Impact
Crucial transport for education: Schoolbus on route to frontline Ukraine
Lifeline Ukraine and People for People send school bus and filled backpacks to frontline region of Sumy
A school bus that previously transported Dutch passengers on Schiermonnikoog will begin a crucial second mission this week in the Ukrainian frontline region of Sumy. The bus is the result of close cooperation between the foundations Lifeline Ukraine, People for People and the transport company Pouw Vervoer. Together, we are responding to an urgent appeal from the municipality of Krolevets: due to the lack of safe transport and heavy snowfall, hundreds of children have been unable to reach their school for months.
In the Sumy region, just 50 kilometres from the Russian border, public transport has virtually come to a standstill. The three schools in the Krolevets community provide in-person education in underground shelters, but for more than 1,800 pupils the journey to school has become impassable. Without a bus, they depend on parents to drive them along dangerous roads; an impossible task for many in these rural villages.
Lack of safe transport for schoolchildren
This initiative demonstrates the effectiveness of our organisations’ combined approach. Lifeline Ukraine identified the critical need for transport through its local frontline staff. Each day, they witness how the lack of safe transport has become the greatest barrier to children’s education in the region, after previous school buses were lost to acts of war. People for People acted swiftly and, through our business network, secured a school bus within a single day and set the process in motion.
Thanks to the link with Pouw Vervoer, which made the bus available and technically prepared it for the extreme conditions in Ukraine, departure from Vianen is now scheduled for this week, with a bus filled with school bags and handwritten cards from Dutch children.
“Our collaboration forms the shortest route between an urgent request for assistance and a logistical solution,” Marcella Simons, Director at People for People stated. “Lifeline Ukraine knows exactly what is needed on the ground, and People for People mobilises the resources to ensure that help is actually delivered.”
600+ backpacks filled with school supplies
- 600+ schoolbags: equipped with essential school supplies.
- Hundreds of drawings and cards: created by Dutch schoolchildren as a gesture of encouragement for their Ukrainian peers.
- Emergency supplies: in addition to a previously dispatched generator, computers, school furniture and hygiene kits have also been loaded for the local community.
A safe road to the future
For the schools in Krolevets, the arrival of the bus represents more than transport; it restores daily structure. In addition to school runs, the bus will also be used to enable children to take part once again in sports and social activities.
“This bus is changing everyday life for our community,” said Mykola, a representative of the Ministry of Education in Krolevets. “With several remote villages, it has been a challenge since the war began to bring children to school. Now they can arrive together and on time, without stress. This is a relief for parents and teachers who have carried this responsibility for years. Above all, it restores to our children the joy of going to school together again. This support from the Netherlands is of inestimable value to us.”
People for People in the press:
NOS News, from 10:25 (television broadcast)
RTV Utrecht, from 35:00 (radio)
RTV Utrecht, from 07:20 (radio)
