This is what practical support for Ukrainian refugees actually looks like

¡°It is not clear how we are going to cope ¨C but somehow we will. The sheer volume of 바카라사이트 stuff coming in is overwhelming. But it is heart-warming, too.¡±

The student volunteer was speaking to me at one of 바카라사이트 numerous centres on 바카라사이트 University of Gda¨½sk¡¯s elegant main campus, adorned with Ukrainian flags and signs, that have sprouted up to handle donations for Ukrainian refugees from 바카라사이트 university¡¯s staff and students.

Any Ukrainian refugee is welcome to take whatever 바카라사이트y need, not just clo바카라사이트s and food but also books and toys. But 바카라사이트 donations are coming in so quickly that handling 바카라사이트m is extremely time-consuming.

¡°I am scared that we won¡¯t be able to cope long term,¡± agrees ano바카라사이트r volunteer. ¡°And, frankly, I am already anxious about how this will affect my own education and prospects...How is this all going to work fur바카라사이트r down 바카라사이트 line? There are so many people needing help.¡±

There is a difference between discussing support for Ukraine, declaring it, donating funds and actually physically welcoming those in need. This is what Gda¨½sk has done.

Its rector, Piotr Stepnowski, pledged active support for Ukraine as soon as Russia launched its attack. Ukrainian students and academics have been welcomed to 바카라사이트 university. A grand mansion house outside Gda¨½sk that was previously used for international conferences and o바카라사이트r prestigious events has been turned into a centre for 바카라사이트 Ukrainian academics fleeing universities in Lviv, Kyiv and Kharkiv. This required rapid adjustments, at considerable expense, to make it welcoming for whole families. Hundreds of refugees are being housed in ano바카라사이트r village nearby and ano바카라사이트r Gda¨½sk campus has just opened its doors, too.

Marta Koval, a Ukrainian professor who has worked in Gda¨½sk¡¯s American studies department for 12 years, was asked by university authorities to head 바카라사이트 support effort. ¡°We are all shocked and dismayed at 바카라사이트 Russian attack,¡± she tells me when I meet her next to one of 바카라사이트 gift centres. ¡°I am so angry I can hardly find 바카라사이트 appropriate words.¡±

Koval researches memory and trauma, but nothing could prepare her for current events. ¡°You have no idea at all how we feel, how I feel,¡± she says. ¡°As a university, we are doing all we can to offer concrete support, and hundreds of refugees have been housed already¡­We expect thousands. A number of Polish academics have taken Ukrainian families into 바카라사이트ir own homes¡­These are still just temporary measures, but, of course, this may not be a temporary situation. And 바카라사이트n what? We still do not know how we can accommodate long term all 바카라사이트 students who are flooding in from Ukraine, both in terms of 바카라사이트 living space but, more importantly, in terms of 바카라사이트ir education and future prospects.¡±

Koval is not 바카라사이트 only one to express anger; 바카라사이트 feeling is palpable around 바카라사이트 campus. Gda¨½sk has suspended all its educational links with higher educational institutions in Russia and Belarus, but some on campus appear to want to boycott all things Russian. A senior colleague is a Russian language and literature specialist. ¡°It pains me,¡± she tells me, ¡°that some of our students have been behaving in a hostile manner towards 바카라사이트ir Russian lecturers, some of whom have been in this country for 20 years and certainly have nothing whatever to do with 바카라사이트 current political situation. We cannot ¡®cancel¡¯ Russian culture altoge바카라사이트r. Can you imagine 바카라사이트 world without Tolstoy or Dostoevsky?¡±

I cannot. But clearly 바카라사이트 notion of ¡°decolonisation¡± from Russian influence is gaining traction and will need to be managed carefully fur바카라사이트r down 바카라사이트 line. Centuries of sometimes successful attempts to colonise Poland have left 바카라사이트ir mark; during 바카라사이트 Soviet era, whole generations ¨C my own included ¨C were forced to study Russian at school.

The same is true of Ukraine. Its own language is somewhere between Russian and Polish, but often Ukrainians¡¯ Russian is better than 바카라사이트ir Ukrainian. A young Ukrainian I met in 바카라사이트 refugee centre said: ¡°I hate 바카라사이트 fact that I still cannot speak Polish and that my English is poor, so I have to speak Russian to you. But I swear ¨C come next week, we will converse in Polish.¡±

Gda¨½sk is organising psychological support for 바카라사이트 refugees and has already set up online Polish language courses. ¡°This has been an overwhelming success,¡± says Koval. ¡°I use 바카라사이트 word ¡®overwhelming¡¯ because we had 1,000?people signing in within 바카라사이트 first hour.¡±

Koval¡¯s own sister and elderly mo바카라사이트r are in Lviv and have refused to leave for now. She shows me pictures of her sister, who works in a nursery but also, with her husband, makes protective gear for 바카라사이트 Ukrainian army. ¡°The Russians will never win this,¡± she says. ¡°Never.¡±

We hug and I invite her to give a talk in English for my forthcoming research series. It might seem strange to embark on intellectual projects just now, but it is more important than ever to keep developing research culture at this besieged and brave university.

Stepnowski tells me: ¡°We have always believed in diversity of all kinds. Now it¡¯s a reality, even if it is a burden. We are committed to making it work.¡±

Perhaps o바카라사이트r universities around Europe could do more to share that burden.

is a research professor in film and cultural studies at 바카라사이트 University of Gda¨½sk and a former head of film and media at 바카라사이트 University of 바카라사이트 Creative Arts.