School Visit, Trebisov

Imagine you are awakened at night by a loudspeaker announcing your area is about to come under attack. You have 30 minutes to evacuate. You can bring along one bag (BAG, not suitcase) with you. What would you take?

Imagine you have been hiding with your child in a bunker for 17 days. Suddenly you hear that a car will make a run for the Slovak border, and there are two extra seats. You grab your child and squeeze in. You are not sure if you will survive the trip, but the alternative in the bunker is not promising.

These are just two experiences of families I have met.

Trebisov is a Slovak town east of Kosice, about 30 miles (45-50 km) from the Ukraine border. I am constantly asking, “How can I help? Who needs support?” I had heard about a school here that is housing some Ukrainian refugees here. I made the hour-long train trip (about 5 Euro RT). DSA is a German-Slovak Academy with schools in both countries. This school has a vocational high school, as well as a kindergarten. Some students stay in the dorms; others commute each day. Even before the war, there were a few Ukrainian student here, learning a skill.

The school is impressive for a few reasons. It took over an older, abandoned school building and gave it “life.” The skills it teaches are modern skills, inc. the fields of mechanical engineering, water supply, and mechatronics (a new word and field for me). The school still wants the students to be well-rounded. So (as you can see from the photos below), gym/athletics is a required course, music is offered, as are social sciences. My guide was a history teacher, who gave me the opportunity to speak to his class. Another specialty is teaching youngsters, and the kindergarten provides real-life, hands-on experience.

The school is not set up for accepting donations, and I will return to help buy food supplies. The school provides free housing and meals to the refugees, some of whom I met. (The man in the photo is Lukasm my guide and the school’s history teacher.) The rooms are small, but at least the people have a place to rest and feel safe. As one photo shows, I interrupted a birthday party of a little boy, the youngest in the photo.
I SEE HOPE IN THEIR EYES, THE FUTURE GENERATION OF UKRAINE.

https://www.dsakademien.sk/about-dsa/#