Local Entrepreneur Shares Experience of Poland-Ukraine Border

Chronicle.lu recently got the opportunity to follow up with David Holland, entrepreneur and co-founder (alongside his wife Lynn) of Luxembourg-based family business Results Rules OK, on his recent trip to the Poland-Ukraine border.

Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Thursday 24 February 2022, David and Lynn Holland, like many others, decided they wanted to support those affected by the violence. After considering the different ways to help, for instance donating money to charities, the Hollands took the decision to bring much needed supplies to the Poland-Ukraine border themselves.

On Monday 28 March 2022, after researching what was most needed by aid agencies, they went to the shops and filled their Honda Civic with a selection of requested items, such as sanitary products, nappies, blankets, sleeping bags, warm clothing, kettles and microwaves. Once word got out, community support began pouring in: the local pharmacy offered discounts to people buying medical items for them and the local school and municipalities held collections and brought donations to their home.

David Holland also confirmed that he and his wife had opened a PayPal account for donations and received €7,500 within just 48 hours.

Others wanted to join them on their journey and in the end, they set off for the Poland-Ukraine border on Thursday 3 March 2022 with three SUVs, two top boxes, a trailer, and a four-metre sprinter packed with around three tonnes of equipment. Their first stop was Dresden in Germany for an overnight rest. On Friday 4 March 2022, the convoy headed for a warehouse in Medyak in Poland. David Holland explained that the traffic around Katowice and Krakow was "horrible" with delays of around two hours.

Along the way, however, they stopped at a hotel where they thought they had made a reservation, but the hotel staff informed them that it had been closed to the public and transformed into a hostel for refugees. A waiter at the hotel restaurant later told them that they should go to Korczowa on the border with Ukraine if they wished to collect refugees and bring them back with them; indeed, this had been their second goal, after donating items. David and Lynn Holland and their companions made their first donation of children's medicine, blankets and sleeping bags to the team at the hotel.

Arriving at the warehouse on Saturday 5 March 2022, they unloaded the vehicles into box pallets provided by hotel staff. They managed to fill 40 of them with their donations. These boxes would later be taken across the border into Ukraine for distribution directly to the refugees waiting to get to Poland. "Stage one of the mission had been completed", noted David Holland.

Driving further towards Korczowa on the border, they eventually arrived at one of many refugee centres, which was "essentially a large warehouse converted to a dormitory for the people crossing the border", explained Mr Holland. The centre housed around 4,000 people, a sight which he described as "a shock to the senses" and "organised chaos".

David and Lynn Holland and their companions followed the example of others and held up placards reading: "Six Places to Germany, France or Luxembourg". One man approached them asking if they could take him and his wife and three children (aged nine, seven and two) to Germany. They agreed to take them back with them to Dresden that evening. 

"All their possessions were in a single carrier bag, they had taken four days to get to the Polish border from Odessa, then queued for eighteen hours in the freezing cold to get through the border, then spent around eight hours in the refugee station hoping to be picked up", explained David Holland. "They were tired, cold and hadn't been under cover for nearly a week".

After a night's rest at the hotel in Dresden, David and Lynn Holland and their companions gave the family, who had decided to go to Berlin, €250 in cash and a packed lunch and took them to the train station, where they received free tickets from the German railway company.

"The second stage of our mission had been accomplished - just needed to get home to France now...", noted David Holland.

Speaking about what he had learned from this experience, Mr Holland said that he had witnessed firsthand the "generosity of strangers and friends", adding: "If our faith in humanity had been dented, this had definitely restored it". He also experienced gratitude: "The family we picked up will be friends for life, they didn't have to say thank you - although they did", as well as trust, motivation and contribution. He noted: "The responsibility of being trusted with the lives of a whole family that came into our care out of nowhere sat heavily on my heart".

Regarding planning the journey itself, he explained that they just "figured it out on the way", whilst making sure that they did not "get in the way" of the authorities.

David Holland confirmed that he and his wife will drive to the Poland-Ukraine border again from 31 March to 2 April 2022. This time, they will organise a "bigger, better and more effective expedition" to the border. Anyone who would like to get involved, either to make a contribution, join the convoy or offer their ideas and tips, is invited to get in touch with Mr Holland via email: davidholland@resultsrulesok.com.