Mail Force aid to help homesick children
UKRAINIAN women who fled Putin’s invasion are being trained to work as teachers in Polish schools so that they can help child refugees – thanks to Mail Force.
Olha Borodavka, 32, escaped from the north-west of her homeland a month ago with her seven-year-old daughter and ten-year-old son and is now teaching six-year-olds at a school in the Polish city of Lublin.
Speaking to The Mail on Sunday yesterday, she said: ‘On my first day a little boy came over to me and asked me if I was from Ukraine. When I said yes he started crying. I told him it was my mission to help him. The children wait for me every morning with a cuddle.’
Olha was hired as a teacher as part of a project involving Care International, which has received a £500,000 donation from Mail Force. She is one of 50 refugees who have found jobs in Lublin’s schools. ‘I am grateful to be accepted into the homes and lives of the Polish, but I need independence,’ she added. ‘This job has at least given me that and I am so grateful as otherwise I would have nothing.’
Care is working with its partner the Polish Centre for International Aid (PCPM) and various city councils. The women work six hours a day, five days a week and are paid the equivalent of £29 per day.
A spokeswoman for the charity last night hailed the generosity of readers of The Mail on Sunday and Daily Mail, who have helped raise more than £10 million for Mail Force. ‘Thanks to the generosity of Mail on Sunday and Daily Mail readers, Care has partnered PCPM and municipalities like Lublin to hire refugee Ukrainian teachers in Polish schools,’ she said. ‘This not only gives the teachers a much needed income, but also helps Ukrainian children, who are often vulnerable and in some cases traumatised, to better integrate into school with Polish children.’
Tatiana Krasilnyk, 48, from Chernihiv, a town in northern Ukraine, fled the fighting in a truck with 26 other people.
‘I was with three other families – all teachers – during my journey,’ she said. ‘I am the only one who has a job. I am crying with gratitude.’
Natalia Pradko, 35, also from northern Ukraine, said her new job as a teacher was helping her ‘get back a sense of normality’.
She added: ‘It’s such a great opportunity for me but also for the children. They have someone to talk to in their native language about their emotions and feelings and us teachers can help them with understanding those thoughts.’
Another refugee teacher, Olha Snihur, 42, agreed that it is crucial that Ukrainian children who have fled to Poland are able to speak to others about their experiences.
‘They want to speak and communicate with Polish children, but they can’t and they are afraid. I can help them with that, which means the world to me. We aren’t just teachers, we are a bit of home.’
‘We aren’t just teachers, we are a bit of home’