Winterization: Mobile Emergency Shelter Transit Camp & LVIV Displacement Center
https://teleport-organisation.com/winter-in-ukraine/
“We as the Teleport Organisation have compiled a detailed strategy to offer our direct humanitarian assistance to the winterisation efforts in Ukraine, in the form of building, placing and staffing a mobile emergency shelter, to be deployed in or near the recently liberated, infrastructurally-devastated territories of eastern Ukraine. The main purpose of our mobile shelter or "transit camp" will be to offer destitute Ukrainian civilians remaining in these war-torn regions a warm place to stay and eat hot food, as well as the option to work out individualised, detailed, Teleport-assisted evacuation plans. Using our fleet of vehicles, we will then evacuate those who wish to leave and ensure that each of them reach safety and security. If we are able to achieve a higher funding threshold than our initial proposition, we also have a synergetic plan in place to open our own displacement center outside of Lviv, to directly support those evacuating from our transit camp deployed in eastern Ukraine. This shelter and displacement center will create an in-tandem Teleport-managed system of rescue and refuge for those civilians in our care.”
450,000
The UN IOM-estimated number of Ukrainians who fled their homes between September and October 2022
2,127,000
The UN IOM-estimated number of Ukrainians currentl considering fleeing their homes due to the war.
Goals
Teleport Organisation's detailed plan is to construct and staff a top-rate multi-structure mobile emergency shelter, able to be deployed in a single day and fully capable of warming, feeding and accommodating 24 local civilians daily over an envisioned seven-day deployment period in the recently liberated territories in eastern Ukraine during the approaching winter months. This communal shelter, complete with warm living quarters for all guests, will double as a so-called "transit camp", fully capable of evacuating guests that come to us and elect to leave the unstable region. We will notify all those who come to our emergency shelter transit camp for support that we will gladly fully coordinate and facilitate the evacuation of all who opt to leave. Any and all guests Who express a willingness to opt for evacuation to safer regions of Ukraine (defined as "internally-displaced persons", or IDPs) or abroad in the European Union (defined as "refugees") will receive the utmost care, attention and collaboration with our dedicated staff to organise and carry out their evacuation westward. This entire project has the ability to be straightforwardly scaled upward to accommodate more people for future deployments if experience deems it necessary to increase our maximum occupancy.
DEPLOY
Within 1 day
EXTRACT
From surrounding area
SUPPORT
Food, Beds, Warmth
TRANSPORT
Westwards to safety
Target Region:
We intend to focus our project on the coldest and most war torn regions of Ukraine: Kharkiv Oblast, Luhansk Oblast and Donetsk Oblast.
Target Population:
We intend to focus our project's efforts primarily on those most severely vulnerable to the compounding dangers of the winter and the war: the elderly, disabled, women with children and the impoverished.
The emergency shelter transit camp will be set up in a prior-scouted ocation where access to sanitarv eguipment is avalade and the area has
been thoroughly checked for unexploded ordnance. The camp is
pronibited trom beina dev oved within rande or anv Russian short tc
medium rance artery or rocket launcher systems, wnich generally nave a
maximum rande of up to 90 km. We take the sate placement of our camp
extremelv seriouslv and full understand the threats and risks that face Us in this mission. After a location has been agreed upon and physically
arrived at. our volunteers wI assemble a necessarv camp eguipment and
structures. This includes setting up the Mercedes 814 bus as a command centre. constructing the three Bettershelter tents for quest
accommodation, preparing the generator, rooa, all electric wirine, all
heatina and liantina. he estimated time that this fu setup wi take is roughly 8-12 hours maximum. At the end of our first day on site ("day zero") our volunteers will meet collectively and coordinate the following day's objectives. We do not expect a significant influx of refugees on day zero, but if curious and desperate locals come to our camp during setup, they wIl be welcomed into our care and educated about the fundamental
functions of this emergency shelter transit camp in the form of prepared informational materia written out in both Ukrainian and Russian.
Expected Outcomes:
Life saving protection
We will be able to provide life saving assistance to people severely affected by the cold and the war.
264 people maximum
We will be able to evacuate a maximum of between 16-24 people per day, amounting to 88+ people evacuated per mission, and a total of 264+ people successfully evacuated each month.
STAGE 1
Purchasing, Gathering and Organisation of All Materials- In order to save precious time, the sourcing of all necessary materials will run in parallel to other preparatory logistical factors. Once the required funding is obtained, the first materials to be sourced are the upgrades to our Mercedes 814 bus necessary for the success of this mission. These upgrades include extended storage and winter capabilities, and will primarily be sourced in the form of raw materials in Ukraine and done in collaboration with professional welders and mechanics.
While we make these bus upgrades, we will also purchase all necessary initial items, ie. BetterShelter tents, cots, generators, gas heating units, cooking stoves, propane, fuel, etc. All necessary purchases are outlined in the "Anticipated Budget" section below. Retail locations in Ukraine and Poland which possess the materials we require have already been predetermined. All materials will be purchased over the course of several days and transported to our compound property outside of Lviv, Ukraine. Speciality items or items that can be sourced signficiantly cheaper online and delivered quickly will be ordered and shipped to the location of one of our partners in Medyka, Poland and subsequently delivered to our compound property. A diesel generator, a hot water tank and kitchen supplies are already available to us for this project, and do not need to be purchased. Additionally, we will rent a property in Kharkiv or Poltava, which will act as a safehouse for volunteers to recuperate between missions and prepare for the next one. We intend to meticulously and expeditiously proceed with Stage 1, being conscious of the pressing reality that time cannot currently afford to be wasted.
STAGE 2
Volunteer Training- Following the successful completion of the bus upgrades and inventory-gathering, we will transition into the second stage, which consists of thorough volunteer training. Several volunteers are already on call and ready to collect at our central location in Lviv, where we will commence a step-by-step training process for each part of this mission. This includes, but is not limited to: first aid courses, emergency drills, contingency plans, camp assembly and disassembly, day and night shift cycles, refugee interaction basics, informational campaign strategy, and the fundamentals of carrying out organised IDP evacuations westward. All volunteers will have the chance to thoroughly study this project proposal as a mission training guide and take hands-on training courses at our Lviv compound property. This training process is expected to take less than one week, and will be conducted while we prepare all other vital mission necessities.
STAGE 3
Transportation to Eastern Ukraine- Once these fundamental cornerstones have been established, we move to the third stage, which consists of physically packing up and moving the camp materials and all volunteers from our Lviv compound property to our first point of deployment in eastern Ukraine. We will embark on this journey with our fleet of four vehicles, led by the Mercedes 814 bus. During this relocation eastward, the last consumables will be purchased which will primarily consist of fresh and expireable foods and beverages. We also have access to an extensive informational network inside the recently liberated areas, consisting of local residents, local officials and humanitarian organisations. This network provides us with up-to-date information about prospective camp locations and the expected level of the influx of destitute local civilians. The indispensable information we receive will direct our mobile transit camp to an optimal location: outside of artillery range and where our sources indicate its pressing need. This will help mitigate camp placement errors and the waste of precious resources, namely, fuel, energy and time.
STAGE 4
Emergency Shelter Transit Camp Setup- The emergency shelter transit camp will be set up in a prior-scouted location where access to sanitary equipment is available and the area has been thoroughly checked for unexploded ordnance. The transit camp is prohibited from being deployed within range of any Russian short to medium range artillery or rocket launcher systems, which generally have a maximum range of up to 90 km. We take the safe placement of our camp extremely seriously and fully understand the threats and risks that face us in this mission. After a location has been agreed upon and physically arrived at, our volunteers will assemble all necessary camp equipment and structures. This includes setting up the Mercedes 814 bus as a command center, building the three BetterShelter tents for guest accommodation, preparing the generator, electric wiring, food, all heating and lighting. The estimated time that this full setup would take is roughly 8-12 hours maximum. At the end of our first day on site ("day zero") our volunteers will meet collectively and coordinate the following day's objectives. We do not expect a significant influx of refugees on day zero, but if curious and desperate locals come to our camp during setup, they will be welcomed into our care and educated about the fundamental functions of this emergency shelter transit camp in the form of prepared informational material written out in both Ukrainian and Russian.
STAGE 5
Informational Campaign, Proper Food Rationing & Camp Life- Once our emergency shelter transit camp is set up and all volunteers are ready to begin scouting the region, we then begin the informational campaign in the local area, informing people about the camp and our mission's purpose to provide a warm, secure place for at-risk civilians to sleep, eat hot food and be evacuated westward if desired.
War-torn urban areas with significant structural damage will be initially targeted for contact, including damaged rural houses and small villages. Printed informational sheets will be provided outlining our mission and detailed instructions of how to arrive at our location. At this stage we expect movements of people to begin arriving at the camp, where our volunteers will compassionately receive them and provide them with designated warm sleeping areas in our BetterShelter tents, which we have designated to have a maximum comfortable occupancy of 8 guests per tent (space for 24 in total across our three tents).
In addition to our team of 10 Teleport volunteer staff members, all those seeking refuge with us will also be provided with hot food twice per day, with snacks always available between hot meals. The budgeting for the calculated amount of required hot food, arrived at in consultation with an experienced humanitarian chef, has been considered in the "Anticipated Budget" section below. Should the camp's capacity not reach the maximum of 24 guests (not including staff), we will continue our informational campaign further away from the camp's location, in more rural areas, filling the camp until we have no more space available. If locals come to us asking for support while the camp is at maximum occupancy, we will not be able to take them in, however we will give them hot food and a care package before they depart. As IDPs depart from our camp in our vehicles for evacuation westward, new spots will open up in our camp for more arrivals.
Once this occurs, we will happily admit newcomers to our camp, to work with them on their plans to stay with us in camp or make plans with them to evacuate westward.
STAGE 6
IDP Evacuations- All guests of our camp will be given two options: stay with us in the camp for our week-long deployment, where they will receive warmth, food, water and a secure place to sleep, or, if they desire to evacuate from their region, they may commit to a Teleport-organised evacuation westward. We anticipate that a significant number of civilians who come to us for support will opt to evacuate. After making it clear that all in our care who desire to leave the region can do so in collaboration with us, we will work closely with each prospective IDP to gain insight into the individual situations, desires and constraints of each person. All prospective IDPs will be given a list of destination options, including Kharkiv, Poltava, Kyiv, Lviv, and Poland. If these IDPs cannot afford the cost of train tickets to a desired destination, Teleport will fully fund their railway travel to ensure they can successfully evacuate. Funding for ID train travel has been meticulously accounted for in the "Anticipated Budget" section below. For those wishing to leave Ukraine and become refugees in the European Union. we will enable them to reach Poland by train. where they will be instructed to the local refugee welcome centers. At this refugee welcome center in Poland we will "pass the baton" onto our trusted Polish humanitarian partners so that these nev refugees receive the care and the final destination they seek in the EU.
For those wishing to evacuate from the east but who wish to remain in Ukraine (as we expect the majority of IDPs will prefer), we will work with them individually to determine which Ukrainian destination they prefer, if any. With this information, we can begin mapping out the best solution for every person. Then we will do our due diligence in coordination with the IDP centers in these Ukrainian cities to determine a specific location where the new IDP will be properly cared for. If a city's IDP centers all reach maximum capacity, that city will be removed from the list of destinations. Once a cit and IDP center is agreed upon. IDP evacuation from our transit camp will begin once we are able to fill the capacity of at least one of our three smaller vehicles (4 IDs + 1 volunteer driver per vehicle). Given the capacity of our Ford Transit, we expect to be able to evacuate a maximum of 12 people at a time. Once train tickets have been purchased and an evacuation begins. the fullv-occupied vehicle will shuttle IDPs from our camp to Kharkiv train station or Poltava train station. The volunteer driver will ensure that all IDPs successfully reach the train station, arrive at the correct platform and get on the correct train, instructing them on how to reach their desired city and the address of the IDP center they will stay at. If the IDP center is a considerable distance from the train station in the destination city, we will provide the IDs with funds to pay for a taxi to reach their final destination.
Once our IDPs arrive in the city they selected. we will double check with them to ensure that they arrived at the IDP center safelv and successfully, thus completing their Teleport-organised evacuation.
STAGE 7
Mission Conclusion- On day 4 or 5 of our mission, 2-3 days before the end of the expected 7-day deployment of the camp at a particular location, we expect to be forced to stop admitting new guests. This precaution is in place in order to prevent unexpected longer deployments and the subsequent depletion of funds and volunteer energy. In the event of a special circumstance or emergency, the camp's duration can and will be extended, as long as our continued well-being and safe return westward can be guaranteed.
After seven days of full operation, our emergency shelter transit camp's mission in the area comes to an end. Those who declined to be evacuated but have remained in our care will be notified of the coming conclusion of the camp's function and will be given a care package departing gift consisting of warming packets, warming cream, and mylar blankets. After the last of these locals depart from our camp, the entire camp will be thoroughly cleaned up and then completely disassembled. All materials and equipment will be loaded into our vehicles. Once the disassembly and loading is complete, the journey back towards our Kharkiv/Poltava property will begin. All participating volunteers will be given a 3-day rest period before the next deployment begins. The next mission will take place either in the same area as the first mission (if the ongoing need for evacuation continues to present itself), or, based on data from our vital regional informational network, we will deploy to new area of the recently-liberated eastern territories to dedicatedly continue our work to help warm, shelter, feed and evacuate more despairing civilians trapped in the war-torn region.
The deployment of our mobile emergency shelter transit camp in eastern Ukraine would be complemented by additionally converting our organisation's compound propertv in western Ukraine into a temporary displacement centre, capable of supporting a population of 50 of our IDPs who had elected to be evacuated from our mobile emergency shelter transit camp in eastern Ukraine. We believe that with more funding, we can further mitigate the negative consequences of the winterization crisis through this synergetic plan.
GOALS:
SHELTER
Inside Ukraine
PREPARE
for uncertain future.
