Today is Saturday, my second day volunteering at the Ocalenie Foundation safe space for children in the Przemyśl Refugee Reception Point / Humanitarian Aid Center. In contrast to yesterday, today is almost completely uneventful. There are very few refugee families in the center today, and we only had one refugee child visit us in the children’s safe space during the entire day — a little girl; she showed up late in the afternoon. But when she left at the end of the day she asked if we would be open tomorrow, so we are are hopeful that we’ll see her again in the morning.

The Ocalenie Foundation staff explained that there is now a regular train running from Przemyśl to Hanover, Germany on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, which transports refugees resettling in Germany. Also, the Polish Red Cross is now managing the Przemyśl facility more as a transit waypoint than a reception center. Only refugees who already know where they are going (e.g., Germany) are accomodated here. If a refugee does not yet have a planned destination, the Polish Red Cross refers them to another facility where they can receive more long-term aid. So on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, the center is still busy with families arriving to catch the train to Hanover, but on other days of the week it is pretty quiet.
Personnally, I don’t mind the lighter traffic. This is my first experience in Poland, not to mention Europe, and I feel like I have plenty of things to learn and acclimate to, so less pressure at work is a good thing. Also, fewer refugees hopefully signals that things are not so bad at home in Ukraine these days, which might be a good omen. In the event conditions do worsen in weeks to come, at least I will have had a chance to learn the ropes a little bit before the next squall hits.