Jonas Zimmerman will soon return to Ukraine to assist the healthcare system. The commitment to help comes partly from an interest in the outside world, but grew into something bigger when Russia began its full-scale invasion.
– What drives me is that we make a big difference. In my organization, we have strong muscles that can make a big difference where no one else is. We see that our efforts are very valuable and important.
He has no previous experience of the military or armed conflict, now he works to the sound of artillery and shelling.
– It is of course very unpleasant. It’s probably more horrible than we imagine here if you haven’t seen it. When a society is hit by a disaster, it affects all parts.
“They are tired of the reduction in support”
When the war has almost gone on for two years, and the Ukrainians have been exposed to what Jonas Zimmerman describes as pure terrorist activity, he notices that a new feeling is beginning to take root.
– There is a fatigue now that I have not seen before at all. Now people are tired of this and everything that has happened, he says and continues:
– They are also tired of the fact that support is decreasing, that it is difficult to fight the war and to make society work.
But according to Jonas Zimmerman, hope has not disappeared.
– It is an extremely resilient people. In principle, I have not met anyone who does not have hope left and who is not very positive about the future.
Injuries are not followed up
The war means that all parts of the healthcare system are affected. When the focus is on the most urgent cases, it creates a displacement effect.
– It creates lots of problems you don’t see, apart from these high death rates and injuries with young people losing arms or legs.
Many receive a primary measure from the healthcare system, for example to stabilize a fracture while waiting for further treatment. But in not many cases does it take too long.
– It could be a so-called “orthopedic exfix” that sits somewhere and is supposed to fix a fracture, which can sit for a year. Then you meet them again and then it has gone too far, says Jonas Zimmerman,
– They have no possibility or ability to fix it as the next step in the treatment. It feels so unnecessary.