The Voivodeship Labour Office (VLO) in Gdańsk and the Faculty of Philology of the University of Gdańsk help Ukrainian citizens together. Students at the Institute of Russian Studies and Eastern Studies who speak Ukrainian or Russian are volunteers at the VLO, acting as interpreters.

Although they are not relieved from their daily duties, they have scheduled classes at the university, credits, and exams they willingly got involved in the new task. In the headquarters of the Voivodeship Labour Office in Gdańsk at Żabi Kruk 16, students support career advisors and legal advisors from the District Chamber of Legal Advisors in Gdańsk in interpreting conversations with Ukrainian citizens.

For young people, this is not only an opportunity to improve their skills in communicating in foreign languages.

- 'For them, it is also a great experience of life, of great value both in practical and emotional terms. By participating in this initiative, they mature, learn to be open-minded and develop their soft skills. Our students, taking up this task, prepared themselves for it and developed the necessary vocabulary. They felt needed, saw that their language competencies are very useful and used them effectively,' - says dr hab. Joanna Jereczek-Lipińska, prof. UG, Deputy Dean for Education and Community Relations. - 'They can be sure that the knowledge they gain will enrich them and translate into practical terms, as they will be able to put this experience into their CVs.'

The work of students for Ukrainian citizens is possible thanks to an agreement on cooperation concluded by the Voivodeship Labour Office in Gdańsk, acting on behalf of the Self-Government of the Pomorskie Voivodeship, and the Faculty of Philology at the University of Gdańsk. Within the framework of the agreement, students volunteer at the Pomeranian Voivodeship Labour Office in Gdańsk and carry out activities consisting mainly of linguistic support for people from Ukraine.

- 'At the moment, fourteen young people are helping us, they are very active, committed and understanding. Conversations with job seekers in a foreign language require knowledge of specialist vocabulary and translation of legal advice also requires mastering the appropriate vocabulary. It is necessary to translate these cultural, legal and professional nuances into another language, which is a big responsibility,' - adds Izabela Jezierska, Director of the Voivodeship Labour Office in Gdańsk. - 'We started our cooperation in the first half of March, together we have already helped over 250 people from Ukraine.'

Cooperation with the VLO is also in line with the educational mission of the Faculty of Philology of the University of Gdańsk.

- 'We want to educate an aware citizen of the world with an open mind and heart because a humanist and a philologist is the best possible combination. We want our graduates to know world languages and cultures, to be open-minded, constructive and creative. Ready for challenges and changes,' - emphasizes Vice-Dean

J. Jereczek-Lipińska.