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Trilateral Polish-German-Ukrainian youth exchanges have been taking place at Krzyżowa since the Foundation's beginnings. Our statistics show that in the past 10 years alone, 139 international educational projects in partnership with Ukraine have been completed with a total of 1886 Ukrainian participants. These meetings are not only about getting to know each other, acquiring knowledge about another country and culture, or spending time actively. Above all, they are bonds which make it difficult to stand aside when something bad happens to our friends.

Would I believe it if someone told me six months ago that Krzyżowa would soon become a refuge for people fleeing a war? A war in a neighboring country? Probably not. We felt safe in Europe, which has coexisted peacefully for over 70 years. We believed that the bloody conflicts in the Balkans in the 1990s were an isolated incident. Suddenly, on 24th of February 2022, we woke up in a different reality. And we had to find ourselves in it very quickly.

When the war in Ukraine began, like most of us, I followed reports of military operations beyond the eastern border with anxiety and disbelief. It has been a long time for all of us to believe that the war is a fact and that it affects the citizens of an independent and sovereign country in such a brutal and inhumane way. We were shocked because it directly threatened the people we saw in Krzyżowa not so long ago. The last Polish-German-Ukrainian project took place at the International Youth Meeting Center at the end of January this year. It was attended by young people from Krzepice, Marl and Dnipro. We started to think about all the people with whom we have cooperated in recent months and years: children, youth, teachers, activists. We asked ourselves about their safety. We tried to contact them and make sure what help they needed.

It has been less than a week since the first families from Ukraine arrived to Krzyżowa. We have spent the past days adapting the centre to the needs of mothers and children and organizing the most necessary things. Thanks to our team's commitment and the support of individuals and organisations, we have equipped two playrooms for children as well as a kitchen and a dining room for our guests to use.

Our goal in the last days was also to prepare an offer for our youngest guests, who constitute half of the nearly 100-person group of refugees in Krzyżowa. The Foundation's team organizes recreational and educational activities for different age groups (from 6 months to 16 years) until they can start their education in nearby schools or kindergartens.

For several weeks we have been hosting a new volunteer in Krzyżowa. It is Berkan Bayçinar from Turkey. You will get to know him better by reading his self-presentation, which we publish below.

We are very happy that Barkan is with us and we wish him that the time he will spend in Krzyżowa be creative, interesting and full of good experiences.

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The creation of this website was supported by:

Krzyżowa Foundation for Mutual Understanding in Europe

Krzyżowa 7, 58-112 Grodziszcze, Poland

phone: +48 74 85 00 300

fax: +48 74 85 00 305

e-mail: sekretariat@krzyzowa.pl

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