I Cannot Stay on the Sidelines
“I know now that great evil and hate also bring endless kindness and love with them. I witnessed it myself, and I will never forget people who came from all over the world to help and to give.”
Interview with : Tasha Karliuka – NATAN volunteer who served as an interpreter in the Ukrainian Refugee Relief Operation in Przemysl, Poland in August 2022.
Tasha Karliuka in Kiev. Photo by Dasha Mangubi
Where are you located (in Israel)? I’m staying in Tel Aviv. However, for the past year I’ve had no house of my own. I now live in the airplanes, hotels, at my family and friends’. The war changed my life. Truth be told, I lost the sense of home on February 24th.
PSS (Psychosocial Support Training for Ukrainian Frontline Caregivers) Training in Poland in August 2022
How did you become a volunteer with NATAN? In the middle of June, I flew out to Przemyśl in Poland, the town near the border with Ukraine, with another Israeli organization. We went there to help Ukrainian refugees. We were volunteering in Tesco shopping center which became a refugee center when the war started. It was a place where people spent their nights, ate, showered… lived. Hundreds of camping beds tightly crammed together. The delegation I was with was helping children, in a playroom, where children could play, draw, watch cartoons, sing, and talk. Most importantly – forget about the war at least for a little while.
I don’t have children of my own, and no experience with them. When I was told that I will be helping with children, I asked for some instructions… Eventually there were no instructions [Tasha smiles]. I hesitated for 5 minutes… The war had me disappointed in humanity. But it was adults who started the war and not children…
My original plan was to stay in Poland for a week. Eventually I stayed and volunteered for 4 months, including one week in Lviv. I spent three weeks in Tesco with kids, then NATAN contacted me and asked me to join their mission and be their interpreter between Hebrew and Ukrainian. I gladly agreed.
I was born in Kiev. A few months before the war I went to Kiev to meet with my readers (my book Oceans in Three Liter Jars was published 2 years ago). I was also going to work as a journalist for the Babi Yar Holocaust Memorial Center and visit my parents. I was set to return to Tel Aviv on February 20 but decided to stay over till 25th. I never believed there will be a war but was afraid and anxious anyway.
Tasha Karliuka in Kiev. Photo by Dasha Mangubi
It happened. The war came. My Israeli passport would allow me to exit the country quicky but not my parents. I am not really a refugee but I traveled the refugee route to accompany my parents to safety. 10 days in a cellar in Kiev, 15 hours on a stuffy overcrowded train from Kiev to Lviv, 2 weeks in Budapest for my parents to meet with an Israeli consulate, and finally, Tel Aviv. One month to get from Kiev to Tel Aviv.
I have never volunteered before. Now that all my family is alive and safe, I am even glad to have had this experience. Alas, unless you are personally affected by tragedy, you may not see the misfortunes of others. Of course, there’re people with big hearts helping even if they didn’t experience a personal drama. I became aware only when the trouble came into my life.
Where do you work day to day?
I am a journalist and a writer. This is more than a job for me. This is my way of life. I love the world of letters and texts for me this is a way to escape reality, especially now.
What is your most memorable experience during your deployment to Poland?
I believe, due to my memory’s defense mechanisms, I forgot most of it. To keep you sane you need to get rid of all bad stuff that war brings. Although I know now that great evil and hate also bring endless kindness and love with them. I witnessed it myself, and I will never forget people who came from all over the world to help and to give.
The day of my birthday was unforgettable. Children gifted me something like a hundred postcards and beaded friendship bracelets they made. They gave me soft toys and their mom’s cosmetics – things they received as part of humanitarian aid. In the evening of that day, I took the toys and the toiletry to donate to the humanitarian aid storage unit. I was so moved to learn that two of my gifts, the plush toys, belonged to two kids - Taras, 12 years old, and Natlka, 9 years old. A plush teddy bear was Taras' favorite toy for 8 years, and a plush bunny was Natalka's best friend for five. Still, they gifted them to me... How do such big hearts fit in such small people?
Interpreting at PSS (Psychosocial Support Training for Ukrainian Frontline Caregivers) Training in Poland in August 2022.
I will also never forget things children told me about war. I'm glad that, thinking as a journalist, I brought a recorder with me, and I have our conversations recorded. Soon they will become texts. Along with children’s thoughts, I brought with me their drawings. They were drawing to express how they feel. There is a lot of war in these drawings.
Would you volunteer again?
For the past few months my partner Rom Barnea and I have been working on the project Belongings. The project asks one main question: “War has suddenly begun, and you have only half an hour to pack and run for life. What would you take with you?”
PSS (Psychosocial Support Training for Ukrainian Frontline Caregivers) Training in Poland in August 2022
In March, Rom went to Poland, to the border with Ukraine. He photographed refugees from Ukraine and their belongings, some meaningless, “not for war” personal things, but close to the owner’s heart. I then interviewed these people. A few days ago, an exhibition with photographs and interviews of our heroes opened in Jaffa. There were about three hundred visitors at the opening. Some of them were refugees from Ukraine. I don’t know I can call this volunteering. Maybe... By the way, all the proceeds we collect from the sale of photos and donations will go to NATAN.
The war continues, and I cannot imagine staying on the sidelines. Since its beginning, a permanent sadness has been living inside me, like a painful bleeding wound. Rom and I continue to collect testimonies of victims of the war and we plan to make an interactive site with these people’s stories, which will take time, effort and money. All help is appreciated.
Do you have any quote or inspirational words to live by?
Those who give – receive.