PASCO, WA – Pasco’s former mayor, Matt Watkins, is in Poland helping Ukranian refugees as the Russian invasion continues.
“I’m 12 kilometers from the border of Ukraine,” said Watkins via Zoom while he was at a train station that is full of refugees.
Watkins is serving with World Central Kitchen. He has been traveling the globe and found himself in Macedonia when the Russian invasion began. Now, making his way closer to Ukraine he has met several refugees.
“You talk with the people a bit,” he said. “They don’t know what their future looks like there is a big question mark for that. Ukrainians also want to go back home, they want to go back to their country. There are a lot of women and children. A lot of mother in laws… the men are back in Ukraine fighting.”
In spite of the uncertainty of the war, he said he has found many to be making the best of a bad situation.
“This mom hands me some bread and sausage. So I’m eating food given to me by a refugee. I was feeling self conscious about it and i told them that. They all started laughing and said they did it on purpose to see how I would react. It was a pure moment and that’s indicative of the humor of Ukrainians,” said Watkins.
Watkins is also commending the Polish community, welcoming the refugees with open arms.
“If you see beside me I believe there is a line of strollers,” said Watkins. “The story is that people have driven those from around Poland because they knew that parents needed to have them here to help their kids because a lot of people have walked to the border to get away from Ukraine. So the outpouring of kindness has been incredible.”
He shared this message for all of us as the war rages on: “This country that has been a democracy for about 30 years is a powerful reminder for our democracy that’s lasted for over 200.. how important that is. How easily it can be taken away. The people of Ukraine are fighting for it and I think we should help them fight for it, too, as well as the rest of Europe.”
World Central Kitchen is helping feed thousands of refugees.
