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I return to Kharkiv and children return to school

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Shortly before I returned to Ukraine I was sitting in my mum's garden, from where we could hear the sound of children laughing and shouting in the playground on their first day of school. It's a lovely sound that, sadly, is not heard in Kharkiv or in any other city near the frontline. In Ukraine, the new school year traditionally begins on 1 September. After Russia's invasion in 2022, schools in Kharkiv and Kharkiv region switched to online learning. In 2023, local authorities set up underground schools in Metro (underground) stations and began building schools underground. Now, there are 10 underground schools in Kharkiv. They are much in demand and, generally, reserved for younger children for just a couple of days a week. Air raid alerts are, of course, part of life for everyone now and out on the street it doesn't appear that children even notice them. But in a local article on returning to school underground, a first-grade pupil, Sofia, said: “I’m not a...
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Leaving on Kharkiv Day

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  23 August is Kharkiv Day, commemorating the city's liberation (after several previous tries) in 1943 by the Soviet Red Army in World War II. Beginning in 2004, 23 August is also National Flag Day of Ukraine. The following day, 24 August, is Independence Day, dating from 1991 when parliament adopted the Act of Declaration of Independence, freeing Ukraine from the Soviet Union. I am travelling from Kharkiv to England, to visit my Mum, and other family and friends. I'll be away for a little over 2 weeks, which is not long but it always feels difficult to leave Kharkiv. At least I know that I won't be missed too much in terms of staffing the kitchen, as we have lots of foreign volunteers just now, both new and returning, including quite a large contingent of British volunteers! 3:1 Brits to Americans in these photos! A number of volunteers choose to increase their volunteering opportunities, e.g. after peeling vegetables in the morning they...
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Hospitals and Food

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Recently, Ed, foreign volunteer coordinator, and I accompanied Liuda and a major Hell's Kitchen donor on visits to some of the hospitals where we deliver cooked food and bread. In Ukraine, hospitals (and schools) are generally known by a number. The first hospital we visited was Number 25 Hospital, a large emergency treatment hospital that receives our biggest delivery of food, usually about 240 meals and rolls per day. We had a frank and revealing discussion with a passionate and humorous young surgeon called Ivan, who, he said, was only pulled in to talk to us because he speaks good English! He explained that, because of the low level of government funding (as a result of the war effort), the hospital has to cut corners to ensure that patients' health and treatment comes first; hospital decor - and food - come second. We visited two wards where wounded soldiers were lying in beds, very close together - the wards were clean, but cramped and basic. Each patient is allocated onl...
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