Hello, how are you?

For reasons far too tedious to go into, I found myself once more in Ivanivka, in Chernihiv oblast ( county) via an appointment I had in Kyiv. Basically following our American collaborators J and B, who brought aid here yesterday. 

This village is at the core, in some respects of the work that we have done here. It was one of the first villages we connected with, and the first school where I was kindly invited to teach. 
One of our first aid runs was here, where we met Ena, the coordinator of the aid centre, and a great contact for the accessing the finest Vodka. Here we also met Ala, our translator, and who is the English teacher in the school. Her home was completely destroyed. On the ground where the home was, is basically a portacabin supplied by the government. I'm staying in it tonight.
As I was getting my things from the van, a lad's voice was heard......how are you? There were a group of kids who had seen me and had shouted out to me. It means a lot. 

Things have improved here. There has been investment in the school. When I was last here it had very few facilities. The dining room had been damaged by shelling etc. No whiteboards, computers etc. It will be good to see how it is tomorrow.

The photo is one that has been sent to us, following on from the giving out of teddies at a UNICEF children's centre in Kherson.



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