Filipa and Vítor on the road
S
unrise Waldorf School alumni and families are proud to be following the volunteer work of former SWS kindergarten teacher Filipa Santos and her partner Vítor Andrade who are part of a Portuguese civil society initiative called ‘Humanitarian Caravan’ on an urgent mission to transport much needed supplies to areas in Poland near the
On The Road... Tales From a Humanitarian Mission to help Ukrainian Refugees in Europe
Ukrainian border. This first leg of the mission consists of over 3,000 km of road time across Europe through Spain, France, Belgium and Germany until they finally arrive to an unused office space in Poland where all the supplies are organized into kits for those in need. Each van is filled to the brim with food, water, baby formula, medication, clothing, diapers and anything else needed. These supplies are all collected and purchased in Portugal through donations and contributions. Upon arrival the caravan “Driving south in France, here’s what one truck of 10-13 vans who in front of us decided to write on the back.”
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Filipa with a new 11 year old friend whose family they transporting to Portugal.
travel together are met by Ukrainian volunteers and everyone helps each other unload the supplies they have brought to make room for the return journey with vans full of Ukranians seeking asylum in Portugal. “Today we met a mother and 2 children, age 5 and 10 who flees the war
Their van stuffed to the brim with donated and purchased supplies destined for Poland to distribute to Ukrainian refugees.
in Ukraine. The mother told us that her children did not know there was a war going on. She did not allow them to watch the news, radio, etc. and sheltered them from anxiety and despair. She told them they were going on an adventure to Portugal (where they had never been before), and part of the adventure was that there were several people who would take them from point A to point
Two Ukrainian children, 10 and 5 who are on an adventure to Portugal with their mother.
