The MISEVI Poland Association has been officially working since 2017. At that time, we made the decision to merge our Polish missionary projects one organization. We previously operated as Project M3 (Młodzi (In English, the youth)- Misje (missions) – Madagascar) organizing volunteer trips to Madagascar and as Project B3 (Bydgoszcz – Benin – Biro) which focused on trips to Benin.
We started in 2013 as a group of students who, inspired by the charism of St Vincent, decided to serve the poor in the farthest corners of the world. Since then, our organization brings together mainly young people who want to provide help within the Vincentian Family. In Poland we meet in three cities where the Congregation is also present, namely: Krakow, Bydgoszcz, Warsaw. Through spiritual formation, substantive preparation for our trips, learning languages and raising funds for our activities, we try to make our help professional and well-organized.
Our activities in Poland also include global education conducted in schools and educational centers. We want to share our experience, sensitize others to missionary needs and acquire partners and funds to help missions. During the year our calendar is also filled with meetings in parish communities where we give witness to our Vincentian service and collect donations for the missions. Without the immensity of the work we do in Poland we would not be able to carry out projects abroad. Therefore MISEVI Poland gathers over 120 volunteers and members of the association, without whom it would simply not be possible.
Since the beginning of our work, we have been active in Madagascar, Benin, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan. In Benin, we were responsible for building a library and a dormitory at the newly established mission in Biro, where Polish missionaries were just beginning their ministry. In the future we plan to continue supporting them in the educational projects they create. In Kazakhstan we organized holiday camps for children in the villages where the missionaries work, but for political reasons we had to suspend our activities.
In Ukraine we work with the Sisters of Mercy. In Odessa, we help the sisters at the place for the homeless. Medical professionals travel there to dress wounds, provide emergency treatment, and help with hygiene. We organize medical and sanitary transports – mainly of dressing materials so that the sisters can carry out their medical activities uninterruptedly. We also support this work financially by donating funds to buy necessary clothing, hygiene products, or some equipment for the center. Currently, we are also financing the activities of local volunteers who help the sisters in the daily operations. In Balta – as part of the holiday semi-colonies run by the sisters, our volunteers taught languages, conducted art classes, and took care of children and young people during holiday retreats. There was also material support in the form of art and educational materials. Currently, due to a pandemic, activities in Balta have been suspended.
In Madagascar, our work is divided into two main parts: educational and medical. Our location is southern Madagascar, specifically the outskirts of the city of Tolagnaro. This is where, since 2014, young people from Poland have been going on short- and long-term voluntary assignments to carry out the Association’s activities on the ground. Above all we support children from the poorest communities near the village of Marillac attending the school run by the Missionary Fathers. We ran holiday camps for the poorest children, organized and ran courses for teachers, formed local volunteers. Above all, we support the school financially by ensuring the functioning of the school canteen – an important place for us, where many children can eat their only meal of the day. The school also receives material support from us in the form of sports equipment as well as art and educational materials. In implementing international projects, we have also participated in the renovation and extension of the school, including the building of a kindergarten and a nursery for toddlers. Our medical activities are mainly based on the financial support of the Sisters of Mercy medical center, which helps the poorest. The Sisters also run a center for people suffering from leprosy and tuberculosis, and help in many other places such as the Tolagnaro prison. During our cooperation on the spot, we managed to create a place for physiotherapy, where Polish specialists could rehabilitate and treat people with movement disabilities. We also cooperate with other specialists, such as dentists, ophthalmologists, midwives, doctors of other specialists, who come to the mission to provide treatment within the framework of our Association.
A very important aspect of our activity in the mission is photo, film, and financial documentation – thanks to which we can provide reliable information and acquire partners for our activities. Currently, in cooperation with Polish NGOs, we are implementing a project to build and equip a diagnostic laboratory. Recently – unfortunately, fully remotely due to the pandemic – we have implemented a project to build several wells in villages near Taolagnaro, due to the worsening drought and lack of food in the south of the Island. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, our continued presence on the Island is not possible, so most of our support is now financial support coming from Poland. We are eagerly waiting for the situation to stabilize so that we can return to our work in Madagascar. But until then, we are doing everything we can to help as much as possible. That is why, in the last year, we have launched an online shop with handicrafts from Madagascar, the income from which we donate to missionary work.
As you can see, MISEVI Poland is alive, active and vibrant, accomplishing the missionary work inspired by St. Vincent de Paul.
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