Carpathians to Kharkiv

 Last month I spent a couple of weeks in the UK, visiting family and friends, including volunteers in Trawden, who remain as supportive as ever of Ukraine. Before returning to Kharkiv, my friend, Jos (also a Hell's Kitchen volunteer), and I organised a week's holiday in the Carpathian Mountains for some volunteers from Hell's Kitchen and Lviv. The idea was to give people, particularly in Kharkiv, a break from sirens and bombs, in a place that is about as safe as can be in Ukraine. We stayed in an apartment complex in beautiful, if rather touristy, surroundings. 

We made the place our own.

We had a lot of fun and did some things we definitely couldn't do in Kharkiv...

....including the world's best swing.

There was plenty of eating, of course,  although we weren't prepared for how cold it got at night!

We played some games...

We all got to know people we didn't know before. My friends, Igor and Svetlana, are refugees from Mariupol, now living and working, as doctors, in Lviv. Igor writes and produces his own songs, many about his home city of Mariupol, which he shared with the group, such as this lovely, poignant song called Добргий вечор, Маріуполь (Good evening, Mariupol).

 Natalya described Igor's songs as coming from his soul. Next time we hope he'll bring his guitar. 

We were also fortunate that the founders of Frontline Kit and Volunteeringukraine.com were able to take a break from their busy schedules and join us, and treat us to a traditional hot tub on the first night. Drinking a glass of prosecco in a tub of hot, bubbling water, on a cold night in the mountains, is an experience I won't forget!

It was especially nice to get to know volunteers' children, from Lviv and Kharkiv. They really made the trip. At the end of the holiday I gave every 'child' (under 21 years!) a hand-knitted Trawden teddy bear.

One of the kitchen volunteers said that the holiday had brought them closer together, which is a great accolade.

Back in Kharkiv, the situation continues to be challenging. A grim monthly record was set in June, for the highest number of air attacks on the city since the beginning of the full invasion. 15 civilians were killed and 157 were injured, including 25 children. The largest, simultaneous, combined attack on the city was on 7 June. The main target was a factory that made containers for agricultural products. As a result of explosions, structures collapsed and a large fire broke out, which took 12 days to extinguish. The bodies of six employees were found under the rubble.

Donations

Most of the generous donation from Trawden community shop's collection box for Ukraine went to Hell's Kitchen, which runs on a month by month basis. We're still trying to secure a regular donation of flour; we have enough to last until next month. Donations went to the charity, Adults for Children, to buy medication for a very sick child, and also to buy material to make camouflage nets.

Recently, Hell's Kitchen's managers, Liuda and Yegor, gave a Question & Answer session (along with lots of food and drink, of course!) that gave us a chance to find out about the genesis of Hell's Kitchen and its development since the beginning of Russia's illegal invasion. This would make the subject of a dedicated blog, which I'll try to do in future, although a book would be needed to do it justice.

We learned that one of our regular chefs, Galina, was the founder of the kitchen on the first day of the full invasion, when all shops were closed, bombs were falling and no-one new what would happen. Here she is here making 'varenyky' (traditional Ukrainian filled dumplings) for volunteers.

Last Saturday we had a mini Carpathian holiday reunion (only those of us from Kharkiv and minus most of the children), as the result of a kind invitation to Natalya's dacha on the outskirts of Kharkiv. We could still hear the sirens but, otherwise, the place was idyllic and we had a wonderful spread of food, including barbecued fish.

Over the summer we have an array of volunteers coming to Hell's Kitchen - from the Netherlands, France, USA, UK, Ireland, Japan, Sweden, Finland, Slovakia, Czech Republic and Canada (including half of me!). These are amazing people who give up their summer holidays to make a  journey that takes several days, to a city that is regularly targeted by Russian drones, glide bombs and missiles. As Liuda said in our Q and A session, volunteers have to be abnormal people to do this!

As one of these abnormal people, I have to say that I'm really happy to be back in Kharkiv and in Hell's Kitchen, with good people who I feel close to - in what other work environment would you have (or want!) hugs from your boss and others, every morning? - doing a job I like that has important results - feeding people who need feeding.

To make a donation to the regular causes I support, please open PayPal and, when asked for email, enter sunflower_house@hotmail.co.uk

You can specify where you would like your money to go, otherwise I will send it where I think the need is greatest:

Adults For Children supports families displaced by the war.

Hell's Kitchen cooks daily, nutritious meals and bakes bread, for hospitals and other people in need.

Franklin, Hell's Kitchen foreign volunteer coordinator, supports local soldiers and medics.

Fabric for camouflage netting, ghillies and stretchers/seamstress costs.

If you would like to donate to a charity that support animals - Animal Rescue Kharkiv.