Polish Salesians and Others Assist Ukraine's Refugees

“There are more good people than you might think.”

(ANS – Warsaw – March 24, 2022) – The hard work of the Salesian Family around the world for the Ukraine emergency continues at full pace. The greatest burden of responsibility and practical work in the field at this stage falls on the Salesian works in Poland, which are giving their best not only to welcome the refugees, but also to convey their affection and human feeling for them.

“They asked us what we needed as soon as we arrived; they offered us everything, they gave us everything, they helped us with everything.... We will never forget them,” says Lydia, a Ukrainian refugee in Poland, about the welcome she received from so many Polish volunteers.

Lydia arrived in Warsaw from Dnipro, in eastern Ukraine, after 4 intense days of travel, together with her children, while her husband remained in Ukraine. They are worried, of course, “but we have hope in a peaceful future, which will come soon,” says the woman. Supporting her in her confidence is also the experience of solidarity she has received in this circumstance: “There are more good people around than you might think and, in these situations, you can see why they do everything with their heart,” she confided to Alberto Lopez, whom the Salesian Mission Office of Madrid sent to Poland.

Also coming from Poland is an initiative of solidarity carried out by some students from the Salesian schools of Pila, who brought food, clothing, and other materials to Poznan to be distributed to Ukrainian families. And another story of hope, again from Poland, specifically from Przemysl, just 9 miles from the border with Ukraine: that of Yana, Zlata, and Lev – a young Ukrainian mother and 2 children – who, thanks to the efforts of the Salesians of the city of Civitanova Marche in the Central Italy Province, are now safe from the war in that town in the Marche region.

“It was a truly moving experience,” said Fr. Alessio Massimi, director of the Civitanova Marche youth center. “We arrived in Przemysl at the Salesian house and unloaded the van loaded with so much generosity from our parishioners. During the days that we were there, we went to the center where the refugees are being received, a large shopping center, and we made ourselves available to do anything. We found a great organization. We, in particular, made the beds every day, because people were accepted but the next day they left for various destinations, some in Italy, some in Portugal, some in Spain, depending on where they wanted to go. On our return we picked up Yana, Zlata, and little Lev to take them to Civitanova, where their grandmother Natalia is waiting for them.”

The provincial of Sicily, Fr. Giovanni d’Andrea, informed ANS about reception developments in that province too: “We are finishing the placement of single-parent ‘mother-child’ units with ‘support families,’ so as to create a ‘broad-based accommodation.’ Today, with the help of a mediator, 4 children we welcomed, together with their mothers, have been included in the socio-educational activities of the Salesians’ Our Lady of La Salette Youth Center in Catania.”

Other news of solidarity arrives from South Korea, where between the disbursement of the province and the donations coming from other Catholic organizations, the Salesian coordination for the response to the emergency has brought in a large sum of money intended for the refugees. From the United States West Province, a single work, that of Bellflower, has collected a large sum of offerings that will be forwarded to the Salesian Mission Office of New Rochelle. In Great Britain, the entire community of the school of Chertsey, animated by the parent of a student who is an expert in finance and computer science, is involved in a major project to collect materials and programs to enable young Ukrainian refugees to follow lessons by videoconference from schools in their country.