https://archive.ph/EPOYH
"The call came at 6:30 a.m. on Feb. 24, just hours after Russia invaded
Ukraine. It threw a lifeline to the Trushchenkov family. “Come, my apartment is
yours from the beginning of next month,” said a friend, phoning from 230 miles
away in Warsaw to offer a good deal on a sublet. So began the journey that
brought 11 Trushchenkovs—six adults and five children—from across Ukraine to a
cramped ground floor apartment in the Polish capital. “We only had room for
toothbrushes and some gold,” says Olga, a 38-year-old mother of two, recalling
her four grueling days of travel.
In Poland, the Trushchenkovs relied on a country’s kindness. Deliveries of
secondhand clothing arrived on their doorstep. They collected 500 zloty ($108)
per child each month from the government. But their rent was 6,000 zloty, and
they’d spent most of their cash during the escape. “All our savings went like
water in the first few days as we had to pay for hotels and fuel,” says Zoia,
the family’s 67-year-old matriarch. They needed jobs, fast.
Whether families like the Trushchenkovs find jobs, return home, or move on
carries enormous stakes for Poland. It rose out of communist-era poverty to
achieve one of the highest living standards in Eastern Europe. Today the
country has a labor shortage and an aging population. Its jobless rate in May
was only 2.7%, the second-lowest in the European Union after the Czech
Republic.
As cruel as it is, the war in Ukraine could turbocharge Poland’s $670 billion
economy. The country is accommodating more than 2 million refugees, an
astonishing number for a nation of 38 million. It’s as if the entire city of
Houston suddenly pulled up stakes and drove to California. In the first weeks
of the war, the population of Warsaw alone swelled by more than 15%. And
Poland’s government, as well as its employers, want as many people as possible
to stay for good. The newcomers have sought-after skills. Among the
Trushchenkovs, Olga teaches English, her mother is a retired doctor, and her
niece is an accountant.
But Poland is more expensive than Ukraine; even before the war, Poland was
short about 2 million apartments, according to Warsaw-based Heritage Real
Estate’s think tank. Rents have risen 20% since. At Warsaw’s central railway
station, signs in English and Ukrainian warn refugees that Poland’s biggest
cities are overcrowded and say that they have a better chance of finding jobs
and homes in smaller towns. Schools are overwhelmed. And there’s a language
barrier; although Ukrainian can be used in casual conversation with Polish
speakers, Polish is necessary in the workplace. “I was initially like a
dog—only understood, couldn’t speak,” Olga says of her Polish."
Via
Future Crunch Sep 23, 2022:
<
https://futurecrunch.com/good-news-aids-ocean-indonesia-clean-air-spain/>
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
