Ukrainian Refugee Assistance Fund, update no. 2

[Disclaimer: as a non-native English speaker, I’m always concerned about language issues and do my best to write in proper English. Nevertheless, some irregularities may occur.]

What was happening with Ukrainian Refugee Fund since last update on 03/29:

Donations so far supported:

• A newly organized small refugee center located in Kleszczów, a village close to Kraków (pronounced Kleh-sh-ch-uhv), where a local community set up a refugee shelter. Your donations fully covered the works required to convert the existing building into a livable place (plumbing, setting bathrooms and kitchen, refurbishing dormitory);
• Two female artists who chose to stay in Kharkiv (via Polish fundraiser, zrzutka.pl, run by Aleksandra Sojak-Borodo and my colleague, Elżbieta Jabłońska, a Polish artist and associate professor at the University in Torun, Poland). The funds are transferred to Dasha and Ira by Elżbieta who is in direct contact with both artists. The artwork illustrating this post is Dasha’s drawing.

On April 7th we visited a refugee center in Kleszczów and met with Olga and Natalia who are staying there with their families, and with the local volunteers. Together we decided to start working on mobile gardening project on the adjacent patch of land. We set up a date for a day of working together: constructing raised beds, planting seeds and seedlings. We’re also going to held a picnic after work. The date was set for Saturday, April 23rd. All the local community is invited, along with other refugee families staying in the area. We managed to get a group of other volunteers on board: two professors from Agriculture University in Kraków (one specialising in horticultural therapy), two student volunteers who will be helping in translating and… Anastasia from an eco-village in Ukraine with whom we’ll connect via Zoom (circumstances permitting) so she can discuss permacultural design in Ukrainian with our group.  

Deep gratitude to all the donors.

Rev. Anna Myosen Nacher