AVSI foundation - Romania
Providing life saving items, food, medicine and psychosocial support to displaced people coming from Eastern Ukraine
With its local historical partner, Asociatia FDP Protagonisti in Educatie, AVSI is providing help to 3 refugee centers in Bucharest. Their goal is to guarantee the health of the people hosted and to offer psychosocial and recreational activities to the children.
Inflow of refugees in Bucharest
The hygienic and social situation inside the centers accommodating refugees in the city of Bucharest is very precarious. The continuous flow of people coming to these facilities to find shelter brings with it a multitude of needs that cannot be postponed.
Helping Ukrainian refugees in Romania
In Romania, AVSI is engaged in four main actions:
- Supporting the reception of refugees into host communities
- Protecting the psychological well-being of the victims of the conflict in Ukraine, particularly of the most vulnerable population groups (women, children, people with special needs)
- Promoting the (temporary and medium-term) integration of refugees in the host communities
1197 Beneficiaries since the beginning of the crisis
471 Children welcomed since the beginning of the crisis
Solving current problems in refugee centers in Bucharest
AVSI organized a data collection on the field to better understand the needs of the beneficiaries.
With this inquiry, they understood the need to guarantee the health of the refugees and of the workers and volunteers. Thus, they decided to create a laundry room to allow the many families to safely wash and disinfect their belongings after many days of walking in precarious conditions. The laundry will also enable the operators to wash and sanitize the items used to house the refugees. For the same reason, they purchase hygiene material to distribute it to ensure optimal standards of personal and center cleanliness.
Furthermore, the association decided to purchase educational and recreational materials for children. Indeed, the implementation of psychosocial and recreational activities are fundamental to help the children experience a kind of normality. The association specializes in setting up these activities and encourages educators and social workers to use this material with families.
The Air Liquide Foundation’s contribution
The Air Liquide Foundation finances the creation of a washing area (with washing machines, dryers and ironing stations) in response to the huge number of people received.
The foundation also supports the purchase of hygiene kits and dining items. Finally, the Foundation provides funds to purchase educational and recreational materials for the children hosted in the centres for the implementation of psychosocial and recreational activities provided by the educators and social workers.
