Twin Cities Volunteer Spends Three Weeks in Poland at Ukrainian Refugee Center

Article by Becky Fillinger

Alexandra Sasha Sakurets spent three weeks volunteering at a makeshift refugee center in Poland for Ukrainian refugees. Her day jobs in the Twin Cities are ICU nurse at M Health Fairview and owner of a MedSpa - she also has a young family. What compels a person to leave the comfort of her home to help war refugees? We talked to Sasha about this very noble impulse and how you can assist in the ongoing war efforts.

Sasha with medical donations at UM Fairview

Q:  Why was it important to you to provide medical aid to Ukrainian refugees?

A:  When the war began it felt like the bombing was happening here in Minneapolis and not somewhere far on the other side of the globe. I could not sleep; I could not eat… I woke up with the news and fell asleep with the news - at the same time writing frantic messages to my classmates still living in Ukraine. Every cell in my body was telling me to go and help. As a medical professional, I felt like it was my duty.

Q:  Was there a typical day during the time you spent in Poland? What type of medical interventions did you provide? 

A:  We opened a clinic and pharmacy inside a vacant shopping mall which was converted into a refugee center in a matter of one day. The vast majority of our work was to treat and provide medications to the refugees. Many were coming across the border straight from bomb shelters and cellars. These people had missed their vital medications for a week or more, which exacerbated their chronic illnesses such as asthma, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, seizure disorders, kidney disease, schizophrenia and many more. Many refugees had acute illnesses acquired as a result of living in underground bomb shelters and root cellars for weeks without sanitation and in cold winter conditions. We saw many refugees with pneumonia, urinary tract infections and skin lesions. Some had concussions, shrapnel wounds, broken toes and other wounds resulting from running away from bombs. There were only five of us, so we worked 12-hour shifts with 30-minute overlap to cover 24 hours without days off for the first two weeks. A few more team members arrived and we were able to transition to 8-hour shifts - still without days off - but that felt like such a relief.

Sasha and her team

Supplies packed for the flight

World Central Kitchen set up shop in the refugee center – they fed us all our meals – I’m eternally grateful to them. The refugee center held sleeping space for 2000 people on army cots, plus 500 more spaces with blankets on pallets set on the floor. Some nights we ran out of pallets and children slept on their coats and suitcases. We treated 250-350 people daily in the clinic. The refugee center had 5000 refugees come through the center in the first 24 hours, and every 24 hours thereafter for the time I was there. From the U.S., we brought large amounts of over the counter medications. Other medical supply donations were coming into the refugee center daily. Part of our work was to sort through the donated medical supplies and separate the items which we needed at our clinic from the items which were needed on the frontlines and in hospitals in Ukraine.

Food provided by World Central Kitchen

Refugee receiving medical care

Resting in a refugee center

Q:  What group organized your volunteer time in Poland?

A:  A group of five Americans who were born in the former USSR formed the first team of an organization called Global Disaster Relief Team (GDRT). Only one of us spoke fluent Ukrainian, mine is marginal, the other three team members spoke only English and Russian. My involvement with the group came together very quickly. At times, it was very frantic! I flew to New York where my best friend Rita from childhood met me. I had to transfer airports in New York for my flight to Germany. We had planned to go to lunch because I had a good four hours between flights. When Rita picked me up, she anxiously tried to talk me out of going. I convinced her that I had to do this for myself and for Ukraine. I was dropped off at JFK where I met four complete strangers. A month later we were family.

Q:  You have a young family here in Minnesota. What did you tell them about why you were going to assist refugees?

A:  I told them that sometimes in life we have to do things out of the most irrational state of mind. It is a voice of our higher conscious self and if we do not listen, we cannot continue to our next level of spiritual development. They were worried and disappointed that they had to spend spring break at home. That kind of a reaction is normal for teenagers.  

Q:  You were born in Zhitomir, Ukraine. When and how did you emigrate to the U.S.?

A:  My parents, grandmother, older sister, our dog and I came to Minnesota in 1989. After living in Europe for about six months while awaiting the interview at the U.S. Embassy in Rome, we received the status of political refugees for being persecuted for our religious beliefs as Jews. About two million Jews left the Soviet Union during the 80s and 90s. We were welcomed by the Jewish community of the Twin Cities. The Jewish Federation rented our apartment for us and furnished it with used furniture. They assigned to us a host family - Phyllis and Buddy Harris - who welcomed us to their congregation and taught us Jewish customs. Phyllis threw my very first birthday party at a bowling alley when I turned 13; I can still remember how happy I was that day. She would pick me up on her day off to run errands with her and go to lunch, I loved that so very much. I remember the smell of leather in her brand-new Cadillac and thought someday when I grow up, I will be a volunteer like Phyllis. We also had two English tutor volunteers who came to our home to teach my parents English. I want to express my deepest gratitude for everyone who helped us to make Minnesota our new home.

Vest depicting what languages the volunteer speaks.

Q:  Talk to us about languages in your life. Russian was your first language. How was the Ukrainian language treated in your schools? Were you able to communicate effectively with the refugees? 

A:  In the central part of Ukraine where I was born, I heard mostly Russian growing up. All street names, signs, announcements in public transportation were in Russian. In my school all subjects were taught in Russian, we had English three times per week starting in 1st grade and Ukrainian was taught as a third language. Because I was Jewish, I and other Jewish classmates did not study Ukrainian because of our nationality. Our nationality was written in the school profile so that all teachers would know who was Jewish in the classroom. I am not exactly sure why in the 80s Jewish children did not study Ukrainian because my parents both read and spoke Ukrainian well, my Jewish grandparents learned Yiddish as their first language at home, Ukrainian as their second language and Russian as their third. The Russians tried to wipe out all traces of Ukrainians – including our language. The spoken Ukrainian language was treated with a negative connotation. Outside of schools, if you printed a book in Ukrainian, you could be imprisoned. You can see how within just a few generations under Soviet rule Ukrainian language in central Ukraine was eradicated almost completely.  

Q:  Was your employer here in the Twin Cities receptive to your desire to spend three weeks providing medical assistance abroad? 

A:  Since graduating from the School of Nursing at the University of Minnesota I have worked at the M Health Fairview University of Minnesota Medical Center. The hospital went through a few name changes but the essence stayed the same - to provide state of the art, evidence-based medical care while conducting research which guides medical protocols. After 25 years of working at M Health Fairview, I call it my home and my co-workers my family. After reaching out to my management, it took 24 hours to get a leave of absence from HR. I received the tightest hugs from all my coworkers when I stopped in a day before my flight to Poland. I also own a MedSpa called Art of Eternal Beauty in NE Minneapolis. My clients were understanding with having to reschedule their Botox appointments for when I returned. All of my loyal customers patiently waited for me to return from Poland for their treatments. My clients and supply reps donated funds, clothes, toys and household goods for the refugee families who were staying at our house. I still have refugees living with my family. Please note that all tips at my MedSpa are donated to organizations which directly go to needs of Ukrainians. I am so blessed to work with such amazing people!

Medical supplies packed in Minnesota

Q:  Have you been involved in other efforts to assist the Ukrainians in their invasion by Russia?  

A:  When I returned, my coworkers began to gather medical supplies and equipment which the hospital no longer needed. A Minnesota nonprofit called MATTER donated 10 pallets of medical supplies for us as well. So far between M Health, Hennepin Health and MATTER, we have collected 20 pallets (traveling by sea) worth of supplies, as well as about 100 large duffels (traveling by air) and delivered directly to Ukrainian hospitals. All the sorting is done in our “domivka” that is what we call our Ukrainian American Community Center. We raise funds for the Ukrainian non-profit Stand With Ukraine Minnesota. The funds are used to purchase the items that we cannot get for free via donations. We purchased a number of ambulances, tourniquets, blood clotting powders and wound vacuums - these items are much needed in a time of war.

My husband organized a community of supporters who were born in Belarus now living in the U.S. called Belarussian Americans. The organization was founded in 2020 to help children of Belarussian parents to learn Belarussian – a number of schools teaching Belarussian language opened that year. Once the Russian invasion of my beloved Ukraine began, a number of young men from Belarus came to Ukraine to fight alongside the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Soon there were enough to form their own battalion called Kastys Kalinovky. My husband, Pavel, along with other Belarussians living in the U.S. began to raise funds to supply the Kalinovsky battalion fighters with bullet-proof plate carriers, boots and army fatigues. Pavel has personally delivered to the battalion three times since the war began. 

Q:  How may our readers assist your efforts?

A:  I am blessed to be a part of a community who helps with sorting and packing medical supplies. When the war began the outpouring of support was ample. Now that Ukraine is not in the news on every channel at all hours of the day, the world went on to live their normal lives. But Ukrainians’ lives are not back to any sense of normalcy. My closest supporters who are in it for the long haul are Mykola Sarazhynskyy, Dr Tanya Melnik, Oksana Gren and Natalia Panchuk. They are the steady force behind the engine of our supply operation. There are many ways for your readers to help:

- Would you like to sort medical supplies with us? Message me on Instagram @artofeternalbeauty.

- Stand With Ukraine Minnesota needs donations and help with ongoing events. 

- Eternal Beauty MedSpa donates all tips to Stand With Ukraine MN and Belarusian Americans.

- Protez Foundation helps supply free prosthetic limbs to Ukrainian children, soldiers and civilians who have lost limbs during the war.

- Attend the Visit with Ukrainian Heroes Receiving Prosthetic Care in MN event, August 7th at the Ukrainian American Community Center, 301 Main Street.