On 19 April, the Hungarian Reformed Church Aid delivered a humanitarian transport containing seeds to Transcarpathia from its warehouse in Beregdaroc. In the "Seeds of Hope" program, a total of 11 tonnes of seeds were delivered to the border region by HRCA. The total value of the transport exceeds one hundred thousand euros.
Thanks to the donation that arrived on Tuesday in Beregszász/Berehove, the Church Aid is helping 10,000 families in Transcarpathia with backyard farming, thus ensuring their livelihood in the long term.
Since the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war, the HRCA has been providing ongoing assistance to those fleeing to Hungary and those remaining in Transcarpathia, as well. In recent weeks, the Charity of the Reformed Church in Hungary has already delivered hundreds of tons of donations to Ukraine. The aid consignments included durable food, hygiene products, medicines and clothes.
Humanitarian Trasport
The 36 pallets of seeds, which started their journey on Tuesday morning, contain a total of 22 types of seeds, including those of potatoes, onions, carrots, tomatoes, beetroot and lettuce.
The total value of the donation from Dutch and Hungarian donations exceeds 38 million Hungarian forints and will help almost ten thousand families in the region of Western Ukraine. “Typically, the vegetables are those that can be planted now, but the seeds can be used until 2024. They will thus continue to provide a livelihood for families in need for years to come,” emphasized Márton Juhász, CEO of the Hungarian Reformed Church Aid in Berehove.
Márton Juhász, CEO of HRCA and Sándor Zán Fábián, Bishop of the Reformed Church in Transcarpathia, Ukraine
“We call the program 'Seeds of Hope' because we hope that by the time these seeds will come to fruition, we will have overcome the agony of war and hope will return and will be seeded in people's hearts.” The executive director quoting the famous Hungarian poet, Endre Ady, added that “Life lives and wants to live".
The seeds were received by Bishop Sándor Zán Fábián, representing the Reformed Church in Transcarpathia, Ukraine, at the Diaconal Centre of the Church in Berehove. “The HRCA has fulfilled its mission by bringing the seeds to us. The people of Transcarpathia also have a mission: to sow the seeds, care for them, and then harvest the crops so that those who cannot sow this year will have food in Ukraine. We have no other choice; we must cling to the God’s promises who takes care of his people," the Bishop stressed.
The donation is of particular importance to families in the region, receiving ten thousands of internally displaced persons, where the difficulties of trade caused by the war have made it impossible to access sufficient quantities of plant reproductive material.