Silva Alkebeh is the head of supply logistics for UNHCR and is in charge of getting aid into the country.
Ari Shapiro
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Ari Shapiro
Silva Alkebeh is the head of supply logistics for UNHCR and is in charge of getting aid into the country.
Ari Shapiro
RZEZSOW, Poland — Silva Alkebeh has led missions everywhere from Darfur to Pakistan to Bangladesh. Now she loads a truck in Poland bound for Ukraine.
But these are not military cargoes, they are humanitarian cargoes.
As the war effort in Ukraine continues and millions of refugees flee the country, Alkebeh spends his time thinking about how to get aid back into the country and into the heart of the most besieged cities.
She is the head of supply logistics for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and is currently in a huge warehouse next to the airport near Rzezsow, Poland.
Supplies come out of the warehouse almost as fast as they come in.
Ari Shapiro
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Ari Shapiro
Supplies come out of the warehouse almost as fast as they come in.
Ari Shapiro
“Our goal is not to have this warehouse full. Everything that has come in has gone out, if not the same day, the next day,” she says.
“Just to give you a very concrete example…we received a donation from Ikea, we received the shipment for our operation in Greece, and all of them are already in Ukraine.”
Alkebeh grew up in Syria and has worked for UNHCR for 15 years.
“When the Syrian emergency started, that’s when I started to feel the difference, because when you see this happening in your country, when you see the help coming to your people, you are connected,” she said. “It’s not just a job, it’s way beyond a job. It’s not just humanitarian…maybe someone is helping your friend or family in your country.”
Alkebeh says she finds it hard to put into words how Ukrainians must be feeling right now.
“I don’t know what to say here. It’s like you have to run away from your home, leave everything behind, you don’t know what will happen tomorrow. You don’t know who will receive you and how they will receive you ,” she says.
“And all of this happens suddenly,” she said — you might even have to leave your family, or even lose them. “I can’t even describe it in words. Nothing could be worse than that.”
UNHCR’s Alkebeh and Chris Melzer survey the huge warehouse where supplies are sorted.
Ari Shapiro
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Ari Shapiro
UNHCR’s Alkebeh and Chris Melzer survey the huge warehouse where supplies are sorted.
Ari Shapiro
Outside the warehouse, four trucks are preparing to leave for Ukraine. On board are 16,000 blankets which have just been transported from Dubai by a jumbo jet. About 35,000 blankets have already passed through here in recent days.
At present, the supplies pretty much meet the most basic needs of those still in Ukraine.
“The most important thing is everything that has to do with the cold and the heat,” explains UNHCR spokesperson Chris Melzer, who is on hand to observe the loading of the trucks. “So blankets, outerwear, sleeping bags, as well as canned food.”
Melzer is hopeful, but doesn’t know if the trucks can actually enter Kiev, Mariupol or other cities that are about to be surrounded by the Russian army.
“That’s exactly the point, and that’s why we asked for these so-called humanitarian corridors – not only to get people out of these areas, but also to get supplies in,” he said.
In the parking lot, the drivers wait for the last things they need before driving towards the Ukrainian border. A 63-year-old Ukrainian with gold teeth is one of them.
Driver Mykola prepares for a race in Ukraine.
Ari Shapiro
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Driver Mykola prepares for a race in Ukraine.
Ari Shapiro
Mykola, who declined to give his last name, has been driving trucks since 1975. Above the windshield he has a small red curtain for shade with white pom poms hanging from it.
He still has family in Ukraine and he worries about them.
“Especially my granddaughter, who is 8 years old. She is really scared of these sirens that go off every night. It’s scary,” he said.
He knows that the job he does, bringing aid to Ukraine, can be very dangerous.
“Wherever you go, whether in the western or eastern part of Ukraine, they can start attacking you at any time, dropping bombs or whatever,” he said.
So, is he afraid?
“What is fear? I may or may not be afraid, but I’m human and I have to do my job.”
The trucks finish loading and the engines roar. Then they roll, head for a war zone.
