You can help tireless Boyen Help Ukrainians too, HERE – Read on:
The world of Ballroom and Latin dancing is international, and tight-knit – people look out for each other. So perhaps I was not surprised to discover that Bartosz (Boyan) Bojanczyk – 3x Ballroom & Latin Vice-Champion of Poland and London-based dancing coach has temporarily hung up his dance shoes to ferry refugees out of Lviv, Ukraine into Poland.
Boyan has been posting videos (access the link: videos ) when he can – sharing his experience in a war zone, usually whilst speeding far too fast through road blocks, or catching a few hours sleep in a refugee camp – if he is lucky, or else in his car.
The emotion in Boyan’s voice tells a story in itself. He admits he was not prepared for the ‘conversations and pains he has witnessed’. As we watch his videos we are racing with him past impossibly long lines of cars, using his hazard warning lights to indicate he and his fellow volunteers are not queue-jumpers.
He has been driving back and forth all week, transporting a lucky few (if you can call having to leave everything and risk being shot lucky) from hell to sanctuary.
He tells of the lines of hundreds of people walking hour by hour along a major highway – normally reserved for cars, then a police control point, then a man in a horse and cart – bizarre juxtapositions of ‘normality’ with anything but.
He struggles to control his voice when he describes the piles of hand-luggage by the side of the road – the only remaining possessions of exhausted mothers, abandoned so they can use their last remaining energy just to carry their frightened, bewildered children.
He has been wearing the same clothes, socks and underwear for three days – he didn’t think he would be here this long – but how can he leave, when every trip he makes is salvation for mothers with children, and old people who simply can’t walk the 70km from Lviv to the border? He tells how each group of passengers visibly relax as they join the (5 hour) queue to cross the border into Poland.
Boyan buys desperately-needed medicines, dressings and antiseptics in Poland to take into Ukraine each time he goes back for more evacuees. But prices are high – really high – petrol in the area is now crazy expensive, and even one large Elastoplast costs £2 – because everyone is trying to buy them. Boyan is working tirelessly and he needs your help. There are many requests for your money I know, but I can vouch that money sent to Boyan via his Bartosz Boyanczyk JustGiving page will go directly towards driving refugees out of danger and providing essential medical supplies (just click here. Or on the above link)
By Dr K Thompson, award-winning author of From Both Ends of the Stethoscope: Getting through breast cancer – by a doctor who knows
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01A7DM42Q http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01A7DM42Q
http://faitobooks.co.uk
Note: These articles express personal views. No warranty is made as to the accuracy or completeness of information given and you should always consult a doctor if you need medical advice.