UKRAINE REFUGEE RELIEF OPERATION – Przemysl, Poland
Folkowisko Association and NATAN: A partnership made in heaven
Last night NATAN team members took part in a conference organized by NATAN’s partner in Poland: Stowarzyszenie Folkowisko. Folkowisko is a Polish humanitarian and culture NGO whose name means Folklore Association. Folkowisko volunteers have been active on the Polish-Ukrainian border since the invasion of Ukraine. The incredible people of have been heroic – mobilizing aid from all over Europe to help their Ukrainian neighbors. Upon arrival in the city of Przemysl in southeastern Poland near the Ukrainian border, NATAN members met the remarkable volunteers of Folkowisko and quickly teamed up.
In the first week of this collaboration, Folkowisko helped NATAN to create the children’s play area inside the Przemysl refugee center. Folkowisko leader, Basia Psiuk, worked closely NATAN team leader Udi Cohen to forge the partnership. The collaboration has flourished since then, as the two organizations are perfectly matched: both being nongovernmental, nonpolitical groups of dedicated volunteers, working day and night to help others. NATAN has donated an ambulance as well as armored vests to Folkowisko, who have been making daily forays into war-torn Ukraine to deliver food, medical aid and other supplies. On the return trip to Poland, Folkowisko volunteers ferry refugees into Poland.
Photos: Humanitarian aid conference organized by Folkowisko, April 3, 2022. NATAN Head of Mission, Oded Regev, meets with Przemysl Mayor Wojciech Bakun. NATAN’s logo is featured in the conference backdrop – the only non-Polish organization to be included in this event.
Last night’s conference of Polish aid organizations operating in eastern Poland together with the mayors of the region and a representative of the government. NATAN was the only non-Polish organization to attend the conference. Conference speakers included representatives of Polish humanitarian organizations, cultural figures and Wojciech Bakun, the Mayor of Przemysl who has become a local hero during this crisis: Knowing his city did not have the resources to deal with the sudden influx of hundreds of thousands of refugees – over 2,000 an hour on some days, Bakun invited and encouraged humanitarian organizations like NATAN to come and help. Bakun organized the establishment of a huge refugee reception center where NATAN is deployed – turning an abandoned Tesco shopping mall into a center now named: Przemysl Humanitarian Aid Center.
