Freedom day in Kherson

Yesterday, I was reminded that it was exactly one year since the liberation of Kherson by the Ukrainian army, following the brutal Russian occupation. The UNICEF centres held activities for children, in commemoration - inside, as always, for safety. One of the coordinators sent photos of their activities, including painting with colored sand, playing with a parachute, quizzes and relay races...

...He also reported that representatives of the Ukrainian Olympic Committee visited and gave gifts to the children. And even the long air raids didn't stop them celebrating. During the day, the Russian military fired 343 shells at the Kherson region, 22 in Kherson. Russian shells hit Kherson Regional Library this morning.

But, however much Putin tries to destroy the Ukrainian culture, it is being kept very much alive...
Yesterday, I took a bus ride and a long walk, to find the Ukrainian Cultural Association in Buenos Aires. Initially, I walked past it as the building's entrance is very discrete...

... Inside is a lovely light and spacious area for the Ukrainian community in Buenos Aires, including a library, a display of Ukrainian national costume and history, a hall for music, singing and dancing, classrooms and a kitchen, where traditional Ukrainian food is served. Lots of adults and children were coming in. It was wonderful to hear some Ukrainian being spoken.
Many of the people who use the centre are Argentinians of Ukrainian descent, and many are learning to speak Ukrainian, especially children. 
There are also refugees from the current Russian invasion. I was introduced to a woman who had recently left Kherson.

Everyone was very welcoming, just like our experiences in Ukraine. I was given coffee and cake. Eventually, I was introduced to the centre director, who spoke English and gave me a tour of the centre.
I ended up in a Ukrainian language class, which was a wonderfully surreal experience. When I entered the small class of 4 students, one of them was handing out cake in celebration of her birthday - not a lot of Ukrainian was being spoken! And everyone was really interesting in hearing about my experiences of volunteering in Ukraine, which took some some time, with my limited Spanish and translation occasionally required. So it was about an hour before the class resumed...!
Learning Ukrainian in Spanish - yet another experience I couldn't have foreseen!

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