Many mothers, many children, countless stories of separations and reunions. A bustle of bags and suitcases that contain in a minimal space the lives of those who drag those bags and suitcases in the middle of the cold and frost. Night and day. The border between Poland and Ukraine, not far from Krakow, is swept by the icy wind which, despite the thermometer marks one degree above zero, causes the perceived temperature to be much, much lower. In this dramatic context, i volunteers of the Lisolachenoncè Association, from Teolo in the province of Padua, managed to load 58 Ukrainian children aged 3 to 17 on their two buses. And five adults who looked after them in two orphanages in Lviv. They too fleeing Ukraine in war.
One of the many great little stories of Italian solidarity. This umpteenth journey of hope began on Saturday night, around 23 pm, in Teolo, with the departure of the volunteers. On Tuesday morning the children - who arrived around 11 - were welcomed in the seminary of Sarmeola di Rubano. They are guests of the Diocese of Padua, legally in charge of the Municipality of Rubano, managed by the Volunteer Association Neverland
The Lisolachenoncè association and its commitment to Ukrainian children
How did all this come about? "It is a story that starts from afar - explains the president of the Paolo Giurisato Association - our association was born in 1999. As part of the Project Chernobyl for many years we have given hospitality to Ukrainian and Belarusian children for physical recovery from radioactivity (Chernobyl is in Ukraine, not far from the Belarusian border, ed). In Italy there are hundreds of associations of this type, about ten in the Veneto. The last two years of the pandemic, however, had blocked a bit of everything, even if some kept coming. In particular, a little girl who had been hosted in Italy at Christmas and who last week called her Italian family explaining that they were evacuating the orphanages because of the war ”.
The request for help from a girl hosted in Italy thanks to the Chernobyl Project
"We were informed on Saturday night - continues Giurisato - and in a few hours we organized everything. When you hear such a thing, you don't think about it and go. At 23pm we already had the two buses available, thanks to the help of a bus company. We left immediately. Me, another volunteer from the Association and five drivers. In the meantime, other members of Isolachenoncè from Italy took care of the documents necessary to bring the children to our country". That of Giurisato and the other volunteers was a very long journey, without stopping, from Padua to Krakow and then towards the Polish-Ukrainian border. "Once we arrived it was not easy to find the border line, because there are no signs. We reached the border around 18pm on Sunday thanks also to the help of a Polish police car whose manager spoke Italian. They accompanied us".
On the border between Poland and Ukraine: the cold, the tents, the rows of cars, young mothers walking with their children
What have you seen? "It is difficult and emotionally hard to say. In that cold, many tents, cars lined up, many young mothers with their children, on foot. The children we were expecting arrived tired, exhausted, frightened around 3 am. We loaded them on the buses and we immediately left, headed to Warsaw, where we arrived in the morning and from where we left around 18 pm Our embassy had been alerted but hours went by to get all the documents. I had brought some boxes of croissants from Italy, so that the children could have food until we arrived in Italy.".
The dramatic stories of the war
In this long journey (a total of three thousand kilometers) round trip, without stopping or almost, Paolo Giurisato has seen many images that he will never forget. "Not far from the border, in a moment of rest, we parked next to a bus. I got out for a few minutes and saw the faces of many young Ukrainians who were returning to their country behind the windows of that bus. They were probably born or raised outside Ukraine and were returning, in the opposite direction to ours, I guess to defend their land. I have imprinted their faces, little more than boys, I thought of my children".
It's still: "As we stood at the border waiting for the Lviv orphans, two young women with five children approached us. One spoke Italian and had seen our Italian license plate. She asked us if we could give them a lift to get to Italy. We could not afford to take other people on board, there was a problem with documents, we risked getting stuck. I asked them if they knew where they would go once they arrived in Italy. Yes, that young woman replied, we know where to go, in Bologna, but we don't know how to get there".
"Our goal is to give these orphans the warmth of a family by making them feel at home"
Stories of war and humanity treated without humanity, because war is like that. Paolo Giurisato hosted for many years, as part of the Chernobyl Project, Yuri, at the time a Ukrainian child. Today Yuri is a 23-year-old young Ukrainian man. He works in Kiev and has a three-year-old son. "I sent him a little financial help, hopefully good". And the children who arrived in Italy, what will their fate be? "I don't know yet, I imagine they will be regularized, then we'll see. In the meantime, our goal is to give them the warmth of the family by making them feel at home, and that is why the presence of the adults who took care of them in the orphanages of Lviv is important. We are also receiving many parcels, aid for those who are still in Ukraine. We will send them there as soon as the humanitarian corridors openi ".
(photo: page Fb Lisolachenoncè)
