BUCHAREST, Romania — Thousands of Ukrainians are fleeing the ongoing invasion from Russia and they are turning to a neighbor for help.
Romania is now taking in hundreds of thousands of refugees, mostly women and children.
Melania Medeleanu, a former Romanian television journalist and 10TV foreign exchange correspondent, started Zi-de-Bine Association in 2020, which translates to ‘days of good’ in English.
The organization is helping refugees fulfill basic needs. Zi-de-Bine Association provides products, medicines, medical equipment and food, but is now looking into more permanent resettlement.
“There's no home anymore, [they] have no relatives abroad, there's nowhere to go,” said Medeleanu. “They're stuck here in Romania, and one thing we need to do is to make them feel safe and welcome. And the response from the Romanian civil society, I've never seen such a response before in my life as a journalist. There are thousands of people running to the borders with cup of tea or blankets.”
Medeleanu says Romania will transition from helping refugees to permanently resettle them.
“In order to do that we have [to] make a community center. We need to hire Ukrainian people, in order to, to create this community, we shall provide medical support, we need to hire Ukrainian doctors, because it's one thing if you speak to the doctor in your own language, or in, in a language that you don't really understand,” said Medeleanu. “So if American wants to help, and I know they want, they can do that by supporting Romanian, or Polish or NGOs (non-governmental organizations) that are working with refugees these days, we would be really happy to be the ones who can help for medium and long term.”