Working for the people of Ukraine

Erik Schäfer is studying for a Master's degree in mathematics and sport at RPTU Landau. When war broke out in Ukraine, it was immediately clear to him that he wanted to help.

He had actually planned a skiing vacation with friends: But when Erik Schäfer heard about the invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops on February 24, 2022, it was clear to him that very evening that he wanted to help. He set off for the Polish-Ukrainian border with his converted camper van and the first relief supplies. He will never forget the situation there: "Within a few hours, an initial reception station was set up for the fleeing people. None of it was organized by the state, there were just a lot of people who came here because they wanted to do something."

On his way to Ukraine, Erik Schäfer shared appeals for support via social media, which helped him to organize further donations such as food and blankets: "In the first two weeks, I slept a maximum of two hours a day and lost ten kilos. There was always something to do." At one point, he even drove his bus across the border to Ukraine himself - bringing people from there to Berlin. A rescue operation that he repeated several times. Driving in Ukraine was anything but easy, he remembers: "It sometimes took us over three hours to drive 50 kilometers, as you were checked by the military every hundred meters."

Together with other volunteers, he founded H.O.P.E e.V., an association for humanitarian aid. It helps to bring medicines to Kiev, for example. As a student teacher, Erik Schäfer had noticed that many pupils from Rhineland-Palatinate also wanted to help. Together with his fellow campaigners from H.O.P.E e.V., he therefore launched the #rlpschülerhelfen campaign: Interested schools can use this campaign to organize projects and raise funds. Fundraising runs, flea markets and cake sales have already taken place: "We use the money raised to finance donated goods that are urgently needed." Further information can be found at www.hope-eu.com/de (SP)

Source: This article was first published in a special supplement to the daily newspaper "DIE RHEINPFALZ" in May 2023.