Back to winter and the next aid run...

We've been grateful of the opportunity for a 2-weeks break. It's been difficult to let go of the situation in Ukraine and the intensity of the support we were involved in. But we've had some nice times and enjoyed simple things like cycling and walking by the sea, and even sitting on a sofa, watching Netflix! Now we're sitting in an airport, waiting to fly to Krakow, on the way back to what now feels like home and, as one friend put it, ready to tackle whatever is thrown at us.

Our first aid run will be to the Mykolaiv and Kherson area, which is under constant attack by the Russian army. We have a lot of good aid from our Polish volunteer friend, who runs "Packages for Ukraine," including candles, warm clothes, hand sanitiser, dog food, painkillers and gas stoves. Our other wonderful friend, Joanna, has collected blankets, winter clothing and food, donated by her church, currently in her garage (pictured - her husband, Mikhail, as you can see in the photo, has also been volunteered!)

We'll drive all this to Lviv tomorrow and, depending on the weather,  and boring stuff like doctor and dentist, we'll set off in the next few days. 

We also purchased 3 really good quality camping-style gas stoves that have 8 litre propane gas cannisters. They will be useful for people whose homes have been bombed and have no power, and maybe could be used on a communal basis as the gas will last some time. We bought the stoves with some of the money donated from a stall at Trawden Festive Fair (below), and also some individual donations. Thank you to all these people. 
Whilst we've been away, the books donated by a publishing house in Lviv have been distributed to Ukrainian refugee children in a number of schools in the Krakow area. 
We will have to share some of the challenges faced by Ukrainians; for example, scheduled power cuts. We may only have two 4-hour periods of electricity in any 24 hours in our apartment. One of the periods can be in the middle of the night and, with the temperature under zero forever, it seems, this is going to be difficult. Also, water for a lot of areas is not always available. And Putin continues to threaten more attacks on civilian infrastructure.

This is what we're returning to. And this is what Ukrainians are facing every day, as well as the danger of being shelled and having their lives destroyed. That's why your continued support is invaluable. Many thanks to you all.

If you can help, please donate in the usual way:

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. 

Thank you.


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