“I love Poland, this is where I want to live and I know that I can help my family and all those in need in my country”, said Yehor, with a flash that marked the shadow of the Warsaw Palace of Culture.
Current events through Yehor’s eyes are enough to be part of the youth group of the “Life and Peace” Charity Foundation, which provides aid in various parts of Poland, including Warsaw and Krakow. The foundation is made up of 15 youngsters and teenagers from Poland and Ukraine, who have been supporting refugees and Ukrainian medical personnel on the front line through different channels: psychological and emotional therapy through zootherapy, with financial, medicinal, food, providing temporary shelter to those who need it; with first aid equipment for paramedics, as well as automobile equipment for ambulances affected by attacks between both armies.
Yehor Komlyk (14), arrived in Warsaw with his stepfather and mother in March 2022, his hometown, Dnipro, has so far been one of the most affected cities due to the current war. Just 660 kilometers away from Odessa, Dnipro plays an important role for Russia, since its origins are part of the Crimea region.
Having said that, the attacks and the recovery attempt for the Russian nation are a constant in the present. However, all he wants is to live in the place he mentions as “the best city of all”: Warsaw. Although it implies waiting one more year to be enrolled in school and attend the last year of high school to finally enter upper secondary education that will allow him to achieve his dreams.
Meanwhile, he gets up every day with the intention of helping, he commonly walks through the streets of the historic center, particularly Jerozolimskie Avenue, which connects the city from the modern and reconstructed area, to the old town, now considered a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
Other days, his walk is directed only to the delivery of groceries or to the participation in cultural and artistic activities focused on Ukrainian boys and girls in order to motivate a grin on their faces. The Warsaw Post team shared the experience of being in the artistic activity for children in the streets of Warsaw, through which they welcomed the brand new school year and with face painting, posters and drawings, the Foundation, as well as Yehor’s effort to provide welfare to the society of his nation, was positive.
“My family and I thought, just to return to visit Ukraine every summer and to stay and live here in Poland. We just want to visit our family that is still there, like my grandparents. We are happy to be here and we don’t want to live again in Ukraine,” he said with the seriousness and innocence that can still be seen in his eyes.
Members of the Foundation assured that they will be for the rest of the year contributing to those affected in Ukraine, although they declare that the same support is no longer received, there are those who still contribute to the charity.
Yehor mentioned that despite being far from his country, he feels calm about his daily work and contemplates that Poland will be a home that not only will make him happy, but also his family.
