NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — As the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine grows, a Central New Jersey man and three friends are volunteering at a refugee camp at the border with Poland.
Darshan Patel, a 34-year-old lawyer from Pennington volunteering with the Hindu humanitarian group BAPS, knew he had to do something as he watched the crisis unfold in Ukraine.
He and three of his friends, who all attend the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Robbinsville, went to Newark Liberty Airport last Thursday and booked tickets to fly out to Poland that day.
After landing in Warsaw that night, they traveled to Rzeszów where BAPS, along with other relief organizations, had set up a mobile food kitchen and humanitarian center to help refugees coming into Poland.
Among those receiving aid were Indian students who were in Ukraine studying at universities at the time of the Russian invasion.
“This is heaven,” one student said of the relief center. “What we suffered in Kharkiv we can’t even explain in words.”
“Once we reached the platform, suddenly fighter jets started flying over us so we got afraid, eve the police officers started running,” another student told Patel. “Everybody ran downstairs where we could sit in the station.
Patel and his friends later relocated to the border city of Budomierz to assist evacuees as they first cross into Poland from Ukraine.
The camp at the border was built from scratch.
"They essentially took a section of farmland and poured beach sand over it with a series of tents," said Patel.
As refugees arrive, they are welcomed by an interpreter.
"They're explained that they can receive hot food here, there's tents for them to rest in," he said.
After stopping at the temporary camp, Patel said refugees are being relocated.
"Some of them are being housed in dormitories of community colleges here, some of them have other temporary housing at other individuals' homes," Patel said.
During this dark time, Patel said he is seeing light.
"It has restored my faith in humanity — just being here, seeing everybody unified in this way," Patel said of the volunteer and humanitarian relief efforts.
The United Nations estimates more than 1.7 million people have fled the war in Ukraine.
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