Small Gestures of Love in Service to Ukrainian Refugees

Small Gestures of Love in Service to Ukrainian Refugees

An Extraordinary Month

(ANS – Bratislava, Slovakia – March 24, 2022) – At the beginning of the year, when we were just beginning to know and welcome the message of the Rector Major’s strenna for 2022, no one could have imagined that its implementation would happen so quickly and in such extraordinary forms. It is not the numbers that are important; what matters is the measure of love shown. It is not the force of circumstances that guides the Salesians, but the imagination of small gestures of welcome and attention.

The Salesian Family in Slovakia, together with the Church and the whole of society, has been living the experience of charity tinged with blue and yellow for a month now, welcoming Ukrainian citizens.

At the beginning there was a moment of shock: no one believed that a war so close, so cruel, so unjustified was possible. The first step was the evacuation of the orphans of Lviv, who were entrusted to the Slovakian Salesians by their confreres in Ukraine as the apple of their eye.

The Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, after hearing from a Slovak missionary in Odessa, made themselves available directly at the border, welcoming mothers with children. Three FMA sisters spent the time of their school vacations in the service of first contact. At the end of this experience, they reported their impressions (EN), and in the wake of their experience, it was decided to hold the meeting of the directors at the border with Ukraine, including a practical part of service.

In Michalovce, the Salesian parish has organized a 24/7 reception center. Every evening, vans pick up women and children from the border so that they can finally wash, rest, and sleep in warmth at the Salesians. After 2-3 days they begin to talk, and the rest of the trip can be arranged. “In the first weeks people came who had family or friends in Europe. Now there are many who do not know where to go,” says Fr. Marian Peciar, delegate for communications of the Slovakian Province.

From there, another aid group was born, coordinating housing in families throughout Slovakia. Not knowing when the war will end, many are beginning to look for work, to settle in. All Salesian houses, youth centers, and parishes are involved in providing concrete help to Ukrainian refugees, facilitated by their cultural and linguistic proximity.

In Trnava, the Salesian Cooperators have opened their own hospitality center, with 100 beds, for the refugees. With the help of other members of the Salesian Family, they offer meals 3 times a day, dedicated programs for children, Slovak language courses, assistance with administrative matters, and, if guests decide to stay in the country, guidance in finding stable housing and work.

“I didn’t know Catholics before, but now I know they are good. I’m a psychologist, translator, I used to work as a manager. But now I’m here as a woman who needs help,” testifies Katja, a Ukrainian refugee and mother of two little girls. Her husband remained to defend Kiev, and she tries to hide her tears behind a smile: “I don’t know what tomorrow will be like…. But my girls are here. Everything will be fine.”

Presov has become a strategic community in helping the Ukrainian population. Thanks to contacts with various Salesian organizations in Europe, the vice provincial, Fr. Peter Jacko, has quickly organized an effective chain of solidarity and humanitarian aid. Encouraged by the visit of Fr. Daniel Antunez, president of Missioni Don Bosco of Turin, the Slovakian Salesians collected aid from various organizations throughout Europe in a large warehouse in Presov, which was then transported across the border to Ukraine, where other Salesians distributed it according to need, even in remote villages that other organizations could not reach.

Everyone helps in any way they can. Last but not least, it is also done through moments of prayer, which during Lent are pleas for peace in Ukraine. And several times a week, starting from the Gospel of the day or from other religious ideas, all members of the Slovak Salesian Family receive through social networks messages of animation, to remind them that evil can be overcome only with grace and goodness of heart.