War and Hope
As reported in the last two blogs, we lost our main flour donor several months ago and have been using up current stocks. I posted an appeal to our alumni volunteers and there was a great response. Donations have been coming in and the bakery can run with adequate flour supplies for the next 9 months! On Saturday we used our last bag of flour before a delivery, just in time.
The generosity of our donors prompted Yegor, the co-founder of Hell's Kitchen, to send a message of thanks. He noted that they rely, completely, on donations. They never had grants from USAID, and so they were not directly affected by its withdrawal of funding for humanitarian aid projects. But Hell's Kitchen's biggest donor, Nova Ukraine (ironically, a US-based non-profit organisation), is trying to support the most critical projects that were left without funds after USAID was withdrawn. This means that Nova Ukraine has less money for its ongoing projects, with the knock-on effect that Hell's Kitchen also experiences a shortage in funding.
Volunteers do whatever they're asked to do, including rolling dough balls, scrubbing and peeling vegetables, washing greasy pots and helping to unload deliveries. These two volunteers looked like they were conducting a chemistry experiment! When I asked what they were doing, they said that they were breaking up and pouring sugar into bottles for soldiers on the frontline...such a simple, ingenious idea - to keep it dry, of course.
Some volunteers also just make time for sitting with the Ukrainian volunteers, drinking coffee and eating cake, even if they don't speak the language.
"English with Fiona" met on Sunday afternoon at "Cats and Coffee" in Kharkiv, where 15 cats roam around or sleep. We're trying to find a place to accommodate our group, which is now 13 if everybody comes. Last Sunday there were only 6 and we were told off for being too noisy! So we decided this cafe was too unfriendly, as well as being cold. The head baker today was Vera, the oldest volunteer in the kitchen and the star of the English-speaking group due to her perseverance. Liuda (the 'boss') walked by and remarked how nice it was to hear us talking in a mixture of Ukrainian and English. This, to me, is what volunteering in another country is about - communicating with, and learning from, each other.
Donations update:
One donor wanted to buy treats for children so I sent the donation to Adults For Children, who spent it on cakes for children in a special needs school.
Franklin, Hell's Kitchen foreign volunteer coordinator, used donations to purchase a gurney (a medical trolley for transporting patients) for a military hospital and, following an urgent request, Betadine, an antiseptic for preventing infection before and after surgery.
Current volunteers are very grateful to an alumni volunteer for donating a new coffee machine to Hell's Kitchen. The one we had was on its last legs. It may seem like a luxury item, but having a nice cup of coffee (or teas of various sorts, which are very popular here) helps hard-working volunteers get through the day and is especially welcome on cold mornings!
The weather has been getting colder and colder this month. Monday night was the coldest yet - minus 17 degrees C! Snow has been on the ground for over a week because it doesn't melt in the sub-zero temperatures during the day, even when it's sunny. It looks very pretty but pity the poor soldiers in these temperatures!
Looming over us is an anniversary. On 24 February, three years ago, Putin launched his brutal, unprovoked, illegal invasion of Ukraine. These are uncertain and dangerous times, given the development of the Trump-Putin axis (not to mention other nations whose only interest is economic imperialism). Hope still exists. The writer of an open letter to the Kyiv Post said that he has never met a Ukrainian who said they wanted to give up; we should remember their spirit and courage and their 'life or death' fight for democracy. https://www.kyivpost.com/opinion/46938#articles-sub-title-2. I thought a bit more about this after walking home with Vera and another Ukrainian volunteer, who commented that Vera is always so positive. The translation of her response was something like, "I'm happy just being alive." But it's critical, now, that there is a concerted, unified response from the rest of Europe, asserting values of freedom, democracy and human rights.
In the meantime constant sirens and daily bombardment continue in Kharkiv region. At around 04:52 this morning (February 18) the Russians dropped a guided aerial bomb on the centre of Zolochiv, a rural settlement with an estimated population of 7,744 before the fullscale invasion in 2022. The direct hit completely destroyed the social services building and partially damaged the premises of the village council, police, prosecutor's office, court, house of culture, library, kindergarten and music school, two apartment buildings, a private house, five shops, a cafe and power grid (Suspilne Kharkiv).
The strike also damaged the "Alley of Fallen Heroes" - a reminder, if needed, of the terrible loss of life in just one small corner of Ukraine and the principles for which they fought.
To make a donation, please:
Open PayPal and, when asked for email, enter
sunflower_house@hotmail.co.uk
These are the causes I regularly donate to - you can specify where you would like your money to go, otherwise I will send it where the need is greatest:
Adults For Children, which supports families displaced by the war
Hell's Kitchen
Franklin, foreign volunteer coordinator, who supports local soldiers and medics
Fabric for camouflage netting/seamstress costs
Donations can go to charities that support stray dogs and cats, if specified.
Thank you, Fiona, for supporting Ukraine and Ukrainians, for telling the whole world about us.
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