A Scottish mum is going abroad for the first time in her life – on a mission to deliver essential supplies for Ukrainian mums stuck in the war-ravaged nation.
Chris Murphy, 49, and volunteer Oleg Dmitriev will share driving duties between Edinburgh and the Eastern European country as they drive with a stock of "baby backpacks" to north-eastern city Kharkiv. A maternity unit in the city is awaiting the delivery.
Working with Scottish charity Sunflower Scotland, which is providing support to people affected by the Russian invasion, the pair have created 40 specially prepared backpacks filled with brand new baby supplies. Many new and expectant mothers are stuck in remote villages undergoing heavy barrages from Vladimir Putin's forces.
Speaking to sister site Edinburgh Live, Chris says the bags will provide those under fire with essential supplies as well as "something special" to give them a much-needed morale boost. Among the supplies included are essentials like cotton pads, baby shampoo and wipes, as well as clothes and muslin cloths for the little ones.
The mum-of-five, who was set to leave for Ukraine on Saturday morning, said: "It will take us four days to drive from Edinburgh. We've only got a small Mercedes people carrier so we've crammed it full as much as we can with everything.
"I had initially got involved with Sunflower Scotland because when everything first began in Ukraine, a soldier had put a Facebook status up asking for combat boots and they offered to take the parcel out for me. Then I was helping with lorry supplies but they were starting to cost around five grand so they decided to start doing things differently.
"These mothers are living in basements or have nowhere to stay and you've got young mums having their babies and I thought: they can't be coming out carrying great big baby boxes. So I thought: why not do a backpack?
"It can be reused as a changing bag or [to] put clothes in if they need to get out of somewhere quickly. They're going to the maternity hospitals in girls' and boys' bags and all the items are new."
Chris has been speaking with some of the nurses and volunteers at the Kharkiv hospital for almost a year since the invasion broke out. She is looking forward to meeting the people she has befriended and putting "a face to the messages".
She added: "It's just the basics, but they're new and just that little bit more special. There are people in these cut-off areas where we're going that feel like they've been forgotten because the Red Cross isn't going out there because they are still being shelled.
"These mums are leaving a hospital with a brand new person. It's hard enough normally to come back home after [having] a baby and get back to the washing and the cleaning, let alone on top of being in a war zone, so it's something to try and make them feel less forgotten."
Chris is still fundraising for additional supplies for Ukrainian mums, and her fundraiser can be found here.
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