Introduction

Social work has a wide range of social services. It offers them to different layers of the population, age categories, professions, and the needy. Social services are provided to homeless people, Roma, seniors, children, social facilities in the form of supervision, etc. "Currently, there is a significant lack of social workers, or social pedagogues in schools."1 The need for experts in schools, whose goal is to identify pathological phenomena in the families from which the students themselves come, is growing more and more.

The task of social work is to help an individual to improve his life, as well as to encourage him to behave in the right way when solving his problems. This also applies to today's refugees from Ukraine who are applying for asylum in European countries. A refugee, later according to Slovak legislation, can acquire the status of a sojourner. In practice, it turns out that the object of social work can become the social worker himself, who has been performing social work until now. None of the social workers is in a certain position that they will not find themselves in need. In the contribution, we offer an example from practice that points out that a social worker can become a client of social work.

Case report

Lena was born in 1980 in Melitopol. At that time, this city was part of the Soviet Union. She lived almost her entire life in it and today it is geographically included in the Zaproža region in Ukraine. Zaporizhia is the main regional city with 1,000,000 inhabitants. Melitopol has approximately 120,000 inhabitants and is approximately 150 kilometers from Zaporizhia.

Lena remembers her childhood fondly. It was beautiful in the circle of family - father, mother, grandparents, brother and friends. She graduated from elementary school and high school economics. He is at Mary's school.2 He is currently doing higher studies at the Ukrainian Catholic University for three years in the field of catechesis. She is supposed to be a catechist3 for the Donetsk Exarchate.4 Until the end of September of this year, she was doing social work at the local Greek Catholic charity. Her activity as a social worker was not terminated voluntarily.

After high school, Lena went through several jobs. She worked in shops and warehouses. In In 2012, she was employed on the territory of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea. The journey from Melitopol to Crimea took a total of 2 hours by car and 3 hours by train. Work there was interesting for her. She was looking forward to a better and steady salary. After two years came the call to leave Crimea. The year was 2014. The annexation of the territory of the peninsula to a neighboring state did not allow her to work there as a Ukrainian. The people with whom Lena spoke in Crimea and with whom she was in close contact did not want a referendum on the annexation of Crimea to Russia. Some were leaving. Others had to stay as they had their livelihoods and businesses there. It was a difficult situation even for her. Since Lena herself did not have the relevant documents, she had no right to leave Crimea. It was a tactical pressure to stay in Crimea. She should have chosen Russian citizenship. She refused. This is how she managed to leave Crimea. After two years, she returned to Melitopol.

At home, in a short time, she managed to meet the Greek Catholic clergyman, Father Peter Krenický. He is a Slovak, working in Ukraine. He invited her to the service. She liked it there. She started visiting the parish and the temple every day. There is also a charity on the grounds of the rectory. She started working there at the beginning of 2015. She helped with whatever was needed. They cooked for the homeless, displaced people, and those who stopped by. An average of 120 people stopped by per day. There she experienced the power of a good community. Meeting with parishioners, mutual conversations, encouragement, help and absence of solitude solved many problems. Lena converted from the Orthodox faith to the Catholic faith and became a member of the Greek Catholic Church. As an Orthodox, she went to church once a year and did not understand the services. As a Greek Catholic, she started attending services every day. They were in the Ukrainian language, which she understood.

Lena longed for children and a family. She met her future husband in Melitopol. They got married. Their daughter Veronika was born. He claims that there is a high divorce rate in Ukraine. Many children are left without fathers and grow up with only mothers. It happened in her case as well. The husband has a problem with alcohol and drugs. With the husband's addictions, the marriage was accompanied by bad coexistence. She did not know that it would be the same in her case. They went away from each other. For the last 8 years, her life has been the Greek Catholic temple, work in the parish, which includes charity, her own home, her daughter and helping the poor. She actively worked in the field of social work. She found a job that she enjoyed and fulfilled. She took part in the writing of the "Kitchen" project, so that the money raised could be used to improve it for charity. She invented a group on Viber called "Vid mamy do mamy".5 The members of this group were mothers. Each of them wrote what they have extra and can donate. Lena passed on these donated items to those mothers who needed it for their child. She was satisfied with her position as a social worker. She enjoyed and fulfilled her work.

Life went on as normal. No one knew that war was coming. On February 24, 2022, the local war in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions expanded further. People's lives changed beyond recognition from day to day. Fear. Uncertainty. Restlessness. Occupation. There was no need to name these words. They themselves could be cut from the whole atmosphere of the city. A bomb was dropped on a large land in Melitopol intended for cultivation. Her explosion shook the surrounding area. The local municipal office was surrounded. Personnel changes were made in the post of mayor. The bridge over which the train was passing was destroyed in order to limit the escape of civilians. The local airport was damaged. Some apartments were occupied by soldiers. One of the mobile networks went down, where people could not call each other.

These were situations where no one knew what to do. The transport of tanks from both warring sides was seen. Every day, in two Greek Catholic churches there, people from different confessions gathered to pray together for peace and tranquility in Ukraine. Peaceful strikes were taking place in the city center. Written slogans: Melitopol is Ukraine! Melitopol is our homeland! they expressed people's feelings about their nationality. Lena remembers every single day what happened there. People came to the temple out of fear and prayed. Allies came among the people, chanting rehearsed phrases: "There is life in Russia. Russia will free you! Russia loves you. We are one nation! We are one people!" Among those who went to persuade people were the citizens of Melitopol themselves. A lot of wheat and food was taken out by car to prevent starvation. In the city, billboards took on advertising in the form of "My nation!"6

Despite the occupation, the parish where Lena worked remained functional. Holiday or non-holiday, charity is always being worked on. People need to be fed, travelers need to be sheltered, especially refugees who sleep there and run away to safety the next morning. Melitopol has changed. Some shops, especially food, were broken. Stations were created replacing grocery stores. More than once there was a sight of tanks ready for battle and the transportation of other heavy military equipment through the city by trucks. The city is guarded by members of a foreign army. There was also damage to private cars by gunfire. University-educated people who have a potential influence on people used to be intimidated by the soldiers themselves. It also happened to the priest himself, with whom Lena was employed. The question came - to run or not to run? Lena was satisfied. Despite the first days of the war, she did not feel the need to leave. She believed it would end soon. In the summer, they still went to the Black Sea with their children.7 There, daughter Veronika wanted to meet her father. It didn't work.

In March 2022, Lena enrolled her daughter Veronika in the 1st year of elementary school. Back in the summer, she was on a pilgrimage with young people and people from all over Ukraine. 8 Even at that time, she believed that things would change for the better and that she would stay in the country. Food packages for refugees were being packed at the charity. There was a lot of work. The situation has not changed for the better. The question came more and more - to run, not to run. Friends advised her to leave. On the church holiday of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin in Melitopolis, the novena to the Virgin began to be prayed. On the 5th day, according to her, the signal came that she should leave. She was possessed by fear. Run - not run? "You have the right solution." The cleric claimed. He went on to say, "You are possessed by fear, your survival, it is time to leave!" According to her, it was still good on Friday, September 24, 2022, during the temple holiday season. She lingered in her work. Lena was called by an acquaintance who could take her along with her daughter and mother. The people there advised her: "The referendum starts the next day. And you won't get out of the referendum. The militia is already there, the occupation is underway." The next day, she arrived with her daughter in the nearby village of Vasilivka. There were a lot of people waiting for a ride. Many cars and buses were prepared. The driver, with whom she agreed the day before to drive her to Zaporizhia, asked for a lot of money for the ride. The driver's son is currently in the service of the Ukrainian army... He did not return to Vasilivka that day to pick her up. He got stuck in Zaporozhye, where the soldiers started making it difficult for him to move.

In the end, she managed to leave with another driver in the car. The substitute driver instructed her to lie down with her daughter on the back seats before entering Zaporizhia. There was a risk that their car would be shot at. They ran very quickly through the zone where there was a threat of shooting. It seemed to her that in that section the angels lifted the car so that the bullets would not hit their car. The journey for Lena and her daughter was very difficult, but somehow they reached their destination - Zaporizhia. She stayed there for 3 days with the Basilian religious sisters. She couldn't go out much during that time. There was a threat of shooting in some places. She could be attacked at any time.

Lena wrote on Viber to one of the students from Melitopol. In the news, she received a notice that no one can leave Melitopol from today. She left at the last minute. After a short stay with religious sisters, where she could not go out because of some shelling places, she moved to Kyiv. Her brother lives with his family in the capital of Ukraine. She stayed there for a short time, where she experienced nice moments. After all, family, peace from shooting, although in a state of war. However, she still did not have the documents to cross the border. She could not find her way around everything. Her heart hurt badly. Mom is in Melitopol. After 3 days, the fear of what will happen next came again. There was a huge city bustle in Kyiv. She also wanted to meet the members of the Márina school, which she is a part of. She considered various options. An acquaintance offered her an apartment in the west of the country. She couldn't afford it financially. Her brother suggested that she get her travel documents.

A clergyman from the charity where she worked recommended her to go to Slovakia. Sister Katerína from Slovakia began to deal with her coming to us. This is a nun who has spent most of the year on missions in the eastern part of Ukraine. She helped people as much as possible. Since she knew Lena, she began to care more about her coming to Slovakia. It was uncomfortable for Lena. At home, she had work, responsibility for herself and the child, she had everything. She didn't miss anything. And now? The same problems. Sister Katarína urged her to leave Ukraine. She has been in Slovakia for over a year and could not return to Ukraine due to covid and the war that had started. The religious sister promised her that they would arrange her travel documents. Lena was sick. After completing the documents, she moved to Uzhgorod. There she traveled by bus to Košice. From Košice, she moved to Prešov, where she was welcomed for a few days by an order of sisters, which includes the aforementioned sister Katarína. Everything was close by - a shop, a pharmacy, a hospital. The doctor examined her when she arrived in Slovakia. He concluded that she had experienced enormous stress. He told her to rest. Sister Katarína took care of that, so that she would lie down, read, pray and not stress herself unnecessarily. It was necessary to recover. Then she moved to the religious house of sisters in Gelnica. A few days later, other families from Ukraine came to join them. They confirmed to Lena that she had done well to leave. With regard to what is happening there, here he is now safe.

She has been in Slovakia since October 2, 2022. During that month, Lena managed to find a kindergarten for her daughter. She was also planning a new job. He claims that they need to live and they are already safe here. Most importantly, there is no need to give in. Among other things, she is waiting for the completion of her catechetics studies, which will take place online.

He is worried about his mother. The retired former teacher is already in her 80s. It is usually more difficult for seniors to run away and leave their home and homeland. Lack of physical fitness can be a big determinant of running away. Lena's brother lives with his family in Kyiv, where he works and remains in the military reserve.

Duchovné, who advised her to go to Slovakia, is today nicknamed "smells like bread". He goes around the villages to distribute bread. There are no hospitals or shops in the villages. He imports bread from Melitopol to all the municipalities that are a territorial part of his parish.

Lena is currently trying to learn Slovak and wants to adapt here. During that stay, she visited an acquaintance. When the acquaintance's neighbors learned about Lena's situation, they brought high-quality clothes, especially for her 6-year-old daughter, who had been wearing the same clothes for several days.

Daughter Veronika has been painting a lot since they ran away from home. By painting in silence, he demonstrates what he experiences. More than once she drew tanks and people. He perceives very vividly what is happening. However, he also draws pleasant things.

Lena wants to go to church every day and learn, everything that is necessary. He does not know the results of the referendum in Melitopol. She knows that on the day she left, two women and men went among the people to vote. He wants to return home. It depends on whether the war ends or not. He gives it a year. See you later. Today, she acquires the status of an outcast and an asylum seeker. In her case, the status of a social worker is already absent.

Conclusion

Experience from practice, as well as from the given example, show that the social worker himself, providing a social service, can find himself in the position of its recipient. In principle, it does not have to go only when it acquires a material, or non-substance addiction. It can also happen in the case of loss of housing, flight from the homeland caused by war.

Refugees cause an outflow of people. In case of war, this flight is considered legal migration. It is a clear sign of the occurrence of an undesirable pathology. Refugees who have applied for the issuance of a relevant document9 on tolerated stay in the territory of the Slovak Republic receive the designation "expatriate". A foreigner who, according to Act no. 480/2002 Coll. on asylum, as amended, international protection in the form of asylum is granted because he has a justified fear of persecution in the country of origin for reasons determined by law.10 According to the laws, a refugee thus acquires two legal statuses – asylum seeker and sojourner. He thus becomes a member of groups that are the object of social work.

Author: Mgr. JUDr. PhDr. Stanislav Bujda, PhD. University of Health and Social Work St. Elizabeth

Photo authors: Stanislav Bujda Jr., @melitopolnews

LIST OF USED LITERATURE

HETTEŠ, M., SCHAVEL, M., ŠKORECOVÁ, O. (etc.).: The position of the social worker in society (Examples of practice). Proceedings of the professional conference. Prešov: Institute of Social Sciences and Health bl. P. P. Gojdič in Prešov, 2013. p. 210. ISBN 978-80-8132-094-1.

Resolution of the Government of the Slovak Republic no. 144/2022 in connection with refugees of 28/02/2022

Law no. 480/2002 Coll. on asylum and on the amendment of certain laws

Procedure for employment of citizens of Ukraine. https://www.sppk.sk/clanok/4313 (5/11/2022, 9:00 a.m.)

Asylum seeker. https://www.employment.gov.sk/sk/informacie-cudzincov/zakladne-pojmy/azylant.html (5/11/2022)

[1] Slovák, P.: Graduate of social work in contact with individuals on the threshold of adulthood. In: Position of a social worker in society (Examples from practice), 2013, p. 15. [2] It is a Catholic association that unites people in prayers, retreats and various meetings. [3] However, he will complete his studies online. It is not because of the covid-19 pandemic. [4] Higher ecclesiastical territorial unit with relevant institutions of ecclesiastical self-government. [5] In the translation From mom to mom. [6] In the translation We are one nation! [7] The Sea of ​​Azov, located more than 40 km from Melitopol, was no longer accessible due to the war. [8] From Melitopol to Snihurivka. Approximately 80 km route. [9] Cf. https://www.sppk.sk/clanok/4313 (November 5, 2022, 9:00 a.m.), SR Government Resolution No. 144 of 28 February 2022. [10] Cf. https://www.employment.gov.sk/sk/informacie-cudzincov/zakladne-pojmy/azylant.html (5. 11. 2022, 9:15)