A Little Girl Called Peace

On Thursday morning an exhausted young mother and child landed at Manchester Airport in Northern England, having made the long journey from Chernihiv, Northern Ukraine. They are guests of wonderful sponsors (under the UK's Homes For Ukraine scheme) in Trawden, the village where I lived before moving to Ukraine. Chernihiv, like Kharkiv, is close to the Russian border and experiences frequent bombings. As well, its inhabitants have the collective traumatic memory of surviving Russian occupation at the beginning of the full invasion, in 2022. Myroslava (Myro for short) was born during this terrifying period, in a basement. Her mother has made the difficult decision to leave home and family behind so that Myro can have a life of peace, stability and relative normality, until there is peace in Ukraine. Мир (Myr) means peace in Ukrainian.

I try to imagine how strange and different it will feel to experience, not only the peace and quiet, but a tiny village with steep, narrow roads, small stone cottages, surrounded by hills, with countryside almost on the doorstep, let alone a different language, customs and food. Myro is eating a crumpet in the photo, I'm pretty sure for the first time!

Whilst making bread rolls yesterday morning, I was talking to volunteers about my experience of arranging visas and sponsors for Ukrainian families who fled to Krakow, Poland, in February/March 2022, after the full Russian invasion. Thanks to the generosity of a number of people in Trawden and the surrounding area, who were willing to welcome refugees into their homes, a small community of Ukrainians grew. Some have returned to Ukraine but others have remained and become independent, finding employment and moving to their own rented accommodation. I heard a number of stories from sponsors, some sad, some funny, particularly concerning different customs, e.g. around food and eating...the most frequent - Ukrainians are always cooking!! And they eat a lot of eggs! One sponsor wrote that her family of three, the day after they arrived, made breakfast with 21 eggs - she said that the hens were running scared in that town!

Thank you, with all my heart, to the Trawden community for continuing to support Ukraine. I wear my Trawden Community Centre, Library and Shop Volunteer apron with pride!

On the night of 7 - 8 November, the Russians struck our energy sector again with missiles and drones, all over Ukraine. In Kharkiv we had emergency electricity shutdowns and there was no water in some areas due to insufficient voltage. The Metro (underground railway) was operating as a shelter only. Electric transport was replaced by bus. 

No heating and intermittent electricity changes one's priorities. I made sure to prepare a hot water bottle and thermos flask of hot drinking water when the electricity was on; I had a bath every night to warm me up; I had my head torch constantly with me, ready for the plunge into darkness, and candles strategically placed about the flat. Reading by candlelight was OK for the first night but strains the eyes - a torch is better. I was lucky that I had water, and also that my apartment has thick walls and retains warmth, and the weather is not that cold yet. There is also good internet connection so contact with the outside world is  always possible, which is really important, psychologically, as well as practically. The heating in my flat returned after 3 days, after which I felt that I can just about cope with the electricity being on/off all the time. There are still no street lights, except on the main roads, which can be hazardous, given the uneven paving and bomb damage in places.

Many of Russia's actions are beyond the pale and sometimes it is the mundanity of the situation that makes them so horrific. For example, on 13 November three civilians tried to flee fighting in Kharkiv region on a tractor - they were hunted down and killed by a Russian first-person-view (FPV) drone. (Suspilne news)

Hell's Kitchen Update

Tuesday was deep cleaning day in the kitchen, which happens every 3 months - there is no cooking or baking, just thorough cleaning of the kitchen, from top...

...to bottom.

Every volunteer who was available turned up; it was a great team effort...

...at times, even fun!

On a personal note, I'm very grateful for a box of Yorkshire tea bags that made their way from Guernsey. As well as my favourite tea, I always like to have a jar of Marmite. Recently, an Australian volunteer tried to convince me that Vegemite tastes better, which I absolutely refuted. So on his departure day I organised a taste test in the kitchen. Astonishingly, Vegemite was liked by more people, out of those who didn't like either! Good on you, mate!

Donations

Thank you, as always, for your donations; however small, they are always effective. For example a donation of £50 bought this camouflage netting.

The colours of the camo netting will need to change soon, as snow begins to cover the ground.

Jos, Hell's Kitchen volunteer, has made a renewed plea for working laptops, not older than 5 years. (A missing RAM or SSD can be fixed.) If the laptop has a dedicated graphic card and is over 5 years old, it may also qualify. Slower models will go to children in the Kharkiv area who need them, for home studying or underground school. Faster models will go to the military, for trajectory calculation, artillery or drone operation. The need is great; equipment is destroyed or stops working in frontline conditions. Newly enlisted soldiers often have nothing to work with at all.

Working routers and switches are also very welcome. Wherever you live, we'll try to find a way of getting the equipment to Kharkiv.

November is my favourite month, translated into Ukrainian. Each month reflects a natural phenomena in the Ukrainian language - hard earth, yellow leaves, flowers, trees, etc. November is листопад (lystopad), which derives from falling leaves. Once leaves fall in Kharkiv, they don't stay on the ground very long because of the industrious leaf sweepers. The only place that seems to have escaped is the garden of my previous apartment.

Thanks for reading this post and for your comments.

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 donation to go, including whether or not you wish to support a civilian only cause; otherwise I will send the money where I think the need is greatest:

Adults For Children supports children's physical and emotional well being in Kharkiv, and also local soldiers.

Hell's Kitchen cooks daily, nutritious meals and bakes bread, for hospitals, wounded soldiers and others in need.

Franklin, Hell's Kitchen foreign volunteer coordinator, supports soldiers and medics on the frontline.

Inya runs a small group of volunteers who make camouflage nets, ghillie suits and stretchers.

If you would like to donate to a charity that support animals, there is Animal Rescue Kharkiv.