Hope for Ukrainian children

Together with Dr Anną Prisacari from Minnesota, we took on the logistical and administrative challenges and hosted the pupils and their accompanying adults in Warsaw for four nights in mid-August 2022. It was their first glimmer of hope in the Western world.

We organised social activities and cultural visits especially for them, aiming to help them feel safe and comfortable at a time when mothers were entrusting their children to strangers in a foreign country. Many of our guests had never flown before, and all had arrived in Warsaw on different buses after long waits at border crossings.

We were rewarded with huge smiles of gratitude, the most touching of all from children who had been through hell in the six months since the outbreak of the cruel war in Ukraine. After just four days in Warsaw, we felt like one big family.

Service in Rotary is not only about major projects, but also about helping each of these children and giving them hope for a better future. Thank you to Andrzejowi Ludkowi, Mietkowi Maciążkowi, Tran Trong Hungowi, Olenie Shpak, Romanowi Kolos and Mateuszowi Dackiewiczowi for working so well together!