Rebuilding...

Not the most exciting photo, admittedly, but when we asked our host and driver of aid, Svitlana, what is most needed in the recently liberated, partially destroyed villages in her area, she said: building materials, including protecting bomb-damaged houses from the elements. This matched the message that we got from the people in Snihurivka yesterday, which is that they want to be able to rebuild their towns and villages.

We had some money from Paszki dla Ukrainy (Packages for Ukraine) to spend on whatever was most needed and this is how we found ourselves, early Saturday morning, in a vast DIY store in Mykolaiv, buying chipboard, nails, plastic sheeting, expandable foam fixer and a chainsaw. 

We experienced a somewhat surreal moment when the Ukrainian national anthem was played, followed by a medley of Christmas pop songs!

When we got back to  Svitlana's house she made it very clear that we should go inside, whilst her son and daughter, and her daughter's friend unloaded the van. The girls had to tell the man what to do!

Note the dirt on the van - there is a number plate somewhere here!

During this time we became aware of yet more  missile strikes over Ukraine, including in nearby Odesa. Nearly everywhere we went in this area of Odesa/Mykolaiv there was no, or intermittent, electricity. Hours long power cuts have become so much a part of everyday life that they go unremarked; candles are lit and even left alight in the bathroom overnight. Simple, but ingenious, methods are also used.

In this house water is pumped from a well so, of course, when the electricity goes off there is no power for the pump, and so no running water.

We left Mykolaiv after a very early lunch with Svitlana (as it was still only 11am!) and began the long return journey to Lviv. The dense fog and the mud from recent rain, and continued damp, made for hazardous and filthy driving conditions. Our van is so dirty that all the aid signs on it are invisible.

We arrived at our destination in Uman with the town in semi-darkness, as is the norm now. 

This has been one of our more challenging aid runs, and we are physically and mentally tired. But our hotel has electricity and hot water, so we are warm and can have much needed showers - unlike millions of people elsewhere in Ukraine.