MAY 5 • 2022 | 15

I tried to prepare the best
I could, gathering donations
for the urgent need items
we received from JAFI staff.
A week later, after running
around like a wild woman,
gathering medical certification
that I was in good enough
shape for this trip, signing my
life away in liability forms,
and meeting with my family
and friends before I left, I was
traveling to New York and
onward to Warsaw, Poland,
from there, with my own
small suitcase and a larger one
filled with donations.
My family and friends were
somewhat worried (proba-
bly an understatement), but
I overruled their anxiety, as
I felt I could contribute my
skills and expertise to help. At
our orientation before the trip,
we were told we would live in
the same hotel where refugees
are placed, eat the same food
and would be sharing a room
with another volunteer.
That last one was the scar-
iest part for my American
friends, but for those of us
who came from the former
Soviet Union, sharing living
space (and taking turns to
use a shared bathroom and
shower) was nothing new. I’ve
heard horrible, painful stories
from my friends about their
family members’ and friends’
war experiences in Ukraine.
So, I thought I was totally
mentally and emotionally pre-
pared for the trip and knew
what to expect.

ARRIVAL IN POLAND
The first thing I saw as I
arrived at the hotel in Warsaw
was that it was much nicer
than I expected, probably
what we would rate a three-

or four-star hotel. The next
thing I saw, when I entered
my assigned room that I was
to share with a stranger, was
one big bed. After the first
moment of slight shock, I
realized that there were two
twin beds put together, and
the hotel staff was able to pull
them apart, albeit only a few
inches.
My roommate turned out
to be a wonderful nurse from
Montreal, Canada, who was
born in Kyiv, then repatriated
to Israel, and after 13 years
of working in a hospital with
patients wounded by rockets,
decided to move to Canada.
There were six other people
from Montreal in our volun-
teer group, and they all spoke
Hebrew, English and French
in addition to Russian (and
some Ukrainian and some
Polish). There were also two
Israelis, who currently live
in the U.S. (and spoke three
languages). And the group
was rounded out by three
Americans (including me)
and one Israeli, the four of us
“only” bilingual and feeling
slightly inadequate in the
group that kept switching
among languages.
That first night we met
with some of the JAFI staff
and a small group of previous
volunteers, who were prepar-
ing to depart the next day.
Our group had social work-
ers, teachers, medical and
IT professionals, so we tried
to assign jobs to ourselves
where we felt we would fit.
I helped with kids’ activities
on the first day, but after that
had to step in and assist in
the Humanitarian Aid store,
where I was then needed for
the rest of the deployment.

TOP: A volunteer sorts through donations in the Humanitarian Aid
store. MIDDLE: Volunteer nurses at work. BOTTOM: Volunteers
make challah with refugee families before Shabbat.
continued on page 16