The school run by the Salesians in Presov, Slovakia, looks like your typical educational facility, with students studying, playing football and hockey and running around the playground, only it isn’t.
The 17 boys here are all Ukrainian orphans who have been evacuated from Lviv in Ukraine.
Jan Jakubov, who runs the house, told The Malta Independent that the boys, all under the age of 11, were part of a group of 50 that were evacuated to Slovakia when war broke out in Ukraine.
Jan Jakubov
They used to live in a community home in Lviv but were brought to Slovakia four weeks ago. They spent their first week in a reception centre, where they were processed, and were later relocated to the town of Presov.
They are getting accustomed to a new routine here. In Lviv, they schooled and slept at the Salesian home. Now, they spend the day at school and live with foster families in the evening.
The older boys have been sent to other Salesian homes in Slovakia.
Jakubov says the boys are slowly settling in and are happy with their foster families, but they hope to return to their home country once the conflict is over. The war has affected them, he says, even if children adapt to such situations better than adults. “During their first few days here, when they played, they played soldiers. When they painted, they painted guns and battles.”
His daily message for the children is that the best thing they can do right now is to get a good education, as someday they will have to return home to rebuild their country.
Later in the day, we visited a migrant reception centre in Michalovce, close to the border with Ukraine. The camp is quieter than usual these days, and only a handful of refugees are currently staying there. Most of them have already left for better places. While there, we witnessed two busloads of refugees leaving for other parts of the country, carrying the little they managed to carry with them out of the war-torn country.
Ukrainian refugees are met at a centre in Michalvoce, Slovakia.
The facilities here are basic but evacuees are given beds, warm food, medical supplies and toiletries. The Slovak volunteers are even offering psychological assistance and facilities for those who come with their pets.
Adam, one of the coordinators, says this is currently the only reception centre here, but there are plans to open up more centres in the western part of the country. The stream of refugees coming from Ukraine has slowed down, but things could change any day.
In the evening, we travelled to Poprad, where the Salesians have another home. Here we met Bogdan, Nazar, Oleh and Danilo, aged between 14 and 16, and who were part of the larger group of orphans who were evacuated from Lviv last month.
They too seem to be eager to return to their homeland, but tell us that the situation now is still too dangerous. For now, it seems, they will stay in Slovakia, where they are being well taken care of by their Salesian family.
Bogdan, Oleh, Nazar and Danilo, who are staying at a salesian home in Poprad.
Photos and video: Giuseppe Attard