Editorial

Abstract

We at the Babylonia team are at a loss for words about the war in Ukraine.We do not understand how we can possibly be watching such a situation unfold. We do not understand how we have watched such situations unfold in other nations (not only in the past, but also currently in Nigeria, Syria, Myanmar, and many other countries) and never reacted as we have now. We are truly at a loss for words.

We are trying to find words:

• Words to help those suffering.
• Words to thank those providing us with news.
• Words to help young refugees integrate in our schools.
• Words to thank our teachers and social workers.

We see small movements in education. Public libraries now allow ALL, not just Ukrainian, refugees, to have free access (Winterthur, for example just initiated this in April 2022 – in February and March, only Ukrainian refugees got free access, others only reduced fees) to their services. We see the Lehrerinnen und Lehrer Schweiz groups sending out myriad amazing language resources for Ukrainian language learning for teachers welcoming new learners. We see universities organizing fundraisers and information campaigns and we at Babylonia would like to do our bit, but we are at a loss for words.

In the past, Babylonia has treated issues of social justice, rights, refugees, and mediation. And this concept of mediation is of utmost importance right now - negotiating and finding agreements through any means possible. But this issue of Babylonia is about words; we do not deal with any of these other serious issues. Our hearts do go out and we do hope that our upcoming issues will not need such an editorial.