Called to help at Romanian border, Seattle nurse returns to homeland he fled as a refugee

SEATTLE — When Russia invaded Ukraine, Ben Sterciuc knew his next mission.

“I was actually in Africa when I heard the war breaking out, and I knew I had to come because I wanted to help,” Sterciuc said.

A geriatric nurse from Seattle, Sterciuc is the founder of the nonprofit Vital Solutions which works to bring health care to impoverished communities in Kenya.

For the last week, he and his volunteers have been on the front lines at the small Romanian border town of Siret, helping Ukrainian refugees.

“I’m literally maybe 50 meters from the actual border, in a tent that we set up for refugees that are basically mothers and children. And as you can see, we have all sorts of items prepared for them,” Sterciuc explained.

In his tent, they find warmth, food and medical help.

Refugees brave frigid temperatures to make it there. With their lives in backpacks and suitcases, they then load onto buses that will take them to more stable housing in neighboring towns that Sterciuc and others have secured for them.

“There’s a sense of not just shock, but also desperation, because they don’t know what tomorrow’s going to bring,” he said. “They don’t know how long the war is going to last, and they don’t know what’s waiting on the other side.”

Sterciuc can relate. He was born and raised in this part of Romania where refugees are coming through. He said that to be there now is a way to pay back the kindness he received when he left the country in 1989.

“I was a refugee myself, and others helped me. And now it’s my turn to help them,” Sterciuc said.

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