Alberta father and daughter travel to Poland to help Ukraine refugees
Global News
An Edmonton businessman and his daughter are in Poland, helping those who are fleeing the war in Ukraine.
An Edmonton business owner and his daughter are in Poland helping refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine.
Dale Wishewan and his daughter, Sienna, have been at a humanitarian crisis centre in Kraków, Poland for eight days helping refugees get rested and prepped for their next location, which include Germany, Austria and Denmark.
“People have been standing at the border for 17 hours. They are so tired,” Sienna explained. “I’ve been volunteering a lot with mothers and kids… the older kids are carrying so much weight.”
Sienna’s rule for volunteering is to “do the good that’s in front of you,” which can include cleaning, assisting people to transport buses and taking care of kids so parents can take a break.
“They have nothing. Some moms didn’t even have baby bottles. We are finding supplies and making sure they can be set up.”
Dale said he has noticed a stark difference in refugees arriving in recent days, compared to those who came earlier to the centre.
“It’s very apparent that the people who have just come through have seen much worse things than those who came through even four or five days ago,” Wishewan said. “I’m certain they have seen people killed in front of their eyes.”
Wishewan said nearly every single person coming in to the camp is a woman or child — as the men in the families turn around and go back to Ukraine to fight the Russian army.