By Gaurangi dasi
One would hope after 6 weeks of any crisis, things would start to slow down, some light, some hope will start to emerge. Of course we still hope and trust in a divine plan, pray for the protection of the Lord’s devotees… but unfortunately we don’t see many signs of things slowing down just yet.
This week in Warsaw we had a huge ‘wave’ coming from the east of Ukraine, Donetsk, Krematorsk and other areas. They have been wisely advised by Niranjana Maharaja to leave, as the army forces were coming their way. Maharaja has been so closely involved in helping his yatra, so wonderfully helpful.
We noticed an interesting pattern, the groups that came, 95% of them are families with 3 children. Our temporary house and Warsaw temple is again at full capacity (35 plus 20) and filled with children’s laughter (mostly), some cries of course, as the situation is so new and shocking.
We have a few new destinations this week. After the families rest and recuperate after a long, sometimes a 2 day journey, they travel on to Denmark as there are still some places left there. We also have a family that is going to Japan to join their family. And we got a new contact in Austria who is eager to host a big group. The majority of elderly devotees want to stay on in Poland, hoping the war will end soon so they can go back. With some going back to Ukraine already! Despite the uncertainty they just miss home too much, being strangers in a strange land is not easy but in your own home everything is generally easier to deal with.
Even when we think some families are settling in nicely, a few times now they suddenly announce that they want to try to go somewhere else. We had 2 lovely families who stayed with us for 3 weeks with the intention of settling in Poland but decided this week they wanted to try other places in Europe. But before they left they prepared a surprise thank you show, a creative story about Krsna with some artistic drawings that expressed their gratitude for the care the devotees showed them. We will miss them but we understand it is not easy to be ripped away from your home, so suddenly. We wish them well and hope they find a good substitute soon.
Wroclaw and Walbrzych carry on with their amazing devotee care. Madhumati in Walbrzych spent hours sorting out all the registrations for her 11 new families. They took all their devotees to Wroclaw for the Rama Navami celebrations. They are planning a little birthday party this week with a bonfire and kirtan and lots of fun.
Jahnavi and Rasana are planning a fun day out at Easter for all the refugee children, a day in a zoo and other attractions. They are trying to make it as ‘normal’ as possible, but despite the pockets of joy, the reality is, well we all know what that reality is…