SSpS of Poland Province

Report 13

Read by Sr. Yuvensia Daso, SSpS

JPIC WORK IN POLAND

Since the downfall of Communism we have seen rapid changes in our society both positive and negative. One of the more negative ones is a growing number of unemployed people which in return increases poverty and widens the gap between rich and poor. This is also a reason for which we as a province became more sensitive to the cry of the poor and we moved into the regular social work.

1) A Children’s Home is one of the activities developed in this time of rapid changes.
Children’s Home, opened on January 9, 1995 has been caring for children from dysfunctional families. The main focus of our program is placed on education, formation into self-education, self-reliance, self-discipline, and spiritual growth. There are also recreational occupations and art-therapy that help the children to relax and to develop their own hobbies, skills and abilities.
Every year some special prophylactic programs are offered on alcohol, drug-addicts and others. Our goal is to help the children to stand on their own feet so that with God’s help they can be prepared for life better than their parents were. In our Home for Children we create an atmosphere of acceptance, loving care and security so that the children feel loved. Besides, one hot meal a day is served. At Christmas time we organize Christmas Eve dinner (an important polish custom), celebrating together. Easter we celebrate together as well. Before important feasts, the children are prepared to the sacrament of penance and the Eucharist. During the winter and summer vacations many excursions are organized to visit beautiful spots and cities in our country. Unforgettable memories of joy that bind us into one family are shared and treasured for a long time. The local government of Racibórz, evaluating our activities, put our Home for Children on the list of priorities and consequently, sponsored renovation of the house (roof, windows, dining room, bath-rooms, hot water and heating system, etc). As the time goes on we have been receiving a lot of finances from the Local Fund of Racibórz. By taking part in competitions and winning different prices our Home for Children received enough money to purchase material for the art-therapy, manual work and food for children. Recently we also received some computers that are a great help for us.
Let me add that the children take part in various ecological competitions. Sisters of our community in Racibórz help them a lot but there are many lay helpers who carry out this important project.
Since the very beginning teaming up with lay volunteers we have been working on to turn a house received from the government into a real Home for Children. It is a great joy to see how the street rascals have been slowly growing into young people who care for life and are able to express their gratitude for the hand one day given to them. Let me share here, that some of them by now are gr. 12 graduates who carry out their studies.


2. Working with the Poor and Needy

In the recent years we had many poor families coming to our provincial house’s door. First of all, they have been served with soup only and gradually other services were offered to them. Since Sr. Antonia Gruntowska started to work in the apostolate among the poor and needy (2001) the help have been offered on different levels. E.g.: the families affected by alcoholism have been helped through:
Awareness raising and hospitalized cure
Care for the mothers with children whose husbands are alcohol addicted
Helping those unemployed to find a job
Since the beginning of 2005 we started a Prophylactic Program for the Families which fosters sober life. The program is sponsored by the Local Government. Staff members who carry out the program are well prepared professionally (social worker, psychologist, lawyer and one of our sisters who dedicates her service to women). According to both: the participants and the teaching-staff, the program has good impact on the participants.

3. Migrant Centre: meeting people of different cultures and religions migrants became a challenge for our society in the last decade. The Migrant Centre in Warsaw was opened by the SVD in September 2005, to create a gathering Centre for different groups of the national minority existing in Poland, mainly in Warsaw and surroundings. Four of our junior sisters and two of the finally professed sisters took up a voluntary work in the Centre in order to serve the people of these groups in form of social and spiritual help taking into focus especially those who are most in need, who are alienated, seeking a shelter and dignified living conditions in our country. Our sisters work mainly with the children, young people and women of Chechnya. It has been a good experience to work with the people of different culture, mentality, language and religion. The Fathers work with Asian (e.g.: Vietnamese) and African people, teaming up with different institutions.

Sr. Miriam Długos SSpS