Dutch boat trailers reached Ukraine last week. WUR student Sybren Beeksma (third from the left) contributed to the transport. Photo Sybrand Treffers Second-year student of Agrotechnology and Argonaut Sybren Beeksma hauled rowing boats to Ukraine last week as part of the humanitarian relief effort.
‘I read an app message on Sunday morning calling on drivers to help transport boats to Ukraine’, Beeksma says. As a member of rowing association Argo, Beeksma serves in the Boat Transport Commission. ‘I was aware of the charity that had been launched for an affected rowing association in Odesa. Two boat trailers were to head for that region at the end of September. I was keen to help, although it meant skipping a few days at the uni.’
At five in the morning, two drivers departed from Amsterdam with a small trailer full of rowing boats that had been donated. Beeksma boarded in Barneveld. ‘We dove all the way to the border between Poland and Ukraine in one go. By the time we arrived at the hotel, it was almost midnight. We had agreed to meet representatives from the affected rowing association in Lviv on Wednesday. Although most Eastern Europeans are known to be somewhat surly and generally don’t display their emotions, the three Ukrainians were very happy. They didn’t speak English, so we communicated using Google Translate on our phones. They took over the trailer for the last leg to Odesa.’
Air raid sirens
Beeksma says there was little evidence of the war around Lviv. ‘There are military personnel in the streets, but in Lviv, you barely notice that the country is at war. Shops use generators because there is no power, and we were stopped for inspection several times. Once we had our passports checked, an officer inspected our car the other time. We thought he was looking for alcohol and cigarettes, but when he pointed at the magazine of his firearm, we realised he was looking for weapons.’
‘The air raid sirens sounded in Lviv one time, but no one panicked. Almost everyone just carried on with their business. Some buildings have sandbags in front of them for protection. And the higher windows in buildings such as churches are protected. We also saw some memorials for fallen soldiers. The plaques were in Ukrainian, but we got the gist through Google Translate. It was quite harrowing.’
Fundraiser
The rowing community joined forces this spring in response to a young Ukrainian refugee who showed his coach in Utrecht pictures of his former rowing association in Odesa, which had been completely destroyed by two missiles and a fire last December. The building and almost all of the boats were lost. A fundraiser was launched: both rowing associations and individuals donated money and rowing materials.
This resulted in a considerable amount of materials which were delivered by Beeksma and others over land last week. Two boat trailers, one large and one small one with a total of 36 boats and 140 oars, enough to seat about one hundred rowers, were transported from Amsterdam to Odesa.
The boats arrived at the affected Chornomorets Rowing Association on Thursday, where the club’s youth members were given leave from school on Friday to help unload the boats.
