The executive director of the Baptist Association for Social Action (ABASC), Martha Zimermann de Morais, said, in an interview with CNN Radio, that Ukrainians who fled the war arrived in Brazil “very scared.”
The first group of Ukrainian citizens arrived on the 18th in Curitiba, Paraná, with 17 children and adolescents, two men and ten women.
“They arrived very scared, I put myself in the place, they arrive with a strange language, different food and culture. It was a moment of silence from them, we realized really scared,” she said.
According to the director of ABASC, the organization gives all the support to the Ukrainians, “be it food, clothing, medical care”.
“The proposal is for the churches to take care of them for a year, we help them adapt, a new profession, study, school.”
“In this one year, we will provide support, including financial support, to start life here; whoever wants to come back, we will support it, the idea is to unite families, but husbands who stayed there can come here, if they choose, after the war”, he added.
Martha Zimmerman also said that she received many donations from different locations. “We are in the part of sorting these donations to forward what is clothing, personal hygiene material, etc.”
A second step, according to her, is to strengthen the proximity with municipal, state and federal entities, to see the next steps for the refugees.
Next Saturday, the 26th, a new group of Ukrainians will arrive in São Paulo. There will be 80 people. On April 4, another 230 citizens of Ukraine are expected, which will be distributed to some cities in Brazil.
Source: CNN Brasil
