To Ukraine for Hector
‘You want to keep the attention for him’
Door Sean Campbell
By Sean Campbell
Sean Campbell
Hector from Finland quit his studies at the University of Groningen last year to join the Ukrainian army. ‘If by being here, I can save some kids’ mothers, I need to do that’, he told UKrant at the time. How is he doing now? And how is his best friend Nick, who is raising money in the Netherlands for essential supplies? Read Hectors story here →
‘It starts with an idea and one month later you’re going to your best friend in Ukraine with a pick-up and a camera crew.’
Following a successful fundraiser earlier this year that gathered over 10.000 euros, Nick Schoonbeek and his friends are yet again raising money for various supplies and equipment for their friend Hector’s squad.
This time, that includes a pick-up truck which Nick and a few others will drive to Ukraine personally, departing July 10. They are meeting Hector at a safehouse over twenty kilometres from the front, where they will drop off the supplies and the truck, before heading back by train.
Guy’s talk
The two have been keeping in touch through WhatsApp. ‘Daily, really. We call every few weeks, but we’re texting all the time. Just to see how it’s going, whether there are any updates.’ Conversations sometimes serve as a distraction from the war. ‘You know, guy’s talk about nothing in particular, joking around, just to take away a bit of his stress.’
Hector doesn’t gain anything from me sitting here sad and aimless
Nick is happy that he’s been able to help his friend from a distance, ‘but you’d rather see someone in person of course’, he says. ‘And now I will, so I’m really looking forward to that.’
He and Hector immediately clicked when they – both UG students – met in a café in Groningen. ‘I remember he said: “I’ve got a feeling we’ll be seeing more of each other.” And he was right.’
Personal connection
Only a few days after Russia invaded Ukraine, Nick and Hector were part of a small group that organised a demonstration in support of the Ukrainian people. ‘It was really from day one that he was motivated to do his bit for Ukraine.’
So it didn’t surprise him that Hector decided to enlist with the army. ‘I could immediately see in his eyes that that’s what he wanted to do,’ Nick says. ‘I was worried, of course, but I know he’s a sensible guy, that he always makes the right choices.’
But Hector’s presence in Ukraine has definitely changed the way Nick views media coverage of the war. ‘At first, you have this abstract idea of the Ukrainian army, but now you have sort of a personal connection with the army, because your best bud is in it.’ Now, Nick says, ‘I look and listen to the news a little differently. It’s a bit more personal.’
Still, he tends not to dwell on the negative things too much. ‘I’ve always been a bit stoic about this. I just think about what the best thing to do is, what helps him the most. And he doesn’t gain anything from me sitting here sad and aimless.’
TV programme
While the war in Gaza has taken up much of the media’s attention recently, something Nick says he absolutely understands, he still makes it his business to keep people’s eyes on Ukraine now that Hector’s there. ‘You do want to keep it on the agenda; to keep people’s attention on the war for his sake.’
And so he’s elated that a cameraman and presenter from BNNVARA’s Voorvechters, a Dutch TV programme following young activists, will accompany them on their trip to Ukraine, visiting cities like Berlin, Warsaw, Krakow along the way to collect equipment from various organisations. ‘If we’re featured in that episode with a pick-up we’ve been able to arrange within a month, and they follow us along to all relief organisations and finally to Ukraine, then that’s a pretty rad impression that we’re able to do all that’, Nick says.
Just one truck could save more lives than a hundred first-aid kits
Hector’s list of needs includes night vision goggles, radios, power banks, training dummies, first aid kits, hiking boots, and rain jackets, among other things. But most of all, they are in need of a pick-up truck. ‘Just one truck could save more lives than a hundred first-aid kits. That’s really our first priority.’
This is due to the manoeuvrability of a pick-up that has the speed to quickly transport your whole team and supplies through rough terrain.
Last time, they raised 10.000 euros in two weeks. Now, they are hoping to raise 15.000 euros to cover the cost of the truck.
Unfazed
While some of Hector’s other friends are unsure about going due to safety concerns from their family, Nick is largely unfazed. ‘I’ve always been a bit odd. I like doing scary stuff. I sky-dive, for example. You can be scared about something, or you can be enthusiastic about it; that’s how I like to look at it.’
He puts a hand on his chest. ‘I just really feel it here that I need to do this,’ he says. ‘That’s why it really doesn’t matter that it’s scary.’
Some days, he’s working six or seven hours non-stop to arrange everything, all the while trying to run his own company. But it doesn’t drain him. ‘I could do it for fourteen hours a day and not be tired at the end of it, just because I’m so motivated’, he says. ‘It’s meaningful, and that’s why I have the energy for it.’
You can donate money for Hector via this fundraiser page.