Sioma, Limone, and Furcik
In the past few weeks, we have witnessed the largest refugee crisis since World War II as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This senseless aggression has impacted the lives of many citizens, displacing over 11 million Ukrainian people and forcing 4.5 million Ukrainian people to leave their nation. As a result, millions of affected citizens are fleeing to Poland, where sparks of human compassion, tenacity, and empathy are being displayed by people like Jola and Darek in response to this crisis.
We at Humanitarian Voices for Ukraine first heard of Jola and Darek’s story through their daughter. We learned that Jola and Darek are a native Polish couple who make their living as lawyers. They were educated at universities in Poland and have declared to us their love for literature, history, art history, and even sailing! Although Jola and Darek have not been extensively involved with humanitarian efforts before, the current Ukrainian refugee crisis has inspired in them a deep appreciation for providing aid, showing how rewarding and fulfilling it was for them to step forward and extend a helping hand.
Jola and Darek first heard about the invasion on the 24th of February just before heading to work. Like many of us, they were concerned about what would come next for Ukraine and its people, and the couple anxiously waited for reports to learn more about the rapidly unfolding events. Little did they know, Jola and Darek would be presented with an opportunity to personally help incoming Ukrainian refugees. They soon heard from their daughter’s friend that a Ukrainian family who fled their homeland was seeking a temporary place to stay in light of their unexpected departure. Understandably, the Ukrainian family had also brought along their three cats Limon, Furcik, and Sioma. Jola and Darek were especially worried that the three cats might result in even more difficulties when finding temporary places to stay and this is what pushed the couple to ultimately offer the Ukrainian mother, daughter, and three cats to stay at their own home. It has been a few weeks since Jola and Darek have warmly welcomed the Ukrainian family, and currently, the two try to “do [their] best to be good hosts and fulfill any needs [the Ukranian family] or their cats may have.” Additionally, fueled not just by the solicitude for other humans but also the knowledge that their homeland of Poland and its people experienced analogous situations during World War II, Jola and Darek began organizing ways for refugees to be provided housing.
Although Jola and Darek have successfully welcomed the refugees into their home, their efforts would not go without any challenges. They explained to us that one unexpected challenge was a language barrier. For example, Jola and Darek’s guests do not understand Polish or English. On the other hand, neither Jola nor Darek could speak Ukrainian or much Russian. Despite the barrier, they managed to communicate with their limited amount of Russian knowledge and by utilizing online language translation services, such as Google Translate! They also noted that a medium for communication was not the only problem. Their new guests were reserved and “quite timid in articulating their needs,” but it is certainly understandable given their context. Fortunately, a distant relative of their new guests spoke Polish and helped build mutual trust between the two parties. Despite all of their selfless efforts, Jola and Darek are still worried about not being able to help their guests mentally. Even after all they’ve experienced, such as having to leave their home to a foreign country because of war, the two fear the possibility of not being able to give emotional support in the chance that tragic news about the family that stayed in Ukraine reaches them.
It has been a privilege to hear Jola and Darek’s story in going above and beyond to respond to the unfolding events by trying their best to offer shelter, compassion, and empathy to a family in need. As a final comment, Jola and Darek would like to give some advice/insight to those who want to help or just learn about the conflict in their own words:
“Improvisation is the nature of such activities, and one should not just expect the government officials to come up with solutions but rather trust people of goodwill. It is also important to stay on top of reliable news and remain curious about the situation. There are many ways to help both online and in-person.”