"We're going on bear hunt"....by Michael Rosen

The day had been planned. What could go wrong? Translators sorted. Bob teaching, Fiona dealing with enquiries about the Homes for Ukraine sponsorship scheme. Timetable sorted. And as often happens, something happens.

On the way to the refugee centre I noticed a gathering of people in one of the buildings. Now as ever, when we see a gathering we always like to see what's going on. And we went in with our translator, and found out it was a meeting of about 100 people who had escaped from Mariupol, the majority of whom had been bombed out of house and home by the Russian army.

We asked the organiser and, with the help of our translator, Valentin, we were allowed to speak with the audience, informing them of the various sponsorship options, including the Irish one. We were overwhelmed by the gratitude given to us for being there. It seems so little that we do. We did have the thought that, even though many will not take advantage of the UK scheme, it seemed to us that they are happy that they have not been forgotten. They are certainly not forgotten. They clapped us. It is they who should be clapped. Most not bowed or cowed by what had been done to them. Some, however, held onto their children as if it was the only thing that mattered in their lives. The light that still shone.

Then to the highlight of the day.... teaching the children " We're going on a bear hunt"....the sight of an English pensioner, marching around with children around the UNICEF tent, doing the actions of the book with the children, must have seemed hilarious to those passing by ...but the children will not forget..."over it, under it and through it." (For those of you who don't know what I'm on about, go read the book.)

Then a dose of reality about how much effort, time and understanding it takes to make a sponsorship/guest relationship work. We got a message that one of the families we had helped to bring together was really struggling with misunderstandings and unclear expectations. Fortunately, it was resolved, but the message was clear. Keep communicating. Sit down each week maybe, discuss what's going well and what could be better. Is there anything that annoys? People have different norms and expectations. These may need discussion and compromise.

I've no doubt aware that some of you will have lost sleep wondering about the water heaters that were bought and their journey to Lviv. Loose sleep no longer, they are safely in Lviv.

And then after a bit of lunch at 4pm, we made our way home. And just when you think nothing more can happen walking quietly home, it did. And as we have often said, you can't make it up.

We were passing a church when we saw a sign saying English lessons. We should have walked on. But no, intrigued, into the church we went. 

It is an Christian evangelical organisation that goes around various churches in Ukraine and gives free English lessons, sandwiched between a bit of prostletysing. 3 hours a day of English and 2 hours of hymns and sermons. They seemed genuine enough. They do some humanitarian aid as well. I said I would help teach in one of the English language lessons tomorrow, to see how they operate. Definitely going to skip the sermon though. After a week in Lviv they go onto their next destination in Ukraine.

And so that's the day. A day of many contrasts. The two that remain: of children laughing at going on a bear hunt, and of a displaced population, who kindly still share their time with two people from Trawden.