RELIEF WORK IN POLAND AFTER LAST WAR

New Zealand Listener, Volume 4, Issue 103, 13 June 1941, Page 43

RELIEF WORK IN POLAND AFTER LAST WAR

relief work under the Friends War Victims Relief Mission. This society had branches in Vienna, France and Poland, and it was an Anglo-Ameri-can Mission, the Americans being sent from Philadelphia, and the English from London. My work, at one centre, entailed looking after our store. This meant unpacking and sorting the bales of goods sent out to us from home, and taking stock of all I had. For a long time before the shop was due to open, there Was a queue of people as long as any waiting outside a London Theatre, so when the shop was opened, we ‘were certainly all kept busy. There were often very amusing incidents, owing to the difficulty of language, but we generally managed to please our customers, and they were all so pleased to get the things that we were glad we could supply them. iz 1920 I went out to Poland to do A Travelling Shop We also had a travelling shop, which went into the surrounding districts to supply the people with soap, clothing and blankets at a purely nominal charge. The procedure was as follows:First of all the lorry went over with soap and cleaning materials which were distributed around, and the inmates of the houses were.told that if they wanted to be able to get things from our travelling shop, they must see that the place was thoroughly clean and neat when we called again. In the meantime

I was advised of the amount and kind of clothing required, e.g-so much for men, so many things suitable for boys or girls between certain ages, and so much for women, etc. So I got busy and sorted and packed these bales, so that when the driver of the lorry called at my store to get them, they were all ready. He then drove out into the same district; the bales were opened up in some suitable place, and the people came to get supplies. They brought us all kinds of things such as eggs, milk, and even a goat! Not Good-bye, Sister! The children, of course, were very interested, and one day, as I was very fond of children, I collected a lot of them in a wood nearby, and we played all kinds of games together. At that time, I could not speak any Polish at all, and of course they did not know any English, but it was quite surprising how quickly they responded, and understood just what I wanted them to do. In the end I tried to say "Do Vigenia" (which means good-bye), they cried "Nia Do Vigenia Sestsa" (which means, not good-bye sister), and they all followed me down the road until I felt like the Pied Piper of Hamelin with children instead of rats! One little darling slipped home and came back bringing me a sweet little posy which she had picked especially for me. Poor little mites, it was indeed a joy to see their pleasure in the simple games which I showed them. There was so much room for a little brightness in their lives, that

it was good to see their smiling faces while they played, and to know that they were happy, at least for the time being, in spite of the war.