1 00:00:00,360 --> 00:00:10,420 Well, thank you for inviting me. Yes, I am a student here, a very mature student that I could be talking. 2 00:00:10,440 --> 00:00:17,460 I think probably for the little section Roseland is going to be speaking in, which is student led initiatives. 3 00:00:19,170 --> 00:00:22,559 But I thought I would sort of tell my story of it, 4 00:00:22,560 --> 00:00:33,550 because it is an initiative in a country I really didn't know and have no background in doing what I did. 5 00:00:36,510 --> 00:00:43,320 You know, so my story is really about being a social entrepreneur in a war zone. 6 00:00:43,830 --> 00:00:53,280 And when I think of being an entrepreneur, which is what I was in my previous life before politics, it was about making money. 7 00:00:54,360 --> 00:01:02,070 But being an entrepreneur is also about looking for opportunities out there to do something that maybe other people aren't doing. 8 00:01:03,090 --> 00:01:05,400 And so when I say I'm a social entrepreneur, 9 00:01:05,670 --> 00:01:13,650 I went into a war zone figuring out how could I be helpful in a way that maybe other people aren't being helpful? 10 00:01:14,610 --> 00:01:23,910 And so I had just finished my field research case, Hazelnut in Rwanda, where I'm looking at education policy of Rwanda on February 24th. 11 00:01:24,900 --> 00:01:31,170 And I saw a post on Instagram by a friend of mine who was on the Polish border with 12 00:01:31,170 --> 00:01:38,160 a bus and was moving people away from the refugee centres further into Europe. 13 00:01:38,970 --> 00:01:44,760 And I was supposed to be going scuba diving, but I cancelled my scuba diving and I said to my friend, 14 00:01:45,030 --> 00:01:50,070 Can I come and join you for four days just to try and help out, see what I can do? 15 00:01:50,820 --> 00:01:57,240 And so I went out there, changed my clothes from warm to getting dealing with cold weather. 16 00:01:57,900 --> 00:02:04,139 And I went out there and, you know, we were shuttling people away and I stayed a bit longer. 17 00:02:04,140 --> 00:02:08,040 I was there for two weeks and we were moving people away. 18 00:02:08,040 --> 00:02:17,400 But one of the stories I kept hearing about was that people were charging people a lot of money to get away from the war zone, 19 00:02:18,150 --> 00:02:23,940 particularly from around Kiev. So my friend, who's Latvian, had to go back to Riga. 20 00:02:24,240 --> 00:02:28,740 So I said to him, Can you find me three buses because I want to go into Ukraine. 21 00:02:29,460 --> 00:02:33,810 So he said, Sure, but I'm not letting you have my quarter of €1,000,000 buses. 22 00:02:33,990 --> 00:02:39,510 I'll find you three second-hand buses from Lithuania. So I got these three buses. 23 00:02:39,510 --> 00:02:43,890 He sent a friend with me who spoke, I'm going to say Russian. 24 00:02:44,140 --> 00:02:50,670 He didn't speak Ukrainian. And so we sort of went in and I went in to around Kiev, 25 00:02:50,670 --> 00:02:58,380 and we were taking people away from the war zone to the border back to where I initially started. 26 00:02:59,490 --> 00:03:05,190 And over the next few weeks, as the Russians were pushed away, we found that we were sort of less busy. 27 00:03:05,700 --> 00:03:11,340 And so then the next thing I heard about, there were a lot of people getting away from Mariupol. 28 00:03:12,060 --> 00:03:16,560 So the bus drivers I had, which were from Lithuania, didn't know the roads. 29 00:03:16,980 --> 00:03:22,020 So I figured out I had to contact the National Bus Company and I figured they needed work. 30 00:03:22,470 --> 00:03:26,879 So I contacted one of the national bus companies and I said, okay, 31 00:03:26,880 --> 00:03:31,740 I want to go down to Zachary's operation because there are a lot of people down there who are getting away from Mariupol. 32 00:03:32,070 --> 00:03:35,700 And can I have some buses and a bus driver and how much would you charge me? 33 00:03:36,120 --> 00:03:42,150 And so I negotiated a deal and which, by the way, I was sort of funding myself at this stage, 34 00:03:43,530 --> 00:03:48,629 and I started moving people away from who are from Mariupol and taking them up to Lviv, 35 00:03:48,630 --> 00:03:53,610 which was safer for them over the next month or two, 36 00:03:54,540 --> 00:03:59,850 when unfortunately the Russians then got control of Mariupol, there were less people to move away. 37 00:04:01,080 --> 00:04:07,350 So then I had to go to the east and I decided to go to Kharkiv because I was hearing 38 00:04:07,350 --> 00:04:11,549 that there were a lot of people in some of the smaller villages who couldn't get away. 39 00:04:11,550 --> 00:04:16,650 They couldn't move, they had no money and no means to get away and were under constant bombardment. 40 00:04:18,450 --> 00:04:25,350 So then I had when I went out there and it was difficult to find a bus driver who would come with me because I'm going into a war zone. 41 00:04:25,920 --> 00:04:29,820 So I said, Fine, you know, I'll go in. You know who's coming with me? 42 00:04:30,240 --> 00:04:33,720 And I found two bus drivers to come with me with a bus. 43 00:04:34,350 --> 00:04:45,480 And so once they saw that this crazy bridge was willing to go into a war zone with buses, I got more bus drivers to actually come with me. 44 00:04:45,630 --> 00:04:48,690 But then I had two other problems that I was facing. 45 00:04:48,690 --> 00:04:51,960 Well, that was the first problem was getting bus drivers going to a war zone. 46 00:04:52,290 --> 00:04:58,860 The second problem was, of course, because I was doing this for free, a lot of the people didn't trust me. 47 00:04:59,100 --> 00:05:05,620 They thought that. Perhaps I was taking them into Russia because this is for free. 48 00:05:06,070 --> 00:05:09,520 And maybe this was a secret way to take them into Russia. 49 00:05:10,120 --> 00:05:15,070 So unfortunately, I then had to charge them some money. 50 00:05:15,490 --> 00:05:25,570 So I charge them ten Gridley Which is the equivalent of ten P And they felt, okay, this must be real because they're charging me for money. 51 00:05:25,780 --> 00:05:33,639 This has to be real and they're going to take me to safety. So I started, I spent a lot of time, 52 00:05:33,640 --> 00:05:39,280 I probably spent about six months in the east part of the country around museum and 53 00:05:39,280 --> 00:05:43,810 a lot of the other villages around there just moving more and more people away. 54 00:05:43,840 --> 00:05:48,640 By this time, I had 20 buses that I was working with and paying for. 55 00:05:49,060 --> 00:05:55,299 And I think by by probably the middle of the summer, 56 00:05:55,300 --> 00:06:02,440 I had moved about 11,000 people with mainly women and children away from the frontline villages that were getting bombed. 57 00:06:03,880 --> 00:06:09,990 And then I had a massive challenge. I then the local intelligence, the SBU, contacted me. 58 00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:17,310 They said, you know, we want to try and get a thousand people through a particular checkpoint, but we need somebody who will move them. 59 00:06:17,320 --> 00:06:21,100 Will you do that? So I said, sure. So this was July. 60 00:06:21,100 --> 00:06:25,240 And so I'm I drive out because at this point I'm in Libya. 61 00:06:25,360 --> 00:06:32,980 So I drive across the country. I'm supposed to organise this on a monday in July, arrive at 630, 62 00:06:33,610 --> 00:06:43,440 I get a phone call saying I'm afraid we may have to call off the evacuation of a thousand people because the Army have laid landmines. 63 00:06:43,450 --> 00:06:50,530 They lay mines, rather, on the 500 metres between the Russian checkpoint and the Ukrainian checkpoint. 64 00:06:51,490 --> 00:06:56,410 So I said, this is ridiculous. I've come all the way out here to try and move these people. 65 00:06:56,810 --> 00:07:04,050 I said, I want those mines moved by tomorrow or figure out a way we can get a path through the mines. 66 00:07:04,180 --> 00:07:14,920 But I will be there 730 in the morning played. So I went to the bus station in Kharkiv and there were 20 municipal buses, 67 00:07:15,070 --> 00:07:20,090 think these lime green buses there, they were ambulances and they're all ready to go. 68 00:07:21,040 --> 00:07:26,290 And they said, We sorted your problem, Mr. Neumeier, don't worry. So I'm driving. 69 00:07:26,290 --> 00:07:31,000 So I send the buses off ahead of me and I'm busy following them. 70 00:07:31,630 --> 00:07:39,580 I'm about 10 minutes behind them and I'm driving down some dirt road and I hear this loud bang and I think, 71 00:07:40,330 --> 00:07:44,660 [INAUDIBLE], you know, I blown a tire in my car. Have I got a spare tire? 72 00:07:45,070 --> 00:07:48,160 So I say to Igor, I think we blown a tire. 73 00:07:48,520 --> 00:07:53,680 And he said, No, no, no. That was just a mortar bomb that landed seven metres, 70 metres behind us. 74 00:07:54,010 --> 00:07:56,260 So we sort of sped along. 75 00:07:56,470 --> 00:08:04,570 We arrived at the checkpoint and the head of the army in that place said about a hundred people there sort of pointed his finger to me, 76 00:08:04,570 --> 00:08:08,230 said, come with me. And he took me around the corner from the checkpoint. 77 00:08:08,530 --> 00:08:16,420 And they had actually moved these mines to imagine the road on both sides, that they had moved the mines to this side. 78 00:08:16,460 --> 00:08:21,760 Now, I know the difference between what is a landmine, which is you can trigger by stepping on it, 79 00:08:22,030 --> 00:08:28,720 and an anti-tank mine, which is quite big, but you could flick a switch at the side and literally lift it and move it. 80 00:08:29,110 --> 00:08:35,689 So they had cleared a path for me of 500 metres, so so that was one problem resolved. 81 00:08:35,690 --> 00:08:38,980 And I said, Why did you lay these mines when I knew they were coming? 82 00:08:39,110 --> 00:08:43,000 But we thought they were Russians were going to use the people as a human shield. 83 00:08:43,360 --> 00:08:47,320 So we wanted didn't want the tanks to come across following these people. 84 00:08:48,430 --> 00:08:56,020 So the next problem was they then cancelled it again on me saying, well, we're worried that Russians will infiltrate with these people. 85 00:08:56,560 --> 00:09:02,710 So at this stage, I'm sort of standing there wondering, you know, how how am I going to persuade this guy? 86 00:09:03,100 --> 00:09:08,259 This general suddenly turns up. He sort of is like a Norman Schwarzkopf. 87 00:09:08,260 --> 00:09:13,090 I don't know if you guys remember him, look alike with a ponytail and huge guy. 88 00:09:13,240 --> 00:09:19,180 And he comes up to me and he's sort of curious that this Brit is they're trying to sort of organise all this. 89 00:09:19,570 --> 00:09:22,600 So the very first question is he's worried about Boris Johnson, 90 00:09:22,600 --> 00:09:27,940 who is stepping down at this point, and that is all Britain going to still be supporting us. 91 00:09:27,940 --> 00:09:32,440 So, yes, don't worry, the British are going to still support. And I said, But what? 92 00:09:32,440 --> 00:09:37,329 You could do me a favour and tell that captain over there to please let the people I. 93 00:09:37,330 --> 00:09:39,880 So I don't know how many people or the Russian checkpoint, 94 00:09:40,090 --> 00:09:44,530 but if they're willing to walk through a minefield, I think we should let them do it anyway. 95 00:09:44,530 --> 00:09:50,230 He barks and order and they do, and they start coming through and we get the first to go through. 96 00:09:51,220 --> 00:09:57,970 And what was extraordinary, it was sort of dystopian because they were, you know, old people pulling one bag along. 97 00:09:58,270 --> 00:10:04,590 There was a lady with two. Alsatian dogs. There was another lady carrying a cat with her bag. 98 00:10:05,460 --> 00:10:11,040 There was a woman who had pushed her mother 15 kilometres in a wheelchair. 99 00:10:11,310 --> 00:10:14,280 I said, Why did you. Why couldn't you drive out to the checkpoint? 100 00:10:14,280 --> 00:10:21,180 At least the Russians stopped us and said, If I want to go to the checkpoint, you have to get out and push your mother in the wheelchair. 101 00:10:21,840 --> 00:10:27,450 And so at the end of the day, we we ended up getting within three and a half hours, 102 00:10:27,450 --> 00:10:33,540 1015, mainly women and children and elderly people through this checkpoint. 103 00:10:33,540 --> 00:10:38,370 And this is sort of one and certainly one of my abiding memories of my time there. 104 00:10:39,180 --> 00:10:45,270 By the time September came. Most of the civilians that I could evacuate, we had evacuated. 105 00:10:45,990 --> 00:10:51,450 And so I did a pivot, as any entrepreneur would, because there's no more business there for me. 106 00:10:51,960 --> 00:10:56,910 And so I started focusing on evacuating amputees. 107 00:10:57,600 --> 00:11:07,079 And there weren't enough ambulances to to take them from the front line hospitals to get treatment. 108 00:11:07,080 --> 00:11:11,610 And the problem with many of the hospitals in Ukraine was they couldn't deal with severe trauma victims. 109 00:11:11,970 --> 00:11:18,930 So then I started moving amputees to the Polish border to just of and getting them airlifted to hospitals, 110 00:11:18,930 --> 00:11:21,780 mainly in Germany, who could deal with trauma patients. 111 00:11:22,380 --> 00:11:28,620 And my final pivot came when the weather started getting cold because the Ukrainians were doing an amazing job, 112 00:11:28,620 --> 00:11:34,110 particularly in Kharkiv region, where I spent a lot of time pushing people out of a lot of these small villages. 113 00:11:34,410 --> 00:11:41,310 So there were a lot of occupied villages, but that were probably three quarters bombed, but people wanted to go back there. 114 00:11:41,790 --> 00:11:48,240 And so I then started bringing warm clothing or blankets and a lot of humanitarian aid. 115 00:11:48,540 --> 00:11:55,829 And by the time sort of my anniversary had come up in mid-February, we moved, 116 00:11:55,830 --> 00:12:03,600 I realised over 31,000 women and children away from frontline villages to safety in western Ukraine. 117 00:12:03,990 --> 00:12:09,600 And that in essence is my story. And thank you for listening and if you've got any questions for that.