It’s been a month since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began. A very intense month. In this short period of time, more than 2 million people fled to Poland. They had to leave their homes and their lives behind to escape the atrocities of war. Many of them had only a couple of minutes to make this tough decision. They traveled for many days, carrying their kids, their pets and a few of their personal belongings that they managed to pack in a hurry.

In Poland, people have mobilized to help. Much of this help is carried out by volunteers taking their time off work, by individual people and non-governmental organizations. The Polish are gathering donations, offering Ukrainians shelter in their own homes, volunteering at reception centers. It is heartwarming to see how people have united to help, how eager they are to volunteer their time, effort and money. It is also amazing how many of you are donating money to support Ukrainian refugees and help Polish people to bring aid. Thank you! We couldn’t do it without you.

But with so many people that have come to Poland, the challenge is enormous and long-lasting. Warsaw has now become the key destination for the refugees. Some of them are traveling further - you can see them trying to get some rest at train stations as they wait for their train to arrive. Even when they’re offered a place to stay overnight, to take a hot shower and get some sleep before they continue their journey, they are often too afraid to leave the train station and miss their train, so they prefer to stay and wait. But most of the refugees that come to Warsaw are here to stay.

A lot of people are working 24/7 on the three main train stations in Poland to offer all the necessary help to the refugees, from food, through translation services, medical aid, to help with organizing transportation and a place to stay. They’re also finding ways to bring at least a little smile to the faces of the children and help them get their thoughts away for a little while from the difficult situation they’re in. We encourage you to watch our short video relation from Warsaw’s train stations:

In the last days, the influx of refugees has slowed down, but those who are coming now are even more vulnerable, they have witnessed a greater trauma. At the very beginning people were fleeing in panic from the war they saw in the media. Now we are dealing with people who are running away from bombs. Who have lost their homes or family members. Who have nothing to come back to when the war is over.

At the same time, the refugees that came earlier still need help. Their needs are changing. They have a safe place to stay, they have food. Now they need to sign their children up for school and find jobs to become more independent. And this is a real challenge on many levels.

Most of the refugees that came to Poland are women and children. At the moment, thousands of children are being signed up for schools. Yesterday we spoke with the headmistress of one of the primary schools in Warsaw about the challenges they are facing and the support that they need. When we entered her office, she had 59 new students signed up since the outbreak of the war. At the end of the day she already had 71 on the list. This only illustrates the scale of the challenge we are dealing with.

All those children urgently need all kinds of school supplies, books and learning materials, school shoes, P.E. clothes - literally everything that can help them begin their education in Poland smoothly. At the same time, teachers need materials and aids to teach Polish as a foreign language. At the moment, supporting schools and helping Ukrainian children enter the education system as smoothly as possible has become our main focus. If you would also like to help, every amount of money donated to this cause will be of great value. Thank you!

Alternatively you can make a wire to our bank account in USD:

Our USD account:

PL26175000120000000040821503 - USD

bank name - BNP Paribas Bank Polska S.A.

SWIFT CODE:

RCBWPLPW

Receiver's name -

Fundacja Polscy Przodkowie

Receiver's address -

Zwolenska 40A/2

04-761 Warszawa

Please include the following statement: donation for statutory goals - Ukraine 2022



WE ARE VERY GRATEFUL FOR EVERY DONATION!