The situation in Ukraine has already generated 4 million refugees outside the country and more inside. Mobilization in support of the Ukrainian people was general and immediate. As Scalabrinian Missionaries of Europe and Africa, we have always been sensitive to the many conflicts still being fought around the world, and here again we have taken action to support people fleeing war.

In the various ASCS offices in Italy, we have been active from the very beginning to provide a concrete and efficient response, on the one hand strengthening the services we already provide to migrants and refugees, and on the other creating ad hoc activities capable of intervening in areas of particular criticality. Thanks to donations collected through #WeCareForUkraine, a Fundraising Campaign in response to the great humanitarian emergency, we are continuing to respond to this dramatic situation that is disrupting the lives of millions of people. Partnership with other associations and local entities is becoming increasingly necessary and indispensable.

At the ASCS headquarters in Milan, activities are carried out in collaboration with Fr. René Manenti of the Carmine Church and with theUkraine Plus Milan Association . The common goal of creating a safe space for those fleeing war and ensuring access to diversified services makes this collaboration even stronger, especially since our association’s bond with the Ukrainian community has always been strong and is evidenced by the fact that in 2021 among the 251 women followed by the WASI project, 62 were Ukrainian-speaking.

The aftermath of war, migration to another country, and unstable family conditions can create deep trauma and need immediate intervention, which is why psychological support in language has proven to be indispensable from the earliest moments of this emergency. Careful in identifying and wanting to address this need, it was decided to increase the number of Ukrainian-speaking psychologists to two in Milan and one in Rome in an effort to expand the service to as many migrants as possible. WASI, which is intended to be a listening space for migrant women in the delicate process of processing the reality of migration, currently has 15 Ukrainian women individually supervised and 3 AMA (self-mutual-help) groups, two of which are intended only for women and one of which is open to all.

Since the first weeks after the outbreak of the conflict, the willingness and generosity of volunteers, women volunteers and the community made possible the collection and distribution of personal hygiene products, educational materials for children. In addition, in agreement with Esselunga, grocery vouchers were distributed to 35 families identified through contacts of theUkraine More Association. As the crisis deepened, the first intervention was to make rooms available for direct shelter for some families. Currently, there are three nuclei, two women with children and a couple. Also, in response to the social emergency, Italian language classes have been made available for 92 adults and 40 children, which take place three times a week (Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday).The teachers are three Ukrainian women Liliana, Nataliya, Marina, together with Giovanni, Lina and Monica, the latter Scalabrinian Secular Missionaries. The classes are a time to meet and learn, but also a way to come together and find glimpses of normalcy. Tuesdays are also a day for games and Art Therapy for both babies and toddlers and older children.

At Casa Scalabrini 634, an ASCS project in Rome, the first intervention was in support of activities to collect basic necessities in collaboration with the associations Medicina Solidale and MAM, providing spaces and collection times. In addition, readiness to accommodate incoming families has been given from the beginning. Three mother/child households were welcomed, and two of them decided to continue their journey in the home. Initial mistrust, coupled with a closure dictated by the thought that this would be a temporary arrangement pending a return home, has over time given way to the inclusion of all and sundry in the activities of the home. The main connection has been with the other boys and girls living at Casa Scalabrini 634: playtime has become more and more numerous and spontaneous. Hence, participation in meeting times and dinners is also increasingly becoming the norm. Italian language classes are being organized in cooperation with our volunteers according to the needs of families. The MAM outpatient clinic, the socio-legal counter and the other services that are offered to the rest of the community have been made available, always paying attention to the special situation that these people are experiencing. We are, in addition, active on different territorial coordinating networks from the Department of Social Policy, to the city committee, to the Catholic network, thus providing a uniform response to this emergency.

As Scalabrinian Missionaries we have opened our doors in Italy, welcoming, as already mentioned some families and offering the willingness to expand this first reception service also in Loreto and Bassano del Grappa. Now all that is awaited is for the prefecture to determine the time and manner of such reception.

Outside of Italy, SIMN Global has decided to support #WeCareForUkraine, so as to further strengthen the efforts already put in place by SIMN Europe Africa through ASCS. Even in the missions in Europe, in different forms and ways, missionaries are cooperating in hospitality projects, goods and financial collections with local and international entities or directly in collaboration with ASCS.

In Switzerland, for example, our Bern, Basel and Geneva Missions report to us that humanitarian interventions were organized, various collections of basic necessities, as well as funds sent to religious organizations such as the Caritas Internationalis or to local civic bodies engaged in providing basic services in the country.

Father Antonio Grasso, pastor of the Italian Catholic Mission in Bern, in collaboration with the Italian Embassy informed us that they have long since started a widespread collection of medicines, food and other materials destined for Ukraine with local pharmacies and organizations. The Mission also printed flyers in different languages to reach not only our compatriots but also other citizens. The Mission itself has established a fund to be used for emergency aid and projects that it will follow up directly. It should be noted that the flyer developed by the youth in Bern was also used by the Comites (Commission of Italians Abroad) and the Italian Catholic Mission in Basel, which will transport to Bern the collection of basic necessities to be sent to the displaced people.

The three Scalabrinian Missions in Bern (Italian, Portuguese with Fr. Oscar Gil and Spanish with Fr. Emmanuel Cerda), in collaboration with the Ukrainian Community, have also organized a prayer vigil for peace scheduled for Sunday, April 10. At the request of the Bern Asylum Seekers Center, with which a collaboration has been in place for some time regarding the situation of Eritrean refugees, the Italian Mission has made the theater available for some activities to be scheduled when the children will be out of school, such as during the Easter vacations. Stable animation work remains as well as language classes and psychological assistance.

Also in Switzerland, Fr. Bruno Zen of the Italian Catholic Mission of Birsfelden, Pratteln/Augst and Muttenz organized several fundraising activities supporting #WeCareForUkraine and the activities promoted by ASCS.

In Carouge, a Swiss municipality in the Canton of Geneva and a branch attached to the Italian Catholic Mission in Geneva headed by Fr. Corrado Caroli, the first 50 Ukrainian migrants have arrived, 17 of whom are more intent on staying in Switzerland. Currently, our retirement home “Providence” provides meals to all these refugees while the Carouge municipality has provided the municipal hall. There has also been a census for housing availability, and many Italian frontiersmen have been willing to open their homes.

Some already planned initiatives, such as the traditional “Soupe de Carême,” will raise funds to support the ASCS #WeCareForUkraine Campaign. The Italian Catholic Mission in Geneva was also able to facilitate a family reunion of a grandmother and two grandchildren with the mother of the little ones.

As for the Portuguese Community, led by Fr. Miguel Dalla Vecchia, in addition to the three trucks of products already sent to the Ukrainian border, it has organized two more. There has also come a request to arrange transportation of materials collected and stored at the Maltese Cross premises to Zurich and then to the Ukrainian border. The Spanish community, in particular, made itself available to transport these goods to Zurich.

In Paris, Fr. Barly Kiweme reports, the Church and the state have been working together to help. So many charities have moved to help, and in our Italian Catholic Mission, in addition to raising funds for #WeCareForUkraine, through the usual “Lenten Commitment,” so much generosity has been activated that has led to the collection of goods and clothing then distributed to refugee families in the area. Our mission is in contact with the Ukrainian-ruled Basilica, and plans are being made for some prayer times together similar to what was experienced last March 13 with the prayer for peace. As missionaries, however, we are also concerned about other situations of fragility. In Ukraine at the outbreak of the war there were also other foreign people in the country and now refugees, such as several African students. A young Nigerian man from Ukraine, for example, knocked on our mission’s door intending to reach Sweden, and the mission supported him in continuing his journey.

In London, Fr. Francesco Buttazzo reported that the Italian, Portuguese and Filipino Community decided to dedicate the Lenten Appeal (annual fundraiser during Lent) to raise money to donate to the ASCS campaign.

In Luxembourg, Fr. Rui Pedro points out how we have seen the growth of a great generosity of people, shared by both our Portuguese community as well as the Luxembourg community, which is reliving what it went through after World War II, finding itself in a country to rebuild. There was a public street demonstration against the war. Municipalities and municipalities have been looking for homes and families willing to take in. A school will be started specifically for Ukrainian children, and the Catholic Church has opened a dedicated emergency hotline to respond to various emergencies.

This account seems to us to be necessary in order to make you understand the common effort put in place by the Scalabrinian Congregation and its related entities in the face of yet another emergency, while remaining active on other fronts, it is precisely the case to use this term, such as raising awareness of human mobility in all its facets or the world of international Scalabrinian volunteerism that animates and walks together with so many migrants and refugees in missions scattered in different parts of the world.

As SIMN Europe Africa, through ASCS, we continue to operate in the field and update you on the activities we are pursuing with #WeCareForUkraine, confident that together with you we can also continue to respond to this new dramatic situation that is disrupting the lives of millions of people, but without forgetting all the other migrants and refugees we accompany every day.

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