Matvey Joseph Piasetsky
“I’m doing a good deed with good people! I’m glad I came,” — Dobrobat volunteer Matviy Yosyp P’asetsky
For the third month in a row, Matviy from Poland has been volunteering at Dobrobat and rebuilding Yahidne as part of the Chernihiv Construction Battalion. When the full-scale war in Ukraine began, he first thought about joining the army and fighting against the occupiers, but his fiancée stopped him, saying that her heart couldn’t take it. Matviy began looking for other ways to support our people. At first, he volunteered in Poland: he provided medical and humanitarian assistance to displaced persons who were forced to leave their homeland and home due to Russian military operations. He did everything he could to make our people feel safe in a foreign country, and he never gave up on going to Ukraine.
Matviy himself is originally from the city of Gniezdo and worked in Poznań. His profession is that of a lawyer. After quitting his job, he started looking for ways to volunteer outside of Poland, because he understood that there were enough people in his native country who supported Ukrainians. He learned about Dobrobat from an acquaintance from Ukraine. And then there was the suitcase, the road, the Kyiv train station, the way to Chernihiv and Yagodny.
“I understood that there was a war here, so you have to be ready for anything. But the first thing I saw was a policeman at the train station, who smiled happily when he saw my passport. He accepted me like a friend,” Matviy recalls.
On the way to Yagodny, I was struck by the shot-up cars, the burnt walls of houses, and the ruins. And when I arrived in the village, Matviy says, he saw the sadness in people’s eyes, he felt their helplessness. Now, he says, he sees how people come to life, how they start to live truly, how hope appears.
Matviy likes the positive atmosphere at Dobrobat. He didn’t even feel the language barrier. After all, when there is mutual understanding, they do without unnecessary words. And if, nevertheless, a word is not clear, the mood with which it was pronounced will speak for itself. After a few months in Ukraine, Matviy learned to speak Ukrainian well, and he continues to improve his new language.
Matviy’s relatives support his desire to help Ukrainians in reconstruction. Interestingly, his husband’s father is a professional civil engineer. Because of this, Matviy has certain necessary skills, because he worked in construction during his student years. So, when leaving home, he received instructions from his father: “To use the knowledge that he received earlier.”
Matviy succeeds well. The call of his heart led him to the right place and to a wonderful team. They say that Ukrainians and Poles are one Slavic family, so we should help those who need support. After all:
“Razem we can see more!”
