Planning...
Yesterday, there was the usual fun with children in the UNICEF tent in Odesa and a further installment of Bob's "The girl and the dragon tree." The illustration above was drawn by one of the many talented young children we teach. Bob had his English conversation class in the afternoon.
Today, we visited a family doctor and had an hour's consultation each on our particular problem - hip pain for me and high blood pressure for Bob - including a complete physical check and detailed medical history, and recommendations at the end.
There was also political discourse and discussion about how life has changed as a result of the war, for professional people, too. Doctors, like teachers, are poorly paid and Hanna, our doctor, has 2 jobs, one as a university lecturer and one as a GP, to make ends meet.
This was a private practice and, at the end, we asked how much we should pay. The answer was, nothing, as this was the doctor's contribution to, and thanks for, what we do.
Tomorrow we need to take the van for further servicing and probably, a new tyre.
Also, tomorrow, we're planning to meet two American volunteers, here for a week, who want to support us in funding aid for Kherson region. They've already purchased some items in Poland, which are cheaper and/or easier to get there, including vitamins for children and protein drinks.
Our landlord, who is so generous to us regarding rent, has given us a key to a garage behind our apartment, which we can use to store aid. We now need to find a way of getting aid from Ternopil to Odesa more effectively.
We made another contact yesterday, with a German aid worker, who lives in the building behind ours. The charity he works for delivers aid right to the frontline, including 'morning after' pills for Ukrainian women who have been raped by Russian soldiers. We want to find a way of working with him.
Bob somehow has to fit in a game of chess in the park tomorrow with our friend, Alex.
Then, on the weekend, we'll be traveling north and west, to Ternopil and, for me, on to Lviv to complete some dental treatment. Bob will hopefully, together with the Americans, complete other aid runs before joining me in Lviv.
On 23 August we fly to the UK for 2 weeks, to visit family and friends, and to support the Ukrainian families who have been living in our house with their future plans.
Not least, we have to think about our future in Ukraine. But that may be left for another blog...
There's an interesting article in The Guardian around the initiatives to end the war that Russia started by invading Ukraine, and what would need to happen for there to be a peace settlement.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/aug/08/its-almost-18-months-since-russia-invaded-ukraine-and-peace-seems-no-closer
An excerpt from the introduction:
"Parts of Ukraine have become rubble. Reconstruction costs are estimated at hundreds of billions of dollars. Some 11 million Ukrainians are either refugees or “internally displaced people” – about a quarter of the country’s population. More than 26,000 civilians have been killed or injured – some estimates run much higher – and military casualties may be four times greater. Anyone who has visited wartime Ukraine will attest that the enormity of devastation verges on the incomprehensible."
Yes, we can definitely attest to that.
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