June 19th, 2003
On the 19th of June at two pm Women on Waves sends their international press release from Władysławowo with their contact number. In this press release they officially state that their ship will be arriving in Poland. The response is meager, and for a while, it seems as of their cause has not moved anyone.
Hotline banner on the Langenort
But by the 20th the press phones are ringing all the time, and the emails for help are pouring in. Volunteers and translators set up shop in the new office, and by evening the help hotline is ready for use.
Since it is illegal to supply women with information with may facilitate them in terminating their pregnancy, the hotline is very restricted in the things they can say. They ask the women calling to visit their website for more information.
Press team, Sladjana: �I arrive in Gdansk in the afternoon. The taxi driver that drives me to Wladyslawowo has a copy of Newsweek in his car. The cover story is about abortion and of course there is an article about us in it. I try to read it. Here is this Dutch chick in his car that doesn’t speak Polish, trying to read an article about abortions in Polish. Since the news of our action is already out in Poland, it mustn't be hard for this guy to figure out who I am. So, I start reading every damn magazine in his car in Polish to not be suspicious. He must think I am crazy�.
June 19, 2003
Jeannette and Sladjana have installed the office in our rented house. At 2 o'clock we send out the first press release with our contact number. This is the first time we officially confirm that the ship is about to arrive in Poland. We ready ourselves to receive an avalanche of press calls from international and Dutch press but nothing much happens; almost no one calls. We are a bit disappointed. The Polish media have been writing for days about the ship's arrival. The journalists still think that the ship's name is "Aurora" (the name of the ship we used for the Ireland campaign). One of the articles in the Polish press makes us realise how fortunate we are that our ship is the “Langenort� and not the “Aurora�.
Polish Press agency, 19-06-2003: "The Bishop of Lublin, Rev. Zycimski thought, as had been earlier reported, that the ship’s name was "Aurora". He immediately drew an analogy to the name of the Aurora cruiser that in 1917 gave signal, according to the communist legend, to the start of the October Revolution in Russia. At that point, the bishop explained that it was a revolution, which was to bring freedom and happiness to millions, but in fact it brought fear, pain and death. We do not need such an Aurora in here!�
Press team, Sladjana: "We send the press releases out to all the world-wide media. Jeannette and I get our press phones working and wait impatiently for all hell to break loose. We have been preparing for this day for so long and we know that once the press release goes out, our phones shouldn’t stop ringing. At two in the afternoon, we hit the ‘send’ button. At 2.15 the phones still haven’t rung. At 2.17 my phone finally rings. Hooray! Hooray! Jeannette also receives a phone call. Maybe about two more follow. Then the phones fall silent again... A hilarious situation! What if no press at all is interested? Hahaha! We expected everything, we’ve practised all the difficult questions and now it seems as if all our preparation was in vain!�
