Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which was launched at the end of February 2022, is still in the world's spotlight. One of the effects of the Russo-Ukrainian war was that many Ukrainians were forced to flee to save their lives and find shelter.
Talking about Ukrainian refugees, in early March, two Harvard University students, Avi Schiffmann and Marco Burstein, launched a website called Ukraine Take Shelter. The aim of this site is to help Ukrainian refugees find a decent place to live in their destination country.
With the information obtained from the site, they can find the nearest volunteer who is willing to accommodate the refugees. How's the story? Check out the full review below!
Background
The initial idea for launching the Ukraine Take Shelter started when Avi Schiffmann had just participated in a protest against the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 28, 2022. He thinks about the fate of the Ukrainian refugees who are currently coming to his country. He also thought of an idea and expressed it via Twitter.
Because he received support and positive comments, the Harvard University student who is also a computer expert began to look for ways to make it happen. The next morning, he met his colleague who is a coding expert, Marco Burstein. Both agreed to realize the idea.
"We started talking about the idea and my response was basically, 'OK, come on.' From there, we worked non-stop for three days," said Marco Burstein, according to People.
"In fact, we didn't even sleep," he added.
Ukraine Take Shelter . Concept
In the end, the site was successfully launched on March 2, 2022. The Ukraine Take Shelter is finally accessible and is intended for war refugees who want to find shelter. From that site, they can find information about various accommodation assistance offered by volunteers.
Avi Schiffmann also explained that the way the Ukraine Take Shelter works is similar to that of a public bulletin. “It's like a general bulletin. Kind of like a small Airbnb, but this one focuses on Ukrainian refugees,” he said.
The site will feature profiles of volunteers offering assistance to refugees. If there is a match, Ukraine Take Shelter will connect the two sides so that they can communicate with each other.
Instantly Burst
Who would have thought, the sense of solidarity that emerged was so high. In no time, thousands of volunteers signed up and offered to help the refugees. This amazed the two young founders because there were so many people willing to help. By the end of March, the number of volunteers had reached more than 25,000.
Latest Developments
Although quite successful, the existence of the Ukraine Take Shelter which was built by Avi Schiffmann and Marco Burstein is not free from controversy. Many have questioned how they anticipated the existence of fraudulent acts and the existence of fake accounts that only took advantage of the situation. The public is also curious about how this site manages sensitive information from users.
Therefore, some time ago Avi Schiffmann revealed that his party has added a new feature, where users must include a copy of their identity as a validation requirement. This site also provides instructions and warnings for users who will contact volunteers.
“We added more protection during the volunteer sign-up process. I have worked closely with various parties since the beginning of this project and worked on features like this,” continued Avi Schiffmann regarding the Ukraine Take Shelter project with Marco Burstein.
Wow, that's very inspiring!