“My name is Ira and I’m from Odesa. I grew up among the tradespeople of Bazarna Square, with literary ambitions and parents who knew how to swear in Yiddish…
I have a degree in medicine and a narcissistic personality disorder. I have lived in Germany since 2018.
In 2019 I gave birth to a little person called Sara, in the beautiful town of Kamenz in Saxony,” Iryna Finherova described herself in an interview.
She spent the last six months working as a family physician in Dresden, Germany. During this time she has seen several hundred Ukrainian refugees.
Several hundred out of nearly 8 million Ukrainians who left Ukraine after 24 February 2022 in search of a refuge from Russian bombs and missiles: 20% of Ukraine’s population.
“I have learned how to tell where the person is from based on their complaints.
Asthenic young women who lost sleep and appetite are most likely to have come from Kherson.
Women over 60 experiencing panic attacks for the first time in their lives are most likely to have come from Kharkiv.
A 40-year-old woman who lost 17 kilograms in the absence of diabetes or cancer is most likely to have come from Mariupol and to have lost a loved one,” Iryna writes in her Infopost column.
Each refugee has their own story but they share a common history: having gone through one of this war’s many circles of hell.
Each of them had different plans and ambitions, sources of inspiration and exhaustion; they wanted to save the world or to hide from the world; to change their lives or to live them to their fullest.
But 24 February 2022 became a common denominator to these diverse lives, reducing their diversity to a single shared reality of war.
Iryna Finherova devotes all her free time to volunteering.
We wanted to ask her about the common problems Ukrainian refugees encounter in Germany.
About German healthcare with its lengthy waiting lists, endless red tape, and stern doctors – all common sources of grief among Ukrainians, judging from social media.
About volunteering in Germany and the Plattform Dresden e.V., an initiative which, together with the Ukrainian Greek Catholic parish of St Michael the Archangel in Dresden, helps thousands of refugees and collects tonnes of humanitarian aid for Ukraine.
Our conversation ended up being about something else.
About remedies for losing home and the search for a sense of belonging that cannot be claimed by the war.
About inoculations…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Ukrainska Pravda…