Village community spirit

Our aid drop today was to a bombed out village called Kolychivka in Chernihiv district, northeastern Ukraine, an area that was pummelled with bombing raids and missile fire in March to April. On the way we stopped for a coffee at a service station, where the woman who served us came from Chernihiv. She said that her grandchild was born in early March during the bombing and had to be delivered by emergency Caesarean section. She gave us a hug before we left, a first for us in a petrol station!

Kolychivka has a population of about 1800, a similar size to our village in Trawden. The bombing in March left 5 dead, 18 wounded and about a third of the properties destroyed or damaged. Even the bus stop was bombed. Those who were made homeless either went to stay with families in the village or left as refugees.There is no financial assistance from the government for rebuilding homes that have been bombed. This is left to the people themselves.
You would think there would be little positive to say about today but there is plenty. For one thing a lot of rebuilding is taking place, all by the people of the village; half our aid drop consisted of cement, plaster and bonding material. We asked if this could be purchased locally - the answer was yes, but it's too expensive.

For another thing, there is an amazing, informal cooperative of women who are working hard to store and distribute aid, and support other villages, based in a very basic community centre. These women greeted us when we began to unload the van and, in fact, they mostly took over as they were far stronger. A couple of them were able to sling a 30kg bag of cement over their shoulder as though they were bags of flour!
By the time we arrived back from a tour of the damaged village, word had gone out that aid had arrived and villagers were able to choose what they needed from the clothes that formed the other half of our aid drop (along with a wood stove). Volunteers had also made up food bags for those who needed them. 
We  intend to continue supporting the village of Kolychivka and we think it would be wonderful if we could somehow link it with our village of Trawden, which also has a thriving voluntary and community spirit. Any suggestions would be welcome.

If anyone is able to make a donation 
1. Open PayPal and, when asked for name of payee or email, enter trawden4ukraine@hotmail.com. 

2. Use the collection box in Trawden community shop. 


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