The Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences (MATE) is helping those coming from Ukraine with an exemplary student-staff humanitarian collaboration.
Almost 350 refugees have already been accommodated in the Buda, Keszthely and Gödöllő dormitories, and donations are also being collected on the campuses. The college students selflessly help with the quick and smooth placement of the refugees, which is an excellent example of student cohesion.
With the support of the Erasmus+ international credit mobility scholarship program, MATE also accepted lecturers from Beregsassa, who each received a scholarship of around one thousand euros and accommodation in a dormitory.
The II. The university also provided mental health counseling for the teachers of the Ferenc Rákóczi Subcarpathian Hungarian College and their minor children to help them process the losses and the war as a collective trauma, which was gratefully received by all the families involved.
"It's good to see that all five MATE campuses have moved in terms of fundraising and we have already been able to help the refugees with several minibuses of donations. For example, the Experimental Plant and Farm Farm belonging to the Buda Campus offered 300 kg of organic potatoes. In the university dormitories, we offered nearly seven hundred free places to accommodate refugees, and we have already accommodated around 350 people. In addition, we are ready to accept 5-5 young people affected by the Russian-Ukrainian crisis at all MATE courses in English, and at the same time, we also provide the opportunity to continue part-time studies in our doctoral schools with a focus on agricultural, technical and economic sciences," emphasized Dr. Csaba Gyuricza, rector of MATE.
On the Kaposvár Campus and in the building of the Rippl-Rónai Art Institute, a collection was started as early as February 26, in connection with the appeal of the Kaposvár Reformed Church District. Thanks to the cooperation, four busloads of donations were collected, including toiletries, children's clothes, strollers and cots, as well as a lot of non-perishable food. The parcels were partly delivered to the families who fled to Transcarpathia and partly to the catchment area of the Kőröshegy Parish. The Hungarian Red Cross delivers a small busload of donations to those in need.
Collected at the Károly Róbert Campus
40 boxes and 20 bags of hygiene products, non-perishable food and bed linen were sent to the Beregsurány, Vásárosnamény, Márokpapi and Ópályi settlements that receive refugees, while the products and toys that can be used for the care of small children and babies were delivered to the orphanage in Ungvár. With the help of a colleague who works as an appearance judge at international dog shows, they also delivered a lot of dog food to the shelters operating in Ukraine.
The Georgikon Campus organized a collection for the refugees accommodated in the Pethe Ferenc College, and since the admitted persons also need all forms of help, both the students and the staff primarily help with this. The daily supply is organized jointly with the Keszthely Municipality, the Keszthely Traffic Office, and aid organizations, but they also received packages from German and Austrian territories.
Clothes, toiletries and non-perishable food items collected on the Szent István Campus and the Buda Campus were donated to the National Conference of Student Self-Governments “More? It can stay!" they reach the needy within the framework of the national higher education fundraising program, through the Hungarian Red Cross.
MATE remains committed and prepared to receive refugees permanently residing in Hungary, as well as to help students temporarily seeking refuge in Hungary as a transit. As Ferenc Gludovátz, the President of the University Student Self-Government, highlighted, the collection will not end after the donations have been delivered. They will continue for as long as it is needed.
Source and featured image: Hungarian University of Agricultural and Life Sciences, Media Center
