This past summer, alumni Frank Lavin ’75 and Phillip Fletcher ’75 worked with Medical Life Lines Ukraine (MLLU), a United Kingdom-based organization of volunteers who work towards providing humanitarian aid in Ukraine, to purchase and renovate ambulances to civilian hospitals. Lavin and Fletcher first met during their years at Andover and then studied at Georgetown University together.
When the pair reconnected this summer in London, Fletcher, who is involved in the grassroots of the charity, also got Lavin on board to participate in the cause. Lavin later spoke about his motivations for choosing to work on ambulance distribution, which included helping Ukrainians on a more intimate level, instead of directly supporting the military.
“I would say the ambulances work as a motivational device because it’s a 100 percent understood phenomenon. You don’t have to explain a complicated medical procedure or provide a rationale. I mean, it’s instant, instant comprehension… [Also], when it’s your personal project, you’re not simply saying ‘I’m [from] the outside raising money for some folks who really have a hard time,’ you’re saying, ‘I am personally going to do this project.’ It has an emotional appeal and an immediacy that grabs people’s attention,” said Lavin.
During the Covid-19 period, the U.K. National Health Service bought a multitude of ambulances displacing older and more used ambulances, whereas Ukraine had a shortage of ambulances due to Ukrainian hospitals being targeted by missile strikes. Fletcher described what their work over the summer entailed, which included purchasing a crane, but primarily focused on administering ambulances and medical equipment.
“The group has been buying ambulances, refurbishing them, loading them up with medical equipment, and then driving them to Ukraine and contributing them to the Ministry of Health and various [hospitals]. Each convoy [is] four ambulances. There [are] two drivers for each ambulance. We have delivered, so far, 37 ambulances and… there are going to be convoys… [for] as long as needed,” said Fletcher. “The group also managed to gather enough funds, with [Lavin’s] help, to say the least, to deliver a crane. A crane, unfortunately, is used to lift rubble off of buildings that have been bombed with victims underneath it.”
Lavin also pointed out how the MLLU’s work directly impacts the lives of average Ukrainian citizens, emphasizing the rapidity of the ambulances’ deployment. He stressed the importance of providing a continuous supply of ambulances to Ukraine, as they are being directly used towards the benefit of Ukrainian civilians.
“We met with the Director General of the ambulance in Lviv, and he mentioned in his discussion that the average lifespan of an ambulance in Ukraine is six months… When we delivered [the ambulances] to our destinations in Kyiv, they literally said, ‘This will take about 24 hours for us to do a final safety check. Within 24 hours, these will be dispatched.’ There is a current, burning need for these. These aren’t going into storage or being used for spare parts. They’re being sent out right to where they’re needed in civilian hospitals out in the front,” said Lavin.
After witnessing the situation in real life, Fletcher also described the current situation of Ukraine. Having spoken to numerous Ukrainian community members, he added that there were many prevalent and similar experiences and the mindset of most civilians is to continue fighting.
“Something like 50,000 deaths in Ukraine because of this invasion, and you see flowers and photographs and tombstones… It’s quite moving, quite gripping… We met a number of people, and everyone has a story. Everyone’s got a recent bombing. Everyone’s lost something,” said Fletcher. “There’s [also] no question in their mind [that] they’re going to continue resisting. There is no debate on that at all.”
Fletcher, Lavin, and the larger organization plan to continue their humanitarian efforts, as long as their assistance would be helpful in ending the war. However, Lavin expressed optimism towards the engagement for the issue throughout the world, especially in the United States of America.
“The fact that there is American support for this, that is being fanned by [Levin] and others, we’re excited about it. What we find so interesting is there are a lot of people who have been thinking about how they support Ukraine, and when a practical opportunity comes up, either giving money to something like this, or driving, there is a lot of support for it. Every person that we have had join our group is creating a community of people who are concerned about it,” said Lavin.
