The best
of friends
There is a war going on in the middle of Europe that is impacting a huge number of people. Especially in Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland, and Germany, we are feeling the effects because Ukraine is so close. This is also leading to a wave of solidarity among our employees, many of whom are even welcoming refugees into their homes.
When Daniela Schick was on Facebook at the beginning of March, her eyes immediately fell on an urgent request. Housing was being sought for refugees from the war in Ukraine. The 39-year-old mother of a 13-year-old son, who has worked in purchasing at KAMAX Tools for nine years, didn’t hesitate for a second and registered her small home in Homberg. “I thought to myself: there is room in the smallest of houses.” Shortly thereafter, a contact was made, and then everything happened very quickly. The 38-year-old Natalja made her way to her from the south of Ukraine with her 14-year-old son.
They appeared on Daniela’s doorstep just two days later. Exhausted, but safe. Natalja’s husband, like most Ukrainian men, stayed behind in the war zone. “We understood each other right from the start, even if linguistically everything was done with Google Translator at first, because Natalja doesn’t speak English,” says Daniela. The two women share the living room and kitchen. And have now become friends. “Natalja understands German better and better, and we sometimes cook Ukrainian food together. A great experience for me and my son.” Things are also going well between the two boys – “even though puberty is in full swing,” Daniela says with a laugh.
Daniela, Natalja und ihr Sohn sowie die vorrübergehend nach Poprad (Slowakei) geflohene Familie (letztes Bild)
TOGETHER ON VACATION
Natalya’s son attends an intensive class at school, where refugee children are given intensive language assistance. As soon as the situation in Ukraine allows, the two understandably want to return to their home country. But it may be some time before that happens. For Daniela, there is no question that the friendship between the two women will continue even then: she gets along so well with Natalja that she even took her along on vacation to Croatia for a few days. For the mother, who was plagued by the turmoil of war, this was an incredibly welcome respite. “I enjoyed doing all this because I also received a lot of help when my son was seriously ill with cancer,” Daniela says. “Helping is a matter of the heart.”
This beautiful motto also applied to Marián Frisík, who also works at Tools in Bardejov. He gave a whole Ukrainian family (grandparents, parents and two children) from Kiev accommodation in his house in Poprad – because of their advanced age, both men were also able to leave. The contact was established through one of the two Ukrainian daughters. She had met Frisík’s son during the Erasmus program at a German university and spontaneously asked for help for her family.
When the first bombs fell, they packed everything they needed within 20 minutes and fled the city – it took four days to travel the approximately 1,000 kilometers to the border because of the long traffic jams. However, Slovakia was only a transit stop: “The family then quickly traveled on to Dresden, where another daughter is attending university,” Frisík says. “When I got the news that they had arrived safely in Germany, it made me very happy. And, of course, that I could help with that.”
KXpress
