Starting from scratch

A cup of coffee and then into the bathroom, a look in the mirror, brushing our teeth, followed by a search  for clothes, putting on our shoes and then it’s off to work: a typical morning. but What if we woke up and there was no mirror in the bathroom, no toothbrush  and no shoes in the hall? What if there was not even a bathroom, a kitchen or a bed! This is the situation some of the inhabitants of southern Poland found themselves in when the region was flooded in May and June. Now they are trying to get their lives back to normal, but this is going to be far from easy. And this is why we have been doing all we can to offer them a helping hand
Emil Górecki

In the August issue of our magazine we  appealed to you to provide help for the families of Zastów Polanowski and its surrounding  area. RD bud and Virako generously donated  PLN 10,000 and 5,000 respectively to the flood victims, with the money going to four families. Meanwhile, thanks to furniture manufacturer Nowy Styl, which contacted us via the  Jewish Community of Warsaw, a few families will at least to some extent be able to re-furnish their renovated homes.
Flood banks still leaking
In May and June the families had had to flee their homes. Some managed to do this by car, others were rescued by boat or military helicopter. Even though the deluge took place nearly half a year ago, most of the residents still cannot go back to their homes, regardless of their wealth or the level of drainage. It is enough just to drive through Zastów Polanowski, Podgórz or Zastów Karczmiski. The windows on the ground floors are curtain-less, while renovation and drainage work are still in progress inside. If someone owns a multi-storey house they can usually live on the upper floors, but not always. Others are forced to sleep in steel containers, which have been quickly put together as small utility rooms, or in the more or less renovated single rooms of the flooded houses.
People are now restoring their properties but keeping a fearful eye on the work on the broken flood bank that failed to hold back the Vistula river. A few days ago 400 metres had been patched and sowed with grass – but there is still 3 kilometres left to do! “We have been cleaning our yards, repairing our houses and sorting out our fields – and for what? In the spring the water in the Vistula will rise and flood us again,” the residents worry. After half a year they are now sick and tired of squatting. They are not sleeping in their own beds and are wearing other people’s clothes. In the immediate aftermath of the flood they had more energy and a positive approach. Now they are not even cheered by the fact that they will probably go home soon. They have simply had enough.
Superman from Silesia
Krzysztof Moczko has lived in the borough of Wilków since the flood. Even though this is quite a short time he knows perfectly who needs what, what losses everyone suffered and how they are coping – even better than the head of the local council and social workers. He visits the dispossessed people every day, he carries out necessary repairs for them, and distributes money and products donated by people from all over Poland and from abroad. Everybody knows him well here. They promise that when renovations are finished they will invite him round for dinner, to their grandson’s first communion or to some other family event. When our colleague asked where she could find out how to help she was directed to Mr Moczko, who is a volunteer of the Lublin-based University Chaplaincy. He arrived from Silesia and, as he admits himself, he will probably stay. Every door is open for him. His phone probably needs charging twice a day considering that he is constantly on the phone. One such call concerned 40 engines for sale at a cut-down price in Warsaw; another time an elderly lady needed a washing machine, and in another a radio journalist had just turned up out of the blue – it is like this all the time. “I try to devote a lot of my time to the media. As long as they are interested in what is going on here, are coming here and covering the situation of these people, there will be people all over Poland who will want to help us. So far we have been visited by volunteers, received lorries laden with gifts and had donations paid into bank accounts. Council funds are still available to us, compensation is being paid by the state and intervention work financed by the council and the employment office. But it might be much harder in the spring,” worries Krzysztof.
Help still needed
The money donated by RD bud and Virako was paid into the bank accounts of four families. It was used mainly to buy building and finishing materials as well as going on furnishing and everyday expenditure. This is a great help because furniture, clothing, household detergents and school books cannot be bought with the money received from the state alone. And these things are just as necessary as cement, plaster, radiators or new windows. These people have lost everything. Even the clothes they now wear are donations. The borough normally lives off agriculture – growing apples, raspberries and hops. Lower-lying plantations have been decimated and the dead trees are now being pulled up. The fields are covered with slime and water-logged, despite an autumn that was relatively kind to the flooded areas. They will have to wait two or three years for the next harvest and in the meantime need to invest a lot of work and money.
The residents of the flooded areas have received a great deal of help so far. However, not everyone will be able to spend Christmas in their own home with a Christmas tree. Some will have to stay in cold, damp containers, for which they will soon have to start paying rent. They are coping but are not expecting anyone to fix their houses. However, every single kind gesture towards them means that there will at least be some sweets on the Christmas tree; their clothes, even those that have been donated, will have a wardrobe; soup will be served in bowls; and it will be possible to plant new apple trees in the spring – provided the water does not reutrn. In the meantime we are appealing for more desperately needed help for the residents of Zastów, Zakrzów, Kępa Chotecka, Szkuciska and other places where this year’s harvest was washed away.