In the quaint, snowy town of Bolestraszyce, which lies 15 kilometres from Poland’s border with Ukraine, is a home where its residents and guests hardly know each other.
Yet, as the two families jovially gather around a tiny kitchen table, chatting with such an ease that's usually reserved for close friends or relatives, one would hardly know they met less than a week ago.
On one side of the table sits Maciej Gamanda and wife, Ewa, a Polish couple who have lived in Maciej’s hometown since they married 20 years ago.
On the other side are a Ukrainian family the couple has taken in, having registered to provide free shelter for refugees forced to flee their homes in the face of intensifying Russian attacks.
“It all started a week ago,” Maciej tells SBS News in his native Polish.
“We were sitting on the sofa watching television and I said to my wife, ‘let’s do something’.”
Initially, Maciej began making deliveries for the refugee centres around the border towns, but with volunteers streaming into this part of southern Poland, his help there proved surplus to requirements.
He and Ewa then decided to sign up to help house new arrivals; receiving a phone call at 3am to say there were three mothers with children in need of board. The pair had only registered the previous evening.
Polish border towns have been unwavering in their support of Ukrainian refugees since the humanitarian crisis began. Credit: SBS/Omar Dehen
“Well we had an opportunity to help and we didn’t take much time to act,” says Ewa.
“The first families stayed for a few days before they moved elsewhere in Europe, so we had a chance to take more people in.
“So many women and children turned up, you can’t just stand and watch it from afar.”
The couple has since offered up their apartment to one family, as well as the Bolestraszyce home – which belongs to one of Maciej’s relatives – to two others.
“I was waiting for a good moment to act, and the time is now,” says Maciej, who hasn’t worked for his business in two weeks.
“I am just very happy that I can help. Somebody has to.”
Safe refuge but still in deep despair
Among those receiving the Gamanda’s warm hospitality is Anna Rentchiuk, who left her hometown of Lviv in western Ukraine with her mother, teenage sons and four-year-old daughter, Malina.
Her husband couldn’t leave Ukraine, as per a government order which prevents men aged between 18 to 60 from doing so.
Anna Rentchiuk and four-year-old daughter Malina. Credit: SBS/Omar Dehen
“We’ve gone through a lot of shock and pain and stress,” reflects Anna in Ukrainian.
“We know that our boys are staying strong, and they will hold their positions. They keep telling us that they are not going to give Ukraine away to the Russians and they will fight right to the end.”
For Anna’s mother, Vira, the future of her country consumes her every thought.
“It is horrible, no one expected this would happen and it’s becoming worse and worse every day,” she said.
“Today I am here, but I keep thinking about going back home to Ukraine as soon as possible.”
Through the home, across a narrow hallway, is another family holding out hope they will soon return to Ukraine, rather than travel further than Poland’s border.
Yuliya Vasilenko left the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro with her six-year-old daughter Emma, who caught a cold on the journey to Poland and remains bedridden.
Shuttling back-and-forth, tending to Emma, Yulia also appears pale, with the trauma of the past fortnight etched over her face.
Anna’s mother, Vira, left, says she believes Ukraine will eventually repel the Russian invasion. Credit: SBS/Omar Dehen
With her husband also on the front lines, and the country under fierce attack, Yuliya is emotionally and physically drained.
“I’m feeling sick,” Yuliya says in Ukrainian.
“I think I want to go back home. But it’s not possible at the moment and I have nowhere to go. I don’t know what to do.”
But in Yuliya’s mind, the illest of them all is the Russian president.
“We think (Vladimir) Putin is a sick man and somebody has to stop him.
“Russians need to stop him.”
Our interview then comes to a halt. Yuliya has had enough and Emma is late for a medical appointment, with Maciej and Ewa getting ready to drive them to a general practitioner who now offers free check-ups for refugees.
Yuliya Vasilenko’s six-year-old daughter, Emma, caught a cold while travelling into Poland, while her father remains in Ukraine to fight Russian forces. Credit: SBS/Omar Dehen
‘Fastest growing crisis since World War II’
Since the beginning of this crisis, volunteers in Poland have worked around the clock to support humanitarian efforts.
Many people, like Maciej, have taken leave from their jobs and travelled either across Poland or Europe to help border towns.
But the exhausting work to support Ukrainians who have suffered so much continues to have no end in sight, as the number of refugees crossing the border grows in record numbers.
Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, has now declared the situation “the fastest-growing migrant crisis since World War II,” exacerbating fears of a worsening humanitarian fallout following the failure to secure a humanitarian corridor in besieged Ukrainian cities like Mariupol.
Polish couple Ewa and Maciej Gamanda (left) and the Ukrainian family they are housing near the border. Credit: SBS/Omar Dehen
And while volunteers like Maciej and Ewa admit the local humanitarian response thus far can only be sustained for so long, they are determined to do the best they can for as long as possible.
“It’s all charity work and nobody is expecting a penny,” says Ewa.
“Who would have done all of this if it wasn’t for us?”
“I’m feeling very happy about it,” adds Maciej.
“It’s a massive relief that I can help someone. I know I’m doing something good.”
