The Foreign Service Journal, September 2022

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | SEPTEMBER 2022 51 It was not only Ukrainians who were applying for visas; Russians were, too. The officer’s job is to assess each application individually, taking into consideration all the factors unique to each applicant. I remember one instance meeting a mother and children who, after just crossing the Ukrainian-Polish border on foot, carrying a saxophone, guitar and ice skates, were finally able to find some rest in a local hotel, thanks to U.S. government support, while we helped prepare and provide them with new U.S. passports and loan applications. Thanks to our support, the family was able to fly to the United States where these small chil- dren could find at least some sense of stability, continuing their education in a U.S. school. In another instance, this one rather surreal, the center facilitated bringing infants born to Ukrainian surrogate mothers across the Polish border into the waiting arms of their new Amer- ican families. With the help of the Regional Security Office, these newborn children were carried first by Ukrainian ambulances and then Polish fire trucks. None of this could have happened without the support of Polish authorities and many volunteers. Between shifts, I was able to volunteer at the World Central Kitchen in Przemysl. Since the beginning of the war, World Cen - tral Kitchen founder José Andrés and WCK’s volunteers had been serving meals every day around the clock—more than 300,000 by the time I arrived. Many Ukrainians were able to receive hot meals with sandwiches at the train station in Przemysl. The food was delicious, nutritious and novel. Many Ukrainians probably tasted a chicken sandwich and Austrian apple strudel for the first time in their lives. I was impressed how well the facility was set up: volunteers from the United States, Spain, Switzerland, Poland and elsewhere kept the place spotless and up to the highest hygiene standards. My experience was all-consuming. My whole world for this period was the war, the crisis and the people directly affected by it. On returning home to Brussels, I joined my family in welcom- ing four Ukrainian refugees there. n