A moment of generosity...

Over our time here we have had many discussions with Ukrainian friends and colleagues, as to how ordinary Ukrainians are supporting the war. Views differ, and there is no way we can verify or quantify this...but there is an undercurrent of feeling that the better off are not contributing as much as they could, whilst continuing to enjoy their financial good fortune and not doing much to support the war effort. Again, I emphasise, this is what we have been told...however, it is a fairly constant message. And, if we look at the people we know, the ones who give most of their time and money are, generally, not well off - ordinary people, with jobs, trying to make a difference.

Now, a moment that makes being here such an amazing and humbling experience. We were doing a bit of shopping this morning for our trip to Kharkiv...some bread, water, cheese etc. 
We had just packed the items into the back of the van and sat in the front, when a man in his mid 70's, not particularly well dressed, tapped on the window. I thought he might be wanting some aid...to my shame, I jumped to the wrong conclusion. He handed  Fiona about the equivalent of £20 in Ukrainian Hrivnia. He asked, in Ukrainian, if we were taking aid. We said yes...he smiled and simply went back to his car, a Lada, which must have been at least 40 years old, without another word. We barely had time to thank him.
I can't find words to express what a kind, generous moment this was. If he was an ordinary pensioner in Ukraine, this would have been a lot of money for him. We see many people in their Porsches, Audis and BMWs, and wonder if they have the same level of generosity.

The trip to Kharkiv was long but uneventful. Our Polish friend, Tomasz, might need to look away now. Whenever we exchange vans we seem to get a nice, tidy, clean van back. This doesn't seem to last. Tomasz is sometimes astonished by the debris he finds on the seats and floors on the van's return....maybe this photo will give him a clue as to why...van as mobile café when we stopped by a beautiful, frozen river for lunch...

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