Relief missions that Luftfahrt ohne Grenzen/Wings of Help will be faced in this running year
Misfortune and disaster are unpredictable. For us as an aid organization, disasters represent a constant challenge because we have to decide quickly on the scale and in what time frame we can carry out our missions. This is less about immediate life-saving with large-scale medical deployments than – in the second step in a disaster – about everyday survival aid with goods for people in distress. With these aspects in mind, looking ahead to 2025, we can at least define those projects that have kept LOG/WoH very busy in the recent past and will continue to keep us busy in the running year.
Of course, the situation in Ukraine and support for the people there remain our focus. For three years, we brought a total of 150 trucks and semi-trailers with nearly 4,000 tons of relief supplies to Ukraine. And this aid will continue in 2025. The refugee situation in the camps in Kurdistan/Northern Iraq will also continue to pose a great challenge for us. In the camps with tens of thousands of refugees, schools are growing up whose children learn with computers from LOG/WoH. The Jesides minority, once driven from their homeland by IS terror, also keeps seeking our help on the way back to their homeland in the Dschinja Mountains. We were able to help the people there sustainably over ten years ago.
LOG/WoH aid has been reaching children’s and orphanages in Romania for over ten years. In Greece, we are actively helping The Smile of The Child and support the hard work of our partner organization in the refugee camps on Greek islands. During the flood disaster around Valencia, LOG/WoH was one of the few German aid organizations to arrive quickly on site and supported the people, including with technical equipment to combat flooding, mud and destruction. We know that solidarity from Europe is still very welcome, especially in this Spanish region. We are in close contact with non-governmental agencies on site to mitigate difficult situations.
We are closely linked to the umbrella organization Aviation Sans Frontières (ASF) through the ASF International network. And we can spontaneously get involved in projects that require operations under coordinated, international management. This can happen in Europe, but also in Africa, especially when it comes to logistical measures. In many cases, LOG/WoH always responds quickly. This was particularly evident in the Ahr Valley, when the flood disaster claimed 135 lives there and caused immeasurable damage. Several hundred LOG/WoH devices are still in use to deal with damage there. Some electrical tools were passed on from the German Ahr Valley to the Valencia region affected by the floods. Fire fighters from the Ahr travelled to Valencia as advisors and helpers and supported their Spanish colleagues – and praised the work of LOG/WoH. All of a sudden, things came full circle – and everyone knew: we are not alone when disaster strikes us.