Tatenda Mascot Makore (38) studied veterinary medicine in Kiev, but like thousands of others had to flee the war in his country. He is now continuing his studies from Sint-Oedenrode and is allowed to accompany a vet. “That’s great, I can go to farms, for example check animals for pregnancies and I can watch operations. There is a lot to do.”
In our province there are currently almost six thousand shelters available for people who have fled the war in Ukraine. One of those reception locations is the former Rabobank building in Sint-Oedenrode. Since May, 104 people can go there and the location is almost full.
Tatenda is one of those people. Six years ago, he moved from Nigeria to Kiev to study veterinary medicine. But in early May, he and his wife, like thousands of others, fled the war. Not much later they arrived at the reception center in Sint-Oedenrode. “It was not an easy decision to flee Kiev, but we had to get out of there,” Tatenda said.
“It was not an easy decision to flee.”
“The war came as a surprise to us. We waited a few days at first, but when the army approached Kiev, we wanted to leave. It was not an easy decision. It is difficult to leave everything you built there behind.”
His wife already had family in the Netherlands, Tatenda knew no one there yet. “The reception here was very warm. It is wonderful to be able to sleep somewhere safe again, with both eyes closed. The Red Cross picked us up from the station, we have been here since May 6. Food is arranged for us, we share the kitchen and bathroom with others, but have their own room.”
“I can go to farms with the vet.”
He is now sitting at a desk on the second floor of the former Rabobank office, working on his laptop. All the furniture from the old bank building is still there. He has borrowed the shelter. Tatenda is in his last year of studying veterinary medicine. Fortunately, he can continue his studies here, because his classes were already online due to the corona pandemic.
Thanks to the help of the shelter coordinator, Tatenda has recently been able to do an internship at a veterinary clinic, which is about a five-minute walk away.
“The people here are very nice and genuine.”
Later, Tatenda wants to work in a clinic herself. He likes it here so much that he would prefer to do it in the Netherlands. “The people here are very nice and sincere. There are many opportunities in the Netherlands. If I am lucky enough to be able to stay here and work in practice, that would be great.”
There are currently 5975 reception places available for refugee Ukrainians throughout Brabant. That is slightly more than three weeks earlier, when there were 5402 places available. The occupancy rate is virtually the same in all safety regions:
- In the Central and West Brabant Security Region, 2240 people are accommodated, 88 percent of the places are occupied.
- 1,322 people are accommodated in the Brabant-Southeast Security Region, which means that 81 percent of the places are occupied.
- In the Brabant-North Safety Region, 1,424 people are accommodated, which means that 80 percent of the places are occupied.