Rosie’s visit to the Polish/Ukrainian border

This is to keep you up to date with all Rosie and the Love Bristol team are doing in Poland. Rosie arrived there on Friday 25th March and plans to stay until Monday 4th April.

The updates take the form of Rosie’s own photos and text messages.

Why has Rosie gone to Poland?

A week last Monday some friends of ours from Bristol, Andy and Jo, phoned Rosie to ask if she would like to join them on a trip to the Polish/Ukrainian border. They are connected to a Christian charity called ‘Love Bristol. A team of fifteen would be flying to Rzeszow in Southeast Poland to help with the many refugees crossing the border from Ukraine. They would leave on Friday (25th March) and stay there for ten days.

We thought we could re-arrange the diary and that Johnny and I could survive on our own, so Rosie booked her flight, got her negative COVID test, and on Friday lunchtime found herself stepping off the plane in Rzeszow, just a couple of hours before Jo Biden was due to land at the same airport.

A mini-bus then took her to the town of Przemysl (pronounced ‘Shemishl’), just a few miles from the Ukrainian border where there is a large Humanitarian Centre, previously a Tesco’s warehouse. This receives and processes the dozens of refugees – mainly women and children –arriving each day. Przemysl is about 60 miles west of Lviv.

So how did Love Bristol come to be involved in the crisis?

Simply due to the initiative of Greg, a pastor from Bristol. A week or so after the Russian invasion, Greg loaded up a van with clothes and provisions and drove to Poland. There he found the need was not so much for the contents of his van, but for people to help process the refugees. Representatives from most European countries were already there manning desks so that refugees could be transported to a country of their choice but there was no UK presence.

So Greg called for a team of volunteers from Bristol to come and lend a hand in providing care for the refugees and help those who wanted to go to the UK to fill out the visa applications. He also set up a data base to match those offering to host a refugee with those seeking to come to the UK. The first team stayed for 10 days. Rosie was now arriving with the second team.

And so, in her own words …

Friday 25th March

This is where I am currently. Here with Andy and Jo. Organised chaos at the Humanitarian Centre. So .. it’s needing to close down for 5hrs as rotavirus is rife … need to deep clean.

Twenty-four refugees are staying tonight in this Catholic centre/school. Just been setting up beds. Empty because it’s the weekend. Out buying pizzas for them all .. finding our way around the town.

Saturday 26th March

Morning all. Just a brief update after only 7hrs sleep in the last two days. I’m being trained today with Andy in filling in application forms and matching Ukrainians to hosts. They have had loads of people offer (you need to register with the Love Bristol website) – over a hundred just on their site. Matching up is not easy and they ask for prayers discerning what is a right match. They fear the more immediate response from other EU countries may be too rushed and not careful enough. Feeling a bit overwhelmed. Do hope I pick it up easily.

The hub in the Humanitarian Centre is now disinfected and praying the nova virus going round is under control. I have a really bad sore throat today. Pray it goes.

Spent ages cleaning and then shopping for the 23 refugees the team housed last night at the Catholic school. Amazing place but no showers and only one toilet. Today we will need to find a place so they can shower.

The refugees are tired and so disoriented. So strange that mainly all women and children. Concern about the number of ‘unwanted helpers’ that have appeared. Seems traffickers are making their presence felt.

I met the loveliest 21-year-old Ukrainian called Kate. Heart on fire for God and refused to go with her family to Denmark where it is safe. She wants to serve God and help her people. A real missionary heart and bubbling with faith and trust in God. Delightful girl who has just finished a degree in economics.

No messing with the team here! Focussed and bundles of energy. Hope I can keep up! Greg (team leader) is heading to Lviv today to take supplies to a pastor there. Seems the churches are coming alive in their witness and service. Interesting how Ukrainians very much talk of an east and west of the country. The ones I have met are so pragmatic and incredibly patient as they get moved along. About four Humanitarian Centres in the town, this one being the largest. All manned by loads of small charities and individuals that jumped in vans to come to help.

Regarding matching up, It seems you need to put your name on the Love Bristol website and as they process visas they look at that list to see who is the best match. Taking a good 5-6 hours to find a good match.

We met two lads from Bradford who came to help and hired a van here. They spend their time ferrying people from the border to the Centre where they get on trains, buses and people carriers to whichever country offers to have them. Despite the time it takes to fill in forms, people are willing to wait and persist with the UK.

I’ve been having so many conversations with the loveliest people. A girl and her mum .. she is studying to be a professional pianist. Been hiding underground for the last two weeks. Another lady with her son and her friend who studied public relations at uni and works in tourism. Going to live in Manchester. She says leaving her husband behind sandbags was so difficult. Her friend is leaving her parents and misses them terribly.

So sad. The bomb that just got dropped in Lviv was Kate’s neighbourhood .. where she played as a child. Her friend who is still there texted her to say the beautiful spot where they used to go is no longer there …

Everyone so pragmatic and unemotional.

Sunday 27th March

I’m feeling a bit pathetic as I fight off this temp and sore throat thing .. while everyone is helping. Need to get past this hump. Feeling disoriented as still have temp and no medication. Don’t want to be this useless person. But I have a wonderful view! [Rosie lays low for most of Sunday just sleeping and recovering].

These are some of the texts coming through from the team: ‘Do we have any more room at the school or church to move people into from the hub? We have a family of three keen to move. Mum and two children (15 yr old boy and 12 yr old girl).

Monday 28th March

My temperature has gone!! Feeling more normal but a wracking cough. At the school helping some women with their washing.

Andy taking others to a nearby town to do the next stage in processing visas. Still not one confirmed, so pray for a big breakthrough. About fifty have been processed, but not one confirmed.

Also finding another building to house more women and children.

[Shows video footage of a car journey through the countryside. Bright, sunny day. Polish spoken from the front seats]

Me right this moment! Keep praying for strength. My cough is awful and pain in my chest, but persevering. Poland is so beautiful. Will tell you about this contact when I have a moment.

So this is a place, not far from Przemysl where we are going to bring some of the women and children who are waiting for their visas to be processed. We’ve just been cleaning and setting up the house. Have been finding accommodation and setting up all day for fifteen women and children.

We have also found another massive place that houses fifty – me and Jo!

[I ask Rosie how she is managing to find these places].

We’ve been friendly and talking to everyone. We have made so many connections and met a lovely girl called Jo who is Polish but lives in London. She had come to visit her family and was visiting her brother’s church. She mentioned her uncle’s place 20 mins out from where we are staying. We went to visit and bought loads of bedding and food. And then that uncle mentioned another friend …
Everyone we meet is so willing to help. Another guy called Dave has just driven over from Guildford with loads of medical supplies and he’s now helping to ferry people around. Just picked up sixteen from the border.

People are on high alert here. They feel any misfired rocket could provoke a massive war and this area is so vulnerable.

Have been deeply moved by Kate talking about the horrors of the war. I pass on some disturbing stuff. Sorry. But she said please let people in the UK know about it.

[Rosie sends an image of a man wrapped against a tree in clingfilm. He is completely immobile but appears to be alive. She also sends a disturbing video montage filmed in Mariupol].

This is what they have been doing to civilians. The Russians are committing horrendous crimes. And those people who still alive in Mariupol are being starved to death as they can’t be got out. It was heart breaking to hear Kate talk about it.

Unfortunately pain under my rib cage is bad. My cough not good so very painful. Just managed to get some antibiotics off a missions doctor here.

Tuesday 29th March

[I tell Rosie that nine of us met at 7am on Zoom this morning to pray for her and the team]

Oh, love, thanks. Makes all the difference. Been overwhelming today. The need is huge and comes at you from all angles. So … just taken eight women (including two teenagers and a baby) to a lovely little church where they are staying until we make progress with visas. They are so vulnerable. They arrive disorientated and traffickers are everywhere. Three van loads of women and children were stopped two days ago leaving the Humanitarian Centre. Too awful.

Very few have English so understanding each other is a challenge. But our lovely 21-year-old Kate is just amazing. Invaluable. We are off now to see a new property that can house fifty. We are interested in having one place that can house everyone. Would be so much easier. But better still is if we can actually get them into the UK.

It is shameful at the Humanitarian Centre. We were sat next to Spain today who had a board up with the number of coaches leaving for different destinations in Spain, full of refugees. UK: only us and we are busy looking for houses to home them here as they wait. Other EU countries look at us in despair. We keep telling people to go elsewhere but many still want to persist.

I am so sad today looking at all these wives without their husbands. And a mum at the school place we are at asking for exercise books for her child doing lessons on Zoom to Ukraine. They are resilient but weary and now have to trust us .. thank goodness us women are here too, with warmth and hugs and kindness. They need it.

The team we worked with yesterday. The girl with blond hair is Jo who is Polish and helped us get the two properties. She is part of Soul Survivor Church and lives in Watford. Dan and Michael from Bradford. Not from church and full of energy and have been sooo helpful.

So, it’s been an extraordinary day. Don’t even know where to start. Just helped the most vulnerable of women. Somehow this 21-year-old slipped into our group of refugees and we took her to one of houses to await the full processing of her visa. Jo and I moved her over with another eight women – including a 17-year-old girl and her with her 1-year-old baby, mum and brother too.

Anyway, this girl was quite alternative (nose piercings, heavy make-up) and spoke quite good English. She was asking non-stop questions about her host family in Bristol. Wanting to smoke constantly. We sensed something wasn’t quite right. Her behaviour spoke of someone who has known exploitation of probably every kind. She carried a different kind of pain to that of the Ukrainian women traumatised by war. It turned out she was German ‘studying’ in Kyiv. Lost, alone, no family or friends she is in contact with. She carried her massive suitcase around with her. Displaced again, this time by war. We couldn’t leave her with the other women as she was to anxious and edgy for them. She would unsettle them even more. And neither would she qualify for refugee status in the UK as a German.

So we had to take her back to the Humanitarian Centre. We prayed with her and spoke God’s peace over her. We placed her back in the big room full of hundreds of refugees. Safe for another night at least. The lost, abused girls of this world. Our hearts breaking for her and wondering what contacts we could call on.

But, amazingly, someone German working at one of the desks decided to contact his friends back in Germany. She is now being scooped up by them (one of them is a trauma therapist) and will be on the bus their tomorrow. So that complex situation solved.

But going into this huge warehouse where hundreds of refugees are sleeping .. was deeply distressing. So many children cuddling pets. Grannies on their own. Disabled children. All bundled into this noisy, brightly lit warehouse. So vulnerable. Just about kept the tears in.

And then the conversations today with so many women sharing their pain. One woman, well dressed and beautiful, showed us pics of her husband and son. They owned their own business and clearly led an affluent life. And here on her own now. Her men left behind ready to go and fight. She just cried and told us she has aged decades, white hairs appearing daily. What do you say ..?

Must sleep. Once up it is literally non-stop. Collecting washing tomorrow and bringing women for showers. Moving them to a new accommodation on Thursday. I’m coping but still with persistent pain (sharp coughing still painful). But such a privilege to be in the midst of so much pain but equally so much kindness. And the Ukrainian women we have befriended are wonderful.

It's hard to process how much trauma these people are going through. Just the small kindnesses we show them mean the world. Also, talking to this amazing multi-lingual translator at the Centre who hadn’t stopped all day. From Malta and with the biggest smile and energy. Amazing man. Couldn’t do enough to help. He was taking a week off work to do whatever he could to help.

Wednesday 30th March

What a day! A bit more tension amongst our team as we are faced with overwhelming need. Just too many people and not enough of us doing it all. We are constantly trying to feel our way through the rules, forms and red tape.

We have two full minibuses with families (and a dachshund dog) heading for a new school we found for fifty people. So much waiting for them as they are moved from pillar to post. I feel for them so much. It should be made easier for them not harder. We are making mistakes as the team gets tired.

Yet to hear that one of our visas has got through …

Polish military made it really difficult for us to leave the Humanitarian Centre. Understandable because of trafficking, but we waited ages and during that wait a mother and daughter (with the dog) got really afraid. She asked to be let out and grabbed her bags. She was very distressed and I had to accompany her back to the Centre. She told me she didn’t feel safe and that it was too difficult to come to the UK. She was so upset and I had to ask a translator to come over and help. I felt so helpless. We had to leave without her.

[Rosie attaches a link to an article in the Evening Standard about their work on the border and their frustrations that no visas have yet been granted: https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/poland-homes-tesco-people-spain-b991511.html ]

Visas beginning to come through now!!! Keep praying! Well .. not quite. But people in England having inspections now.

Thursday 31st March

So, I find myself again in another minibus load of mums with their children. Fourteen this time. We're taking them to one of the houses while they wait for visas to be granted. It's always stressful getting them out of the Humanitarian Centre as the military are on high alert for traffickers. We will settle them at their temporary home and then try and get food.

Had the opportunity to chat more to Tonya and Viktorya today and hear their story of strength in the midst of so much pain. A 20-year-old lad from their church, whom they had watched grow up was killed a few days ago. They shared their sadness about it. They showed us videos of the overcrowded trains leaving for the West of the country - how the trains travel without lights on and with blacked out windows. Because the train was full, when they passed the station they were unable to pick up more passengers. People would bang on the side of the train pleading to be let on. The women told us they have nightmares about this. They say the only reason they cope is because God gives them strength.

Friday 1st April

Another full-on day caring for the many refugees still waiting for their visas. Still no news. It's been particularly interesting today relating to the children. How quickly they relax when they have other children around. But their mums tell us how they keep asking about their dads ... when will the see them again. The mums are tired and strained and carry heavy bags.

I had a very moving conversation with a Ukrainian man who has come all this way to get his elderly parents from Ukraine. He himself lives in the UK doing whatever job he can find. He currently works in a factory. A lovely, quietly spoken man, he lives with his partner, a Russian lady in Norwich. He shared that his relationship is no longer working as she believes Putin's rhetoric and thinks the Ukrainians have brought this on themselves. He is obviously devastated by what is happening to his country. Extraordinary how families are being ripped apart this way too. He says he believes his partner has been brainwashed.

Sunday 3rd April

I've woken up to a blanket of snow. This will make driving to our different houses quite a challenge today! Jo and I must handover the care and smooth running of our four houses where around seventy refugees still await their visas.

One of the latest people to join us is a lady in her sixties with a beautiful cat. I have been moved seeing how many bewildered pets are here and how important they are in keeping their owners calm. Can you imagine looking after Maggie (our labradoodle) waiting and sleeping in a humanitarian centre with around a thousand people around? So many children cuddling their little dogs, and this particular woman stroking her increasingly agitated cat.

Two new people have joined our 'building site' - two Swedish independent journalists. Their country, like every other, takes the refugees straight away. But we do the rounds again of visiting ours as we wait. So much unnecessary waiting. And in the meantime they get more anxious and weary. And sickness is rife now. I have managed to keep going despite this awful cough. Another in the team now has COVID and lays low, but it seems we are all now spluttering.

And today we will need to say goodbye to them all. I will miss them. Such deep bonds formed in such a short time.

Some of the guys in our team are heading over to Lviv this morning to encourage and support a church they know. Apparently the Red Cross will be coming through the border too, attempting to get to Mariupol once more to get out those who are trapped.

More of the refugees show us pictures of their towns, now shelled by the Russians, and they wonder what they look like now. The friends that stayed now regret not having left. It's getting harder. For many of the women it is now not possible to keep in touch with their men as the internet is down in so many places in the Ukraine.

Send my love to everyone in church today, and a big thank your for all their prayers. Makes such a difference knowing others are holding us in prayer.

Monday 4th April

So, last ramblings as my time serving here in Przemysl draws to an end. What an emotional last day as Jo and myself handed over the care of the families, women and children to the new team coming out. Hard to let go as you become so invested and involved in the lives of these people. We have known most of them for only ten days and yet we said goodbye with tears and warm hugs. I will think of them all the time, full of admiration for the extraordinary fortitude and warmth they carry in the face of so much suffering.

I look forward to bringing many of them to church to meet our warm, welcoming family. It has been so wonderful to introduce Olena and her three children to the amazing Stephen and Viv who are welcoming them into their lovely home. Her story is heart-breaking and she will need to be scooped up and surrounded with so much love as she begins a new chapter in her life here. Surreal Facetiming them from the disused school where they are staying as they await their visa to be okayed, communicating a little through a sweet translator who is staying there too.

A little incident happened at the school on our arrival that morning which shows the fear they carry. Olena came running out of her room quite distressed as something had fallen on the roof and she thought it was a shell. One of the team went out to see what it was - a bit of concrete that had fallen off the chimney. But she smiled for the first time when she saw a picture of Emily and Matthew and her little boy stuck his tongue out as we faced timed. And another lovely lady called Phillippa is scooping Olena’s sister-in-law, Vladislava and her two children at her home in Hartley Witney. It is our privilege to be welcoming them into our communities.

Lots of challenges emerging in the houses as they all wait. Children getting sick, two women with toothache, pets with no vaccination records needing to be registered with a Polish vet to start the long process, children needing entertaining, shopping needing to be done and dropped off each morning for about eighty people (and more and more people registering), people being taken and collected to the visa centre in Rzeszow in order to sort out their biometrics, mums anxiously needing to be kept up to date with what stage they are with their visas and keeping in touch with their hosts .. and so many clothes to wash!

So, I’ve walked alongside a few families and women during my time here, others in the team will make sure they actually get to the UK. We had an extraordinarily gift from someone offering to pay the flights back for all the refugees. Amazing! it’s been such a privilege to be part of a team who is facilitating this short step towards a new chapter in their lives. But the truth is that, while they are incredibly grateful, most simply want to go home.

Farewell, but looking forward to seeing you in the UK.

Sabbatical Cycling Around Europe

My Extended Study Leave 18th April – 18th July 2022