In 2017, the IWAK money raised at the annual Charity Gala held at Pod Różą Hotel afforded the Centre for Autism in Kraków the opportunity to upgrade their sensory integration activities room and computer lab. The Centre showed its immense gratitude by gifting IWAK with a photobook showcasing all of […]
The effects of IWAK’s 2018 Charity Gala are now physically tangible!
We are super excited and proud to announce the official handover of brand new, super comfy foldout beds for the use of parents staying with their sick kids at the newly renovated children’s surgery ward of the University Children’s Hospital in Prokocim. Our donation of PLN 35,000, raised during our […]
Krok po kroku: Reflections in the Mundane Moments of my Days
I hear the birds murmuring and cooing. Morning doves? Rock pigeons — outside on the roof of our building. I glance out the window at the tree in our courtyard, naked branches silhouetted against the pale blue morning sky. No movement discernible. And then yes, one… two tiny birds alight […]
Polish Christmas Traditions
December in Polish Christian practice is the time of ADVENT. The Latin meaning of adventus is “coming” and it refers to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. In my childhood, the rough time of the Communist 70s/80s, it was indeed a time of intense, expectant waiting for the time of […]
Polish Culture: All Saints’ Day
I think that everybody who lives as an expat somewhere in the world has a day in the year that they would really like to be back home. For some it might be Halloween, Carnival, Koningsdag or Holi. For me it was always All Saints’ Day. The first of November […]
Spotlight on the Committee – Interview with Leonie Mueller
What’s your story? I was born in South Africa and spent an idyllic childhood in many cities there. After completing Nursing Studies, I went to England, via Israel, where I hoped to study further. I got side-tracked, in a good way, working for an international non-profit organisation and met my […]
Spotlight on the Committee – Interview with Anna Mey
What’s your story? I am a Polish-Australian who was born in Warsaw, grew up in Australia, and ended up in Kraków. I am a writer, translator and proofreader, a dancer and a traveller. I am also a mother of two, a wife of one, who loves reading, dancing, meeting new […]
Pickle and the (Polish) City
A melting pot? A salad bowl? We are perfectly familiar with all those expressions that are so frequently used to describe a rich mixture of people of different origin sharing the same place that can be wonderfully called home. Can Poland be a pot in which you can join other […]
The story of Carnations and Tights
Here in Poland the International Women’s Day is more commonly celebrated than in many of its neighbouring Western countries. And although nowadays roses are the more elegant gift, Poles seemingly have a thing with carnations… and tights! We asked a Polish guestwriter, Żaneta Piętak to shed some light on this special […]
Polish Heroines: Irena Sendler
On October 19, 1965 a tree was planted at the entrance to the Avenue of the Righteous in Yad Vashem, Israel’s official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. The plaque bore the name: Irena Sendler. For the next 34 years this remained the only public recogni-tion for one of […]
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