ORT Launches Emergency Campaign for Ukraine Conflict having significant consequences for more than 8,000 ORT students, teachers, and families
ORT has launched an emergency campaign to raise funds for immediate humanitarian needs in Ukraine including food, water, medical supplies, and transportation for potential evacuation and relocation.
ORT’s regional office is located in Kiev, overseeing five schools and two affiliated schools in Ukraine – Zaporozhe, Dnipro, and Odessa in the eastern and southern regions; and Chernivtsi, Kiev, and Belaya Tserkov in the north and west. In addition, ORT’s KesherNet training centers support predominantly unemployed women to learn new job skills and improve their economic status. After 25 years of building schools and training centers in Ukraine, there are now more than 8,000 people who rely on ORT as part of their daily lives. Since the start of the conflict, their lives have been upended with sounds and sirens, which go off very often.
All ORT schools in Ukraine are closed and mobility is limited. Ukrainian civilians across the entire country are trying to remain safe. Some left for Romania, Poland, and Moldova before and immediately after the fighting began, but now many roads are blocked and dangerous, preventing people from leaving. Shops and gas stations are closed and food is becoming scarce. Reports from the field say that lines to get into supermarkets are 200 people long and shelves are bare. The ORT School in Moldova is preparing to eventually accept ORT Ukraine refugees at their school and is arranging accommodations and necessities.
The schools will start receiving trauma response training, including engagement of Israeli mental-health counsellors who have experience in assisting those impacted in wartime. The inevitable significant needs will continue well into the future and will include providing safe transportation to and from school and reinforcing school security and bolstering the infrastructure of school buildings. Needs will be assessed daily, together with logistical options to deliver help and share this with our global supporters.
“We appreciate the outpouring of support that we have seen in such a short period of time. The generosity of so many will make a difference in the lives of our Ukraine family,” said Dan Green, World ORT Director General and CEO.
