By Wen Huang
As the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine approached, Rotary magazine’s Wen Huang went on a personal trip to Europe, where he witnesses the resilience of the Ukrainian people and the wide reach of Rotary’s global network. In the second installment of his two-part report, Huang crosses the border from Poland to Ukraine.
Friday, 10 a.m., southeastern Poland
“I can smell Ukraine now,” exclaims Vasyl Polonskyy with a broad smile on his boyish face. “We are getting very close to the border.”
We’re zooming through southeastern Poland on a newly paved country road. Polonskyy pokes his head out the window and takes a deep breath. I do the same but fail to catch the scent of anything distinctively Ukrainian. Polonskyy reads my thoughts. “Only we Ukrainians can detect the unique smell of our land,” he says. “Each time I return from trips abroad, I always know I’m home, just from the smell of it. I love my country very much, and the war has only made my love stronger.”
I met Polonskyy earlier this morning in the Polish town of Zamość. Tall with a slender build, he’s the president-elect of the Rotary Club of Ukraine Unity Passport. He rose at dawn to drive across the border to fetch me.
