victims of the confrontation and ended up spending 45 days on Ukrainian soil.
THE CNN had first-hand access to the process that has been ongoing in the São Paulo Courts since the end of 2022. The sentence involving compensation to the volunteers amounts to R$77,614.56 and must be paid by the person responsible for the organization, Clara Magalhães Martins. Appeals are still possible, as the sentence was only issued in the first instance.
Vitali’s idea was to stay just seven days, but he realized that longer would be needed. Therefore, he sought contact with the person responsible for the organization, when he was promised that there would be help with whatever was needed.
The institution created an online donation campaign and raised R$207,000.00; part of this was to reimburse the costs of two volunteers, but the reimbursement was never made .
“When I joined the group, it was really as a volunteer, with my own resources, but for seven days. Friends helped, family donated money. It was clear and very explicit that it would not be possible to financially afford a longer period. But how does she [Clara] He opened a crowdfunding campaign and raised money, he said we could rest assured that all expenses related to aid, such as medicine, food, car rental, all the costs inherent to humanitarian aid during the war, would be reimbursed. So, we trust her”, says Vitali.
After collecting the amounts, Vitali pointed out that the NGO created new rules for reimbursement, later than agreed. “Those who worked on Ukrainian soil were just the three of us. She stated this authoritatively. We were a group of people trying to help, and at that point, she decided to create the guidelines. But when we asked for a refund, she said there was a guideline, but it was only in her head”, concludes Vitali.
In the ruling, judge Priscilla Miwa Kumode indicates in the sentence that the defendant must “reimburse the amounts spent by the authors for the rescue and supply of basic needs of people affected by the armed conflict, not including, however, the authors’ expenses for their own needs or amounts spent to reach the country”, quotes an excerpt from the document.
Vitali says he does not regret having worked as a volunteer and remembers the people he helped throughout the period. “It was 45 days of harsh winter… but I don’t regret it, I would do it all again”, he concludes .
Wanted by the news report CNN Clara Magalhães Martins’ defense preferred not to speak out. The space remains open.
This content was originally published in Brazilian NGO is ordered in the first instance to reimburse volunteers in Ukraine after failing to pass on online fundraising on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
I’m James Harper, a highly experienced and accomplished news writer for World Stock Market. I have been writing in the Politics section of the website for over five years, providing readers with up-to-date and insightful information about current events in politics. My work is widely read and respected by many industry professionals as well as laymen.
