Santa Feans move overseas to help Ukrainians

Feb. 23—A Santa Fe couple sought a worthwhile cause to do volunteer work.

When Russia invaded Ukraine a year ago, they found it — or rather, it landed like an air-dropped package at their feet.

For Rocky and Emmy Durham, volunteering their time from afar wasn't enough. They wanted to fly to Ukraine or somewhere near the war-ravaged country to pitch in.

So, last year, after making two trips to Ukraine, partly to explore what they might contribute, they decided in September to go all in.

They sold their two vehicles, Emmy's house and most of their belongings so they could move to Ukraine and have the wherewithal to stay indefinitely.

By then, they had nailed down their volunteer mission; they became part of a larger international network offering comfort to refugees and helping to deliver essentials to civilians and soldiers amid disrupted and damaged supply chains.

"We feel good about the work we're doing," Rocky Durham said by telephone this week. "And we recognize it's a drop in the bucket. But that bucket is made of a million drops."

The war has created a refugee population described as a humanitarian crisis.

As of Feb. 15, about 1.5 million Ukrainian refugees have fled to Poland and about 2.3 million have migrated to other European countries, according to data compiled by Statista.

Durham, 53, is a well-known Santa Fe chef who worked at Blue Heron Restaurant and Palace Prime. He now uses his culinary skills to host dinners for refugees at the apartment where he and Emmy, 44, live in western Ukraine.

Both speak Russian. Although not a welcome language to Ukrainians' ears, it is similar enough to Ukrainian for them to get by.

Emmy Durham learned to speak Russian while serving in the U.S. Army. Her military background gives her a clearer sense of the people's struggles amid a devastating war and the toll it is taking on them.

She salutes the Ukrainians' patriotism and dedication to preserving their country.

"They play the [Ukrainian] national anthem every three hours, beginning at 9 a.m.," she said.

Both of the Durhams say they're impressed with the camaraderie they see among the Ukrainians and foreigners like them who have come to lend a hand.

"What's cool about being in Ukraine is ... the solidarity, the unity of the people," Emmy Durham said. "It's not red or blue; it's not Republican or Democrat."

"Over here, it's unity," Rocky Durham said. "It's not nationalism."

They said they went to Poland initially and had no real plan — just the hope they could find a way to make a difference. After observing the flood of refugees, they felt their efforts would be better served in Ukraine, so they moved to Lviv, a city in the western region.

They learned they could assist with the supply chains by transporting goods from Poland to Ukraine, then passing them to those who could deliver them to the eastern regions under heavy Russian fire.

They bring over items that can be put into care packages for soldiers, such as toiletries, candy, lighters and aspirin, Rocky Durham said. "Just what you might need if you were living in a wet hole."

They also transport medical supplies, which are in great demand, not only by soldiers but the general population in the east where hospitals and clinics have been destroyed, he said. Recently, they hauled in 130 cases of intravenous fluids.

"Our operation is small, but it's precise," he said.

They even took 10 cats, rescued in the Zaporizhia area, to a shelter in Poland, a challenging task for him and his wife to handle alone, he said. They had to transport them each in separate carriers on a train and deal with paperwork in three languages — Polish, Ukrainian and English.

"The good news is we got all 10 cats safely out," he said.

There's no need for them to travel to the nation's eastern regions because they can provide support from the western areas, he said. It's too dangerous to venture into the east, where fighting has been especially brutal.

"It's 9/11 every day over there," he said.

Aside from aiding the supply chains, they work with refugees to offer them comfort any way they can.

"It's anything from, like, taking kids to the aquarium to give them a sense of normalcy for a day, or hosting — getting a couple families over and making food. Sitting down together."

A couple from a suburb of Kharkiv told the Durhams of how fled their home with their two children and cat, and hunkered underground in a subway station for 10 weeks.

Another family heading west recalled how they stopped to get gas and encountered a line of about 30 cars incinerated by an airstrike, all the passengers burned alive.

The family's children also saw the grisly sight.

"The hardest part is the kids and the families that we've connected with, and knowing this is their story now," Emmy Durham said. "And they're forever changed. They can't go home."

At first, the Durhams focused on how they could help the displaced children, Emmy said, but then they saw that the adults also were uprooted traumatically with nowhere to return.

The Durhams said moving to Ukraine required traveling light. They sold most of what they owned and put some belongings in storage. They found family members to care for their three cats.

Then stuffed everything they could into backpacks and handbags.

Although they are in a country at war, they say they feel safer there than some U.S. cities.

Air raid alarms sound off daily, but they have gotten used to those.

Rocky Durham said they plan to hang around to see the country rebuild, expressing confidence Russia will pull out in defeat in the not-too-distant future.

"We love the Ukrainian people; we love this mission," he said.