Paulina Bownik

Medical Doctor, Humanitarian, Poland

Highlights from this session:

Paulina Bownik discusses the immense challenges and motivations behind providing medical assistance to refugees at the Polish Belarusian border. She highlights the critical need for collective care and respect for human rights, addressing how interconnected global issues such as conflicts, climate change, and refugee crises necessitate proactive solutions. Paulina delves into the negative impact of government policies on volunteer efforts and the importance of self-care to sustain long-term activism. She considers the potential for future collaborative projects and emphasizes the need for solidarity and preparedness in facing growing challenges. Through personal reflections and professional experiences, Paulina underscores the significance of empathy, collective responsibility, and the power of media in effecting change.

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Paulina Bownik

As a medical doctor, Paulina Bownik has voluntarily been rescuing thousands of refugees in the forests of the Polish-Belarusian border region, often wading through swamps looking for people who need to be warmed and hydrated at -16 degrees:

“The medical backpack weighed about 20 kilos. I had to have things in it for various circumstances. First of all, painkillers. Plus IVs and IV equipment for insertions. Necessarily, the smallest ones, yellow venflons for children, which are also useful for adults in hypothermia, because they have very extravasated veins. Wound disinfectants, bandages and dressings. Since they put up a wall, I had to carry orthopedic equipment with me: slings, orthoses, pads, welts. I also always carried large scissors for cutting clothes stiff from water and blood.”

Witnessing the humanitarian crisis playing out in the so-called exclusion zone between Poland and Belarus has been a profoundly traumatic experience, not only for the refugees, but for her too.

Aleksandra Hirszfeld