Emergency in Ukraine

I am a refugee from Ukraine

During your trip, you may have come across volunteers from the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. The French Red Cross is here to continue to support you upon your arrival.

The Ministry of the Interior has published a brochure to summarize the essential information for your stay on French territory: click here.

Your arrival in Maine-et-Loire

The French Red Cross is here to help you, to help the people offering you accommodation and to facilitate the meeting between you.

Discover on this page the advices for a serene meeting.

The French Red Cross also offers differents actions in Maine-et-Loire, depending of your needs.

Our actions to help you

In Maine-et-Loire, the French Red Cross offers different actions, accessible according to your needs.

The return to Ukraine

Aware that the situation is temporary and that each refugee will have the ambition to return to Ukraine once the situation is resolved, our volunteers will be present to help, if necessary, the return to the country.

I welcome one or more refugee from Ukraine

The French Red Cross in Maine-et-Loire can help you as a host.

I want to host one or more refugee

If you want to offer housing, here is the information given by the Prefecture of Maine-et-Loire.

I am hosting a refugee: you need support or answers to your questions

The French Red Cross is there to support you. Welcoming refugees is a very generous gesture. But it can raise many questions and concerns. This is normal and it is legitimate to ask and answer them.

To properly prepare for arrival and avoid major costs, we can provide you with hygiene products (shower gel, shampoo, toothbrush, toothpaste, etc.), as well as hydro-alcoholic gel and masks.

Time for exchange between hosts, supervised by French Red Cross volunteers specially trained will be offered regularly in order to share tips and tricks, to answer questions and to support you. You want to participate ? Please let us know by giving us your contact information at .

In case of misunderstandings, we can also organize a meeting with you, the people you are hosting and volunteers from the French Red Cross (translator and mediator).

I am hosting one or more refugees: tips for a successful arrival

Making a success of the first welcome is very important. Here are a few simple tips to put everyone at ease and set the rules for living together.

On arrival

Use a few words of Ukrainian to facilitate the meeting with your new hosts. Even if your pronunciation is stammering or bad, the effort will be greatly appreciated!

Take a tour of the house or apartment to get to know the place, but also to determine which space is for whom.

Explain the rules of the house. For example, consider answering the following questions:

• Is there a time beyond which no more noise is allowed?
• How do we clean up in shared spaces?
• How do you regulate hot water so that there is enough for everyone?
• How is waste sorted?
• Where can we smoke?
• Can we drink alcohol in the house?

Give the guests hygiene products and towels if they do not have any.

Show them how the machines work: coffee machine, washing machine, shower, stove and oven.

Give them your written address and phone number. Show them on a map of the city where the house is located. Take the opportunity to ask your guests where they are from, where their home town in Ukraine is located on a world map.

Tell each other about any health conditions that require it, e.g. frequent epileptic seizures, diabetes requiring the use of syringes, etc.

Allowing to keep in touch with loved ones and stay informed

List the ways to keep up to date with the news: TV channels, newspapers, radio, etc.

Give them access to the Internet: with Wifi codes to connect phones or with access to your computer.

Keeping in touch with your loved ones is essential. Be tolerant of communication times: in a country in conflict, in a refugee camp or on the road, it is not known at what time of day people have access to communication means or networks.

Give your full name and mailing address if the people you are hosting need to receive mail.

Getting to know each other

Prepare the first meals together: there are no major culinary differences, but cooking together will allow you to know what each one likes and to exchange around a common pleasure.

Learn each other’s language together: if everyone has fun learning a few everyday words from each other, communication will be easier and topics of discussion will come up by themselves!

A little sport together? Running or cycling? Or maybe a little gardening in the vegetable garden? How about knitting or sewing? Share simple hobbies that bring you closer together and that don’t require an overly specialized vocabulary.

The people you are caring for are going through a traumatic experience. They will need time, sensitivity and gentleness to connect with you. It is important to respect their silence and their rhythm, so do not insist on knowing the family history. It is their own experience and they will tell you about it when the time comes.

So that they can be independent

Show them how to use public transportation (where is the nearest bus or streetcar stop, which line to use to go downtown, to go to the local French Red Cross Unit, etc.).

Make the first few trips together: the nearest supermarket, the local Red Cross unit, the park to walk with the children, etc.

Should you give the key to your home? It is useful for the autonomy and freedom of movement of the people being hosted. It is important, when handing over the key, to set the rules: not to entrust the key to other people and to commit to replace the key in case of loss (making people responsible). If you don’t leave the key, you must discuss whether the people being hosted can stay in the home (without being locked in) during an absence (from a few hours to several days).

Other rules should be discussed together: can people from outside the home come in? Freely or by asking in advance? On weekends only? And do we notify each other of our respective absences so that no one worries?

Meals

Discuss together which meals are taken together. The rhythm of the day is not the same in Ukraine and meals do not take place at the same times. For example, there is no appetizer in Ukrainian culture (explain that people eat afterwards).

Determine how food purchases are divided.

Define together the rules for cooking, setting the table, washing the dishes, shopping.

Don’t hesitate to ask if there are any intolerances, allergies or specific eating habits (vegetarian, etc.).

Where can we eat? In the kitchen, the dining room, in the bedroom, in the garden or on the balcony?

And if you want to welcome your new guests with a recipe they know, discover the best of Ukrainian cuisine (French).

In short, the important thing is to communicate! And this, despite the language barrier. To help you, you can use applications like Google Translate.