A walk in the park.....

Fi said this phrase, using the popular meaning of something being easy. At the time we were in the park at the end of the day, completely deserted, with our thermos flask of tea, whilst both outgoing and incoming artillery fire could be heard close by. Can't fault the sense of humour.

So the day started early, as usual (early morning mist), and we got to the community centre, where we distribute aid, nice and early. Everything seems a bit heightened for us, at present, as we are coming to the end of our time here. I can't even begin to explain how close we are to so many people here.
The fruit and veg distribution was organised as well as ever. Today, we were able to give some additional items, including pain killers, diarrhoea tablets and dog food. We were also able to to give additional dog food to a dog sanctuary, thanks to an American who was in Odesa, who gave a donation. Thanks, Richard. Another of the many supporters of Ukraine.

The queue for the food was as long as ever....there is, fortunately, now more protection for people, with a bomb blasts structure. Still not 100% but better than before.

The highlight of our time at the centre, though, had to be the handing over of art materials to a budding young artist. This was made possible by a kind donation by Derek, Sam's dad, especially to purchase these items.. although her younger sister was trying to purloin some of the items!
With all our heart we hope that Dasha will reach her goal of being an interior designer.

We finished with the children signing our Ukrainian flag. We will cherish this.

So then we moved onto the teaching. That, too, went really well, with our teacher translator, Olga, being excellent in her support of, and interaction with, the class. It was interesting to hear the excuses for not having done the homework...how is it that, in every country, dogs eat homework?
However, as ever, they worked really hard. It's been a privilege, teaching them.

So, finally, the end of the day, and we made our way to the home in which we were spending the night. The evening was lovely so we wandered to the local park. And, for the first time in ages, we saw children playing in the park. (Still, unfortunately, to the sound of artillery fire.) Nevertheless, it was a wonderful sight and sound. Obviously Fi had to get in on the action.


And so the day ended. Some days, for no particular reason, a day feels extraordinarily special. This, for me, was today.

Our very last aid run, for now, will be on Wednesday 18 October.

If you are able to donate, however small an amount, please:
1. Open PayPal and, when asked for name of payee or email, enter trawden4ukraine@hotmail.com

Or, if you live in/near Trawden:
2. Use the Ukraine collection box in Trawden community shop.






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