The Foreign Service Journal, September 2022

48 SEPTEMBER 2022 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Helping Refugees in POLAND Lilia Lally is a proud Foreign Service family member with international experience working in the United States government. She has moved 11 times and has worked in six embassies. She is married to Foreign Commercial Service Officer Michael Lally, and the couple has one daughter. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and are not necessarily those of the U.S. government. FEATURE One FS family member shares her “all-consuming” experience on temporary duty in Warsaw during the war in Ukraine. BY L I L I A LAL LY P oland was receiving thousands of refugees fleeing Ukraine, and the U.S. Embassy Warsaw requested volunteers to assist with demand. On Monday, March 14, I received confirmation from the Bureau of Consular Affairs that my nomination as a volunteer to assist U.S. Embassy Warsaw with Mission Poland had been approved. Because I was born in Ukraine, participating in this temporary duty (TDY) assignment was my dream from the moment the war began on Feb. 24, 2022. I arrived in Warsaw on Wednesday, March 16, and immediately started interpreting from Russian and Ukrai- nian into English for consular officers and locally employed staff on the visa line. There, I met a dedicated consular team whose members had come to serve on TDY assignment from around the world: England, South Africa, Taiwan and South Korea, among other places. I was also glad to reconnect with colleagues from Located at the Przemysl train station, the World Central Kitchen has been serving meals every day since the war in Ukraine began. COURTESYOFLILIALALLY COURTESYOFLILIALALLY