In Ukraine close to the refugees: the witness of Sister Ligy (VIDEO)
The Superior of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Saint Marc is in Mukachevo, in the west of the country. Originally from India, she has no intention of leaving: "We have food supplies for now, but no money for heating".
New Delhi (AsiaNews) - "God is using me to save people from death in Ukraine". These are the words of Sister Ligy Payyappilly, originally from the province of Sanjo, in India's Kerala. With 17 other sisters of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Saint Marc, she is giving assistance to civilians fleeing the war. The 48-year-old superior has lived in Ukraine for the past 20 years.
The convent of the congregation, founded in France in 1845 by Fr Pierre Paul Blanck, is located in Mukachevo, in western Ukraine, where refugees take the route to Slovakia, Hungary or Romania. "For now we are safe, the police are doing a great job," the nun commented to AsiaNews. "Most of the Indian students who were here have returned to India," she adds, speaking of the tens of thousands of young people who moved to Ukraine before the Russian invasion to study medicine. "It is difficult to evacuate people, but we are doing our best." Earlier today, the first cities in the west of the country were hit, such as Lutsk in the north-west, not far from Poland.
While the Indian students were transferred by train to neighbouring countries and then repatriated from there on several flights, the Ukrainians do not know where to flee to. "They don't know the language of the countries they are going to, they don't know the people, they don't have money", explains the superior.
"I have seen very touching scenes, parents who send their children away without knowing what will happen to them. They evacuate them to keep them away from the war, but they are 8, 9, 10, 12 years old and they leave alone by train without knowing what their final destination will be," Sr Ligy continued. "Some find shelter here. Now we are hosting about 60-70 refugees, of whom only four are men, the others are all women and children."
"At the moment we don't need much material aid because we are receiving humanitarian assistance from Germany and Ukraine itself, and we have enough to eat, but my concern is for how many months this situation will go on." The heating is a cause for concern: 'The cost now is very high, for one month we need maybe 3,000 euro. But Sister Ligy doesn't even think about leaving: "I and the other two Indian sisters have no intention of leaving, we want to stay. Maybe God sent us here to save these people".
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