Ecuadorians in Ukraine and in the country are activated to help compatriots flee the war

Ecuadorians who live in Ukraine and those who are in national territory have been activated to help compatriots who seek to flee the war that overwhelms that country after the military attacks that Russia began on Thursday of last week.

In that country, according to the records of the Foreign Ministry, there are about 800 Ecuadorians, although more appear daily, Minister Juan Carlos Holguín told this newspaper. Of these, around 200 have so far been able to go to neighboring countries, especially Poland.

Anna is the daughter of a Ukrainian couple who settled in Ecuador about 20 years ago and set up the Puelat company that manages educational exchanges between the two countries. She has been studying in Vinnytsia for two years.

When the Russian attack became known, his parents traveled to their country to evacuate the boys they had sent through his firm, but they have also managed to get others out. In total, 33 young people have been removed.

“With my family and my parents’ company we are trying to evacuate as many Ecuadorians as possible from the country. I mean helping them get to border towns where they can, in turn, help them cross. Ukrainian universities are caring for and sheltering Ecuadorians. Thanks to our help and our coordination, they are helping to organize various evacuation routes. All roads are completely blocked, no transport can move. We are coordinating with officials from the train stations and we are taking the students to evacuate across the border with Poland… Today (on February 26) we sent 33 Ecuadorian students. We are grateful to the rector of the Polytechnic University of Vinnytsia who, together with the professors, actively supported the evacuation of Ecuadorian students. The Ukrainian professors and rector, did everything despite the bombing alarms sounding, completely risking their lives… There are still many students who are in other cities and still cannot evacuate… There are evacuation trains in each city, the students They have to go to the stations. These trains are humanitarian, they do not need tickets, it is with live queues”, she says.

He adds that he had a bad experience with the Ecuadorian consul, with whom he had agreed that he would receive them in Lviv to take them to Poland, but in the end he did not arrive and the boys had to cross by themselves, either by train or in taxis. Now they are all safe.

Anna says that they keep contacting more Ecuadorians to help them.

Meanwhile, in Ecuador, former students from Ukrainian universities created a WhatsApp group called “Ecuadorians in Ukraine” in which they included classmates from various generations, some stayed to live there and others are here. Paúl Andrés Espinosa and Peter Avilés are the organizers.

Espinosa, who studied medicine at the University of Vinnitza, pointed out that through this group they try to help compatriots leave that country and generate real information about their situation.

“We have achieved some things. For example, we have ready help in telemedicine, with professionals who are willing to connect to help compatriots; a former colleague who owns a bar in Lviv gave lodging to a group of students traveling to the border; transportation has also been obtained and organized in groups to travel together to the border; also alerting them to dangerous situations, such as the fact that the Ukrainian police were taking their passports and then asking them for $50 to return them… ”, he refers.

In his WhatsApp group there are about 250 people, but as a result of this, other smaller ones from different cities were created to keep in touch.

Through Twitter, the Foreign Ministry contacted Espinosa and Avilés and this afternoon added them to the Crisis Room that was set up with several institutions. (I)