Sjim’s ride to Poland

The war in Ukraine has been raging for several months when an initiative comes our way: Fastlane Ukraine. The concept is very simple: you rent a van, load it with relief supplies collected by countless volunteers in the Netherlands, drive to the Polish-Ukrainian border, deliver the goods and on the way back you bring refugees who you drop off in the Netherlands at a host families or an asylum centre. It offers you the opportunity to meet countless enthusiastic and warm-hearted volunteers, you give families who have been on the run for days the chance to close their eyes, surrender and trust in a safe and comfortable passage to that distant Netherlands, you can really a feeling about the war work and you also have a special and pleasant road trip. What will it cost you? A free weekend.

We are happy to take you on our weekend and hope to activate you with this: to make the threshold to do something as low as possible!

Day 1 – Raalte – Poznan

We have barely picked up our nine-seater bus on Friday afternoon when we receive a phone call from Fastlane Ukraine: “Do you mind taking a soldier, his wife, a nurse and four people with cancer back to the Netherlands? The soldier will be operated on in the Netherlands.” Phew.. it suddenly becomes real in one call. At the same time, Matthijs has almost graduated as a doctor and if these people do go to the Netherlands by bus, then our van seems extremely suitable for that. We agree.

Arriving in Raalte at our pick-up point, we meet our first group of passionate volunteers. With a smile, things are sorted and loaded into boxes. Countless residents come to bring blankets, sanitary towels and diapers and we are really getting an 'us' feeling. Still, we don't linger long: it's 4:30 PM and we want to reach the Polish border today, so gas up that lollipop! We thank our contact person Jan for the good care and leave. The traffic continues smoothly, we have plenty to catch up on, the radio can easily 'sing along' and at every stop a short game of football keeps the blood flow going.

Day 2 – Poznan – Lublin – Przemyśl

Shower, have breakfast and leave. Five more hours on the clock and then we are at the drop-off point in Lublin. The atmosphere was light yesterday, but you notice that you are getting closer: trucks have 'Putin killer' written in the dust, we pass military columns and the Ukrainian flag appears frequently. We hear that the soldier who was to come back with us could not wait for bus transport and flew to the Netherlands. New plans are being made.

Once we arrived in Lublin we again met very cordial and grateful volunteers. We unload our goods, have a short chat, but again don't linger too long: they have other priorities here.

We drive on to Przemyśl, half an hour from the Ukrainian border, where we will pick up four passengers. In the meantime we have been told that we can also take a family of three back from Wroclaw, a city in western Poland. When we almost arrive in Przemyśl, we hear that the other four passengers are no longer with us. They have made their entire journey with five and do not want to be split.

Day 3 – Przemyśl– Dalfsen – House

We get up early, because we go home from Przemyśl in one day via Overijssel. When we pick up the family, a very short introduction follows. When asked if they would like a cup of coffee before departure, they answer: 'go-go-go'. It would later turn out that the husband, wife and son of 10 have been fleeing for three days from Kharkiv via Russia to Warsaw. We let them recover for a few hours and after a few hours it turns out that people in Eastern Ukraine can also sing along phonetically with Abba, that football games at gas stations are also popular with father and son and that McDonalds in Dortmund feels just as familiar as the one in Kharkiv. You notice that tension is released from them with every hour that we drive westward. We laugh with them, have short conversations, but also let them rest. At 21:30 we arrive at the host family in Dalfsen, where a father, mother and three young children are waiting for us. The children look at us with big excited eyes: the day they have been waiting for so long has arrived! The Ukrainian child quickly makes friends and we are offered a very welcome cup of coffee. It feels good to have a chat and especially to leave 'our family' with this fine family with peace of mind. We get into the car, give each other a high-five: it worked. Now it's time to get home safely, but with the aforementioned Abba that turned out all right ;)

long story short

If you are comfortable with driving long distances, are open to meeting others and can miss a weekend, Fastlane Ukraine offers an accessible opportunity to do your bit. You register and indicate which weekend you want to go. You make sure you rent a van and that's it!

Now it's up to you: you can drive or donate

We hope our story makes you realize that it is very easy to do something. That is why we are starting a chain campaign: we are going to collect money together so that at least one more duo with Fastlane Ukraine can soon go to the Polish-Ukrainian border. The total costs amount to 1500 euros: this includes hotel stays, bus rental and fuel (digestion is at your own expense). If you would like to donate some of your holiday money, you can do so via this website! In addition to/instead of making a donation, would you like to free up a weekend to drive 3000 km? Let us know! We select a duo for the next ride and sponsor your ride. If you then also want to set up a sponsorship for a next duo, that's great! FastlaneUkraine is looking for drivers and donors. If you fulfill one of those roles, we thank you very much for that!

We would like to thank our sponsors Sitly (www.sitly.nl) and @Autoverhuur de Mulder for paying the expenses and the discount on the wonderfully driving van. We hope that your sponsorship will make even more impact through this post!

Feel free to contact Sjim if you have any questions: +31620134866 / sjimromme@hotmail.com