Serendipity...

or the art of being in the right place at the right time. Today, I had to brave Ukrainian bureaucracy to obtain my residence permit so that I can continue to work and live in Ukraine. I was ably assisted by a MAD volunteer and a Ukrainian lawyer. The process costs £370 plus $365 for the original 3 months visa. So, all in all, about £720 to be a volunteer and carry out the aid work we do in Ukraine. As some might say...go figure!! We can think of other expressions. Stronger maybe...

So, we were walking towards the centre of Lviv to the place where I had to have my photo and fingerprints taken (once more), and we decided to go to the Student Fraternity aid warehouse, on the off chance that a volunteer we know might be there...he was and he introduced us to a Polish volunteer who delivers aid with his van. He was at a loose end for a week - not any more. We knew of some surgical fracture items at another warehouse that urgently needed to go to a hospital in the east of Ukraine. Without any persuasion, he offered to take the items. He will set of tomorrow. Pure chance ....serendipity...

In the afternoon we went to see if we could get our COVID booster jabs. We found a most dilapidated building in which a polyclinic was situated and, with no bother at all, we got the jab - no appointment, no big form to complete, no waiting. There's quite a lot of anti-vax sentiment here.

Then we went to a bookshop to collect some Ukrainian books that we managed to persuade a Lviv publishing house to donate...thank you Old Lion Publishing House. These books will go to refugees in Poland, where Ukrainian books can be in short supply. 
Now we are planning our next trip, setting out on Tuesday. We think we have managed to àccess another load of aid - a lot of food etc. This acquiring of aid, and the logistics of it all, takes quite a bit of time. 
For our safety we don't want to say where we are going. And I'm not saying this for dramatic effect, but because aid vans are being targeted...as aid vans get near the front, many take off all signs showing that they are humanatarian aid - red cross stickers etc.

We saw this picture on a canvas bag...we thought it very poignant. Not only for here, but in far too many places around the world. 
And that's it...our day off.

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