Today we went to a small village outside Chenvistzi. There are many refugees there. We worked in a very small hospital/clinic and saw over 75 patients.The highlight was meeting a young boy 5 1/2 years old with a congenital heart condition. He had cyanosis lips and diaphoretic on exertion. Our doctor examined him and heard a very loud murmur. His parents said he was scheduled to have surgery in Kyiv but of course now with the war it is not going to happen and probably not for a very long time. So we had a quick team meeting and decided we could help the family go to Norway for surgery as they have an open door policy now for Ukrainian refugees and excellent free health care. Lina is working on the arrangements. We discussed this option with the family and told them we would take them with us across the border into Romania. They were ready with their three kids in two hours – already refugees from their home town – there was not much to get ready.
We were concerned that the father, who is in his late 30’s, would not be able to leave Ukraine. There is a mandate that men between the ages of 18 – 60 cannot leave the country. They must remain and fight. So we had a plan and brought them to the border with us and all the medical documents. Khalil, one of our doctors, and Oleg, our translator, handled the border control and after a long wait they allowed us to all cross. We were so relieved we were all in tears. Then we called Refugee 4 Refugees and arranged a safe room for the family in their transit center.
Now, phone calls to Norway.
