Driving a van again...
On Friday I was lucky enough to be asked to drive the Hell's Kitchen van to deliver a large donation of 1 ml syringes, which can be used for diabetic and intradermal injections.
The van was nearly full and we asked around to find out where the syringes would be most useful, as there are a number of hospitals in Kharkiv. We ended up delivering to two hospitals - oncology and general - which happened to be on different sides of Kharkiv, i.e. about a half hour's drive from one to the other. The van was fairly easy to drive, other than a crack in the windscreen on the driver's side, just at eye level! The city is NOT easy to drive in if you're not used to it - there are some strange rules (to foreigners) regarding beng able to turn into oncoming traffic and vice versa; as it's a large city there are often several traffic lanes, which have a habit of disappearing or merging into tram tracks! Luckily, I had an excellent navigator and, with regard to finding the right hospital department, a good translator.
Hell's Kitchen volunteer drivers (mostly Ukrainian) deliver the fresh food we make to the city's hospitals every day, but this was my first experience of any of those hospitals and it was an eye opener. Some of the buildings are fairly run-down and some have suffered bomb damage, as a result of which one hospital complex was approached by muddy, potholed roads that rival some of the worst I've driven on in Ukraine. I tried to imagine ambulances with injured patients having to navigate them.
It's a known fact that during their illegal invasion of Ukraine the Russian military has repeatedly attacked medical facilities, hospitals, clinics, ambulances and health workers. The UK Ministry of Defence stated that Russia was prioritising attacks on Ukrainian medical facilities as a method of warfare, often striking these and power infrastructure with Irananian-made drones. In July 2024, 1,736 medical facilities were reported to be damaged or destroyed, and 210 health workers killed. (Wikipedia)
The hospitals we delivered to asked for exactly the number of syringes they needed, which restored some of our faith in human nature. It left us with 3 boxes remaining, which we took to an animal hospital.
...which brings me, in a roundabout way, to mackerel. Every few weeks Hell's Kitchen receives a delivery of whole smoked mackerel. Yesterday I asked Liuda, the kitchen's manager, where this donation comes from - surprisingly, she said, "Soldiers." This is because, periodically, military units are sent a quantity of mackerel to supplement their diet. But soldiers' numbers are so low that they don't have the time to prepare or cook them. There is no "army cook" - everyone is needed to fight and the best food is dried/already prepared. So our nearest military unit sends the mackerel to Hell's Kitchen, where it's used to vary the mostly chicken-based meals that the hospitals receive. Volunteers are given a mackerel, too, which sounds nice if you know how to gut a fish. One of the Ukrainain volunteers said, "It's easy, just slice down here and pull everything out!" But when I tried this at home only slimy grey goo came out, which is when I gave up and realised that I'm only a fairly basic cook! Most Ukranians even make their own butter and cheese.
One day, however, I did surprise the Ukrainian volunteers with something they haven't tried before - Welsh cakes. They weren't easy to make in my small kitchen without such things as weighing scales, a griddle, etc. But they seemed to go down very well...
Recently, a few of us volunteers had the opportunity to visit the "tank graveyard" on the outskirts of Kharkiv. It is much as it says: a repository of destroyed army vehicles, equipment, weapons, etc, following the Russians' failed attempt to occupy Kharkiv at the beginning of the full invasion in 2022. It was interesting in a horrible sort of way, starkly illustrating the brutality of war and the lengths humans go to destroy each other, as well as the staggering financial waste.
Below is a crude but effective depiction of the Russians' attempt to loot whatever they can from the places they destroy...
Today, 19 January, is Epiphany Day, which is celebrated in Kharkiv, including by water consecration. One of the most popular destinations is the park in Sarzhin Yar that has a natural water well where many Kharkiveans fill up their water bottles. It's believed that ducking under the icy water in the spa bath bestows a healing power, as well as forgiving sins. One of our volunteers was brave (or crazy?) enough to do this.
So today seemed an appropriate day to take my little Christmas tree down, although I've kept the lights up. After all, there are still decorations in Kharkiv. Following a relatively quiet period in the city, the last few days have been noisier, with ongoing sirens and some explosions.We may need all the light we can get, metaphorically speaking, from tomorrow, 20 January.
A huge thank you, as always, for donations, including from people unknown to me. Today I met one of the volunteers from Adults For Children and gave him a second hand laptop and power bank, invaluable items left by a departing volunteer.
To make a donation, please:
Open PayPal and, when asked for email, enter sunflower_house@hotmail.co.uk
We appreciate you more than you know, Fiona. Слава волонтерам!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the vivid and sometimes funny story about us.
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