Lacey mayor says Polish sister city needs more resources for Ukrainian refugees

Lacey Mayor Andy Ryder has returned from 17 days of celebrating the 600th anniversary of Lacey’s sister city Mínsk Mazowiecki in Poland calling for resources to help the city house Ukrainian refugees.

Mínsk Mazowiecki, which became Lacey’s sister city in 2004, sits outside of Warsaw in eastern Poland. The sister city relationship has provided opportunities for those in both cities to visit and learn from each other. Ryder’s visit in late May was his third.

Ryder said he saw how residents of Mínsk Mazowiecki have provided Ukrainian refugees with support since Russia invaded the Ukraine in February. About 1,000 refugees are now housed in Mínsk Mazowiecki, and Ryder said the city has an assortment of needs to continue to help them.

“They need on-going, everyday supplies,” Ryder said. “They don’t have clothes. They don’t have toiletries. All of the things we take for granted — they don’t have any of it.”

Ryder also said that with summer arriving, Ukrainian children may struggle to find reliable places to eat. Like here, schools provide meals to students, but that doesn’t take into account their families or what they do during the summer.

“They have to bring home food for the weekends, not only for themselves, but for their mother or sometimes, their grandfather,” he said. “This is while school is in session, and school is about to be out. How are all of these kids going to eat during the summer?”

Ryder said the Polish government has been aiding Ukrainian refugees by providing them small stipends for necessities, and there is talk of schools staying open during the summer to provide food.

However, obstacles to work also are creating problems for Ukrainian refugees. Due to Poland’s different job certifications, many Ukrainians are faced with going back to school to work in Mínsk Mazowiecki. Ryder said it is a difficult decision because of the amount of time it would take to finish school, especially since their residence in Mínsk Mazowiecki is temporary.

“They don’t know how long any of this is going to last,” he said.

Although the city’s 600th anniversary celebration was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ryder said he still had the opportunity to bond with the Polish and Ukrainian people. He was not able to travel around the country as much as he’d wanted to, but he was able to unveil a street in Mínsk Mazowiecki that was named after Lacey.

Also, Ryder and mayors from Mínsk Mazowiecki’s other sister cities from all around Europe signed an accord in support of self governance and celebrating diversity. One of those sister cities is Borodyanka, a Ukrainian city that now sits in ruins due to Russian attacks. Ryder said this accord further highlights the importance of Mínsk Mazowiecki’s support and hospitality during this difficult time.

“One of the neat things about this sister city is that they are very welcoming of different cultures and different ideas,” Ryder said. “I think that sometimes in the United States, we take those freedoms for granted.”

Ryder also said the celebration allowed him to see how similar people are regardless of nationality. He said this could be seen through Mínsk Mazowiecki’s hospitality toward him and Ukrainian refugees.

“I think the people from Poland feel this obligation to Ukraine because they remember what it was like to be occupied,” Ryder said. “They feel like Ukraine is fighting this war for democracy and freedom. A lot of people are feeling this sadness that this is happening to Ukraine because it could have happened to anyone along that border.”

Coming from an accepting and diverse family, Ryder said that he always saw diversity as normal and important. His family housed multiple foreign exchange students while he grew up, and the introduction to different cultures during his childhood inspired him to foster the relationship between Lacey and Mínsk Mazowiecki when he became mayor.

He said the bond between the two communities is important and that if the roles were reversed, he knows Mínsk Mazowiecki would be doing the same for Lacey.

“The human race has more in common than a lot of people think we do,” he said. “We need to be reminded of that from a straight humanity standpoint.”

To help the people of Mínsk Mazowiecki, donate to the Lacey-Mínsk Mazowiecki Sister City Association (LMMSCA) at PO Box 5992, Lacey, WA 98509-5992.