The next two people are Oksana (44) and her daughter Anna (16) from Sumy, Ukraine. Oksana is a nurse. She worked in a hospital in a psychiatric ward. None of our guests knows Polish language. Iryna and Ania know English. When Ania found out that there was an open humanitarian corridor so that civilians could escape, and there were two seats on the bus, she called her mother, who was at work, that she could run away either now or it is not known when. They made a quick decision to leave. Ania packed a few things in a small backpack. They met on the bus. Oksana could not go home, so she left for Poland straight from work, just like she was standing. They came to us because their friend has been working for a long time in a nursing home for women run by our sisters in Warsaw, but there is no place to live refugees. They also had to rest first. Then we looked for a school for Ania. She is studying at collage in Ukraine. She studies remotely until noon by cell phone. And in the afternoon he goes to high school in Warsaw. This high school, like many others, has created classes for youth from Ukraine. Oksana also went to the hairdresser. It looks “like a million dollars” now. But we can’t find a job for her because she doesn’t know Polish. We signed her up for a Polish language course. There are many such free courses now. I asked her if she wanted to learn Polish additionally and she agreed. Ania too. So I will teach them. Yesterday, they received a PESEL number, i.e. a population registration number, which entitles them to many forms of social assistance, work, financial benefits, health care, free medicines and medical supplies, free travel by trains, buses, trams and metro, to stay in Poland for 18 months. Their dream is to come back to Ukraine but, realistically, they will have to live in Poland for a long time. We want to help them with this.
Polish lessons for Oksana and Ania have started. I help them in this on the basis of the “Manual of learning Polish as a foreign language for children and young people starting education in a Polish school (age 11-15)” by Katarzyna Szostak-Król. They already know many words from conversations with us, but it’s good to organize this basic knowledge. The Polish alphabet is something new for them. They have a problem with the pronunciation of our vowels “ą” and “ę”. However, they learn diligently because they understand how much they will need it in the coming months. For Oksana, knowing Polish is a chance to get a job, maybe even in her profession.
We welcomed another four people fleeing from Ukraine: Natasha with her three children. The eldest, Sonia, is 17 years old, the average girl, Anastazja, is 7 years old and is an autistic child, and the youngest, Oleksandr (Sasza), is 4 years old. Until now, they stayed in the EXPO XXI hall in Nadarzyn, which was not good for Anastasia, because autistic children do not function well in such conditions and it causes them great suffering. They lived with us in two guest rooms next to the chapel. And, as is usually the case at the beginning, we gave them time to wash and rest. The children love the room and bathroom. Then they ate their meal and went for a walk and to the playground that is in front of our house.
From today Natasza and her children are provided with lunches at school No. 139 at Syrenystreet at 2 p.m. This is the school where Sr. M. Tobiasza, and she arranged for them to have these dinners. The school kitchen manager paid for the dinners for the four of them.
In the morning, Iryna examined Anastasia and Sasha. It turned out that Sasha caught a cold. His condition gradually worsened as the temperature increased more and more up to 39 degrees C. S.M. Tobiasza took him and Natasha to the doctor.
We know that in our provincial house the sisters accepted 20 people and there are also refugees from Ukraine in the nursing home in Jadwinów, but I don’t know how many. In all the houses, the sisters help the Ukrainians, because in this situation it is no different.
This is only a small fragment of what helping Ukrainians in Poland looks like. There is a great excitement all over the country to help. We understand that the war in Ukraine is also a threat to our freedom. We must help Ukraine militarily and humanely if we want to stop the war and prevent it from entering our territory. Besides, these people are in such a dire situation. There is no logical way to explain what Putin did. When we listen to what the Russian media says, we cannot believe that one can think so perversely. Unfortunately, these are the consequences of the constant formation of public opinion by messages distorted by strange people.
We pray for peace and now, more than before, we have this desire in our hearts.