WARSAW – The refugees from the war in Ukraine continue to stream into Poland. The National Herald spoke to an Arizona volunteer who gave birth to her seventh child a month ago and was in the maternity ward and decided to stay in Warsaw for three weeks to help the refugee children. “I had a child a month ago and as I was in the hospital watching the news every day, I thought about my children. I have seven children. I could not accept it, I could not sleep. I was thinking of all these kids who needed help. When I got out of the hospital, I got a ticket and showed up here one morning,” she said, while her experience was shocking. “Two days ago, we had about 9,000 people come in, within 10 hours, from Kharkiv. They were all crying. The children were also crying. It was a big bus with children who came with their teacher, as their parents had been killed in the wreckage and did not know it. We are waiting for a psychologist to inform them of the loss of their parents. This is horrible,” she said, unable to contain her emotion.

Dolores, the second volunteer to speak to TNH is from Pennsylvania and has been in Warsaw for the past few weeks. Feeling the huge indignation, she stated that “it is horrible because they do not know where to go next. They come here, they have information, but where do they go from here. For some of them, it is another refugee center, or they have relatives somewhere here with whom they can stay. But how many of them have money for plane tickets or hotels? They want to go home to their homeland. I’m angry about what’s happening. No one should go through this.”

“Nothing will be the same in my life”

Still, the 40-year-old American stressed that after this experience nothing will be the same as she has changed the way she sees things due to the conditions she faced as a volunteer at the refugee reception center. “I will never be the same. The look in their eyes will stay in my mind forever. It is a look of frustration, despair, shame, and fear- all in one. It’s a look I cannot describe,” she said with tears in her eyes. Poland has opened its gates wide to all refugees and each of them is registered in the system where they are given a serial number, which is like a Social Security number,” Natalia informed us. “They can work, which is very good, but where will you find jobs for so many people? They also give them an amount equivalent to about $6 a day for 60 days and then they leave them alone. What is going to happen? There is no plan for an extension after 60 days. These people have nothing.”

Meal only with the display of Ukrainian passport

The measures that prevail regarding the food centers in the capital of Poland are strict, since in order to be able to enter the specially designated areas, a passport is required. Specifically, soldiers and volunteers are at all entrances and thoroughly control everything.

Note: TNH’s Anna Sarigianni is on her way to the border with Ukraine.