Islands of humanity. Looking back on a year of war

Viki and Karin keep asking when the other kids, with whom they are to be baking gingerbread cookies today, will arrive. They are going to be decorating them with white and red icing. But there is a lot of flu in February, so it is not clear whether anybody else will arrive. The two pre-school girls shorten their wait by drawing on the blackboard and leafing through children's books. Viki recites some nursery rhymes in solid Czech.

In the end, the group is completed with 12-year-old Dominik, who has come to be tutored in maths, so the girls don’t have too much fun with him. Their moment comes when a mother and her daughter, also about 12 years old, show up at the Lávka club in Jaroměř. It is their first visit to the club, as they had only arrived in the Czech Republic from Ukraine in December. The daughter is not yet in school and it is time for her to start. The mother is consulting this issue with Mrs. Oxana, a worker at the club. Meanwhile, Viki and Karin take care of her daughter, obviously happy to be able to introduce their new older friend to how things work here.

Slavic reciprocity is not enough

The club in Jaroměř serves both Ukrainian children and adults. For the kids, the club provides some fun time, a possibility to meet new friends, get help with school, and talk about anything that troubles them. Adults can get help when dealing with medical contracts, looking for a job; the club’s workers advise them on how local legislation works and what unwritten rules they should be aware of, where they can get clothes or food aid, for example. Czech language classes are also held twice a week. These are particularly important. With a little goodwill and some gestures, Czechs and Ukrainians are able to communicate about ordinary matters and make themselves understood, but this Slavic linguistic reciprocity is not enough for dealing with authorities, schools and trying to get a job.

„We are simply doing everything we can to make the refugees’ stay in the Czech Republic a little easier for them,“ says the manager of the Lávka club, Svitlana Danylenko. She knows how important this is. She herself arrived in Jaroměř one year ago – with a suitcase in one hand and her daughter in the other.

Just like Ms Svitlana, Ms Yulia also found a job working for Diaconia. She arrived in Prague for a Czech language course, and today she runs a creative workshop for Diaconia’s Centre for National Programmes and Services. Mrs Nadiia works in the kitchen of Diakonia Dvůr Králové nad Labem, while her 90-year-old mother is cared for by a local home for the elderly. A rather unique type of service is offered by Diaconia’s SOS centre in Prague. Here, psychologist Olena Novitska provides professional support in Ukrainian to any refugee seeking psychological assistance. In total, Diaconia employs 50 women from Ukraine. Thanks to the great scope of its services across the country, Diaconia helps thousands of women and children to integrate in a similar way as is happening in Jaroměř. However, aid is also being provided directly to and in Ukraine.

Peaceful Skies

The war deprived Mr. Stanislav of his business, but not of his desire to do something for the people and for his threatened homeland. Since he had been managing several restaurants in peacetime, he didn't have to think too hard now. He used his experience in the catering industry to set up an organisation that cooks and delivers meals to the needy. It's called Myrnenebo – Peaceful Skies.

He now heads five humanitarian kitchens, where 130 volunteers work every day to provide 12,000 hot meals to people surviving in war zones without gas, electricity, or water. The aid has been especially important during the winter months. It was also made possible thanks to Czech donors who support Ukraine through Diaconia’s Centre for Humanitarian and Development Cooperation.

Thanks to the Centre, a small Czech humanitarian organisation named Pax can operate in the vicinity of the war front. It helps Ukrainians who refuse to leave, even when bombs are literally dropped on their heads. Their determination may seem unreasonable, but they still need medicine, small heaters, diapers, winter tires and other basic necessities that are not available in the zone. It is the brave men of Pax who bring them these items. They describe these communities surviving on the margins or in the middle of a war zone as precious islands of humanity.

A Light in the Darkness

In late February, a meeting called A Light in the Darkness was held in the Protestant Church of Martin in the Wall in Prague. On the anniversary of the beginning of the Russian aggression against Ukraine, people from the church, Diaconia, and Ukrainian people gathered to look back on the past year, which was unexpectedly intense. Despite all the darkness, it also brought some bright moments. The world expected that Ukraine would succumb to the onslaught of the „second strongest army in the world“. Yet one year on, it is clear that the country is still defending its independence, although it is not yet clear within what boundaries.

European countries were expected to keep their hands off Ukraine. And yet – they did not.

Who in the Czech Republic would have expected such a willingness to share space and resources with thousands of refugees? Years ago, when Diaconia and the ECCB helped a few people fleeing the war in Syria, they had to face the rejectionist hysteria of a large part of Czech society. The voices against migrants are still loud today, but they are not being heard. Instead, thousands of Czechs are quietly helping wherever they are needed.

However, perseverance will be more than necessary. Even if Ukraine is liberated from the occupiers and the war ends, this does not mean that peace will come. A huge amount of courage, intransigence and goodwill will still be needed.

• The ECCB’s Diaconia and the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren are helping nearly 6,000 Ukrainian refugees to integrate in the Czech Republic. Half of them are women, the rest are school and pre-school children.
• Donors in the Czech Republic contributed over CZK 15 million to Diaconia's activities.

Other partner organisations are helping thanks to funds raised by Diaconia:

• Evacuating orphans and homeless children from the Kiev area to safety (immediately after the attack in February 2022
• supporting internally displaced citizens
• providing humanitarian aid (food, medication, hygiene supplies, etc.)
• participating in the evacuation of people from the Donetsk region

Adam Šůra