Australians and New Zealanders supported the relocation of over 250,000 Ukrainians across 18 countries such as Poland, Slovakia, Italy, and Spain.
It is estimated that 90% of these refugees are women and children. Samaritan’s Purse continues to fill the gap for partners providing services like housing, food and essentials, local language classes, and medical services.
Anastasiya* and her friends were out for a walk in the neighbourhood when suddenly the air raid began. “We were not able to hide. I was terrified,” she said. Shrapnel ricocheted around Anastasiya and pierced her leg. A wife and mother of five, her thoughts immediately turned to her family: What would happen to them if she did not survive?
The war in Ukraine destroyed the healthcare infrastructure in many communities, including Anastasiya’s. She travelled 16 hours to reach a medical facility that could operate on her leg—and even then, anaesthesia and pain medication were not available to her during the painful procedure.
Post op, she remained in a rehab centre for several months but her leg still did not heal. Her husband could only see her twice in that time since he also cared for their children. Alone and hopeless, she wondered if she would ever recover.
An Emergency Field Hospital was deployed by Samaritan’s Purse near her town soon after the area was liberated. After our team performed complex surgery on her leg, she’s finally on a path to healing.
More than 23,000 individuals received medical care from Samaritan’s Purse teams during this crisis. 700 staff were deployed in Ukraine, showing Christ’s love to people in desperate need.
We deployed our first Emergency Field Hospital to Ukraine just one week after the conflict began. Our response soon included outpatient clinics, mobile medical teams, and ambulance transport. Using 38 airlifts, Samaritan’s Purse transported hundreds of tonnes of relief items, including medical supplies for hospitals throughout Ukraine. One special flight included 267 Ukrainians who were relocated to Canada with family, friends or sponsors arranged by Samaritan’s Purse.
Since February 2022, more than 12 million people were displaced to western Ukraine and neighbouring countries and we have been working with our network of over 3,200 church partners to provide relief.
Emergency food continues to be a significant priority. Samaritan’s Purse distributed more than 54.4 million kilos of food through partner networks.
Oksana*, a single mother, shared with our team how she had no idea where her family’s next meal would come from since the conflict began.
“When your kids are scared, it’s more difficult. When they ask you what is happening, it’s hard to explain.”
Later Oksana was connected to a local church partner offering food assistance.
Our teams produced over 30 million litres of clean water and provided essentials such as solar lights, clothing, blankets, and hygiene kits. To keep families warm during the brutal winter, we also distributed coats, wood stoves, firewood, fuel, and generators. In total, we served more than 11 million people.
“We are here to show the love of Jesus in a time that is so dark,” said one of our nurses. “We step in for a minute to show them God’s love and to be a safe space for them.”
*Names changed for security reasons.
Thank you for journeying with us as we reflect in our 2022 Impact Report on the BIG IMPACT your support made possible.
In this report you’ll see updates from all of our projects, including Operation Christmas Child and our International and Australian Disaster Response teams. We hope and pray that you will continue walking with us on this journey through 2023 and beyond.
