LOS ANGELES (KNX) – Humanitarian efforts in Ukraine have grown since Russia’s invasion a few weeks ago.
One of the efforts includes rescuing orphans in the area with special needs and getting them to the families in the United States who adopted them.
Dr. John Rodarte, from Pasadena's Huntington Hospital, assisted in those efforts.
Dr. Rodarte told KNX In Depth that when he was invited by Third Wave Volunteers to participate in the mission, he knew he had to do it.
“When I found out the mission, that there were 23 special needs orphans who already been adopted by U.S. families but needed extrication, it was really up my alley,” he explained.
Dr. Rodarte said the plan was to get the children to the U.S. where they can become American citizens and go with the families who adopted them. For those needing special medical attention, he said the organization partnered with a medical transport plane to UNC Hospital in North Carolina to be taken care of.
But once he got to Ukraine, Dr. Rodarte said the impacts of the war made the rescue tough.
“Obviously being war, war is extremely unpredictable and these children were all over the country, including places like Kyiv and near Odesa, so that ended up being the elusive part, getting these children out and moved…,” he said.
His services didn’t end there. In fact, Dr. Rodarte said he and other volunteers found themselves working at the border to help refugees at the Romanian border.
“Most of our team ended up turning into more of a humanitarian mission, working at the border as we’re waiting for those kids to get out,” he said. “But we ended up just working with refugees, and myself in particular with the children that came across the border, all the refugees.”
Listen to Dr. Rodarte’s full interview in the audio above.
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