Journey to Kuyalnyk: Sister Cities from UA & USA and ABW – AMAZING RESULTS
It was 10:30 AM when the sleeper train from Przemyśl, Poland, pulled into Podilsk station in Odesa Oblast. After a 14-hour journey across Ukraine in a cabin that felt like the inside of a volcano, we finally arrived. The temperature was a blistering 92°F (33°C) as we stepped off the train into clear blue skies and blazing sun, and it wasn’t even close to midday.
Hot, sweaty, and in desperate need of a shower, we were greeted by two wonderful representatives, Alla Dubrovina and Anhelina Ursul of the Kuyalnyk village territorial community (Kuyalnyk), who escorted us to our accommodation. The incessant hum of endless generators filled the air as the temperature continued to climb. It was a timely reminder of the pressures facing Ukraine every day and the impact on even the simplest of tasks. As we walked into our room, the instinctive flick of the light switch was yet another reminder of the realities of war on innocent people—the room remained dark, and the showers were taken by iPhone light.
This visit was different for the ABW team. While we were delivering aid, building our network, and supporting those in need, we were also accompanying a delegation from Burlington, Vermont, USA. So, what brought this unlikely collection of six Vermonters, as well as the English and Californian co-founders of ABW, to Kuyalnyk? The full story, along with an account of some incredible opportunities and stunning hospitality, will be shared in a future blog.
Adam, Colin and Simon met at the start of the war in Poland, and things let’s say, grew from there! ABW was born – Adam Roof is an ABW board member and Colin Hilliard is one of our principal advisors. So, the short version is that Burlington and Kuyalnyk are sister cities, and this was the very first visit from the USA to Ukraine. ABW was delighted to join this trip as the humanitarian aid and ‘in-country’ logistical organization working with Burlington and Kuyalnyk as they began their journey together.
Sofiia, the deputy head of the Kuyalnyk delegation, informed us that the truck we last saw in Poland two days ago had arrived in Kuyalnyk and was offloaded into a nearby warehouse by her staff and volunteers. If you want to read about the first part of this story, you can find it in our previous blog. We visited the facility and were blown away by the sheer volume of donations—it was the first time we had seen it all together since it had left Oslo, Norway. A huge thank you and shout out to Vegard S. and Sergii Z. from Den Ukrainske Forening i Norge (Ukrainian Association in Norway) for their donation and for loading it with their volunteers in Norway.
Finally seeing nearly $250,000 worth of medical and rehabilitation equipment was an awe-inspiring moment. Next, we headed to the hospital, which would be distributing and repurposing the donated aid. We were privileged to meet with Serhiy Ihnatovych Vovk, the head of medicine at Podilsk District Hospital of Kuyalnyck Village Council, and spent time talking about the impacts of the war and the additional pressure on the medical system across Ukraine with so many displaced people. The receipt of support aid was clearly more than appreciated, and we were exceptionally impressed by how quickly the equipment was deployed and in use with patients. Serhiy was particularly delighted with the electric hospital beds, especially a bariatric bed, which was in short supply. We also had a great visit to the Primary Health Care Centre of Kuyalnyck Village Council, meeting with head Svitlana Batsanova. Both teams were an absolute delight as we shared stories, and hopes for the future, and even came away with heart-shaped Ukraine key chains handmade by the staff. We were hoping they might create some of these for us to raise funds—watch this space.
In addition to the aid headed for Podilsk District Hospital, we were tasked with delivering some very specific items to other hospitals in Odesa Oblast, including centrifuges, specialist blood-cleaning machinery, and even a laser designed for lithotripsy, surgical cutting, coagulation, and the removal of soft tissue. A huge thank you to Sofiia, the deputy head of the Kuyalnyck village community, and her entire amazing team for handling the onward distribution of these precious items—truly a great piece of teamwork.
The realities of being in a war-torn country never rang truer in our minds—well, except for those times when we were being shelled, but you know what we mean. We were taken to a construction site for an underground shelter being built right beside a school. In light of the attack on the children’s hospital in Kyiv since we left, these pictures are even more chilling, as seemingly no target is off-limits.
We never forgot our four-legged friends. We all have animals, and the thought of people having to leave their animals behind as they fled the war was unimaginable and too much to bear. We were delighted that eight pallets of pet food were also onboard. While we couldn’t personally visit all the locations this would be used in due to time constraints, we were delighted to visit Khrystyna’s dog shelter on the outskirts of the village of Hertop, beautifully and appropriately named “The Place Under the Sun” in the midst of stunning rural Ukraine. Khrystyna, owner, visionary, and hero, a young, fully trained architect ready to start her career as the first missiles flew into Ukraine, had created this shelter from the ground up, fundraising locally and internationally, promoting their work bit by bit.
We will do a full feature blog about this shelter, but the work they have done against the adversity of procuring land, persistent rolling blackouts, and the almost incomprehensible challenge of not having access to mains or running water is remarkable! It was a constant battle between recovering animals from near the front lines, developing and managing the shelter, ensuring enough funding to feed the animals, and battling mice who wanted to share the treats meant for the dogs. As they developed the shelter, creating smaller covered pods using locally sourced materials was their vision. These cost around $500 USD, and we were committed to raising funds to support a minimum of five of these. If anyone reading this knows a drilling company that could sink a well to 100m (300ft), pro bono obviously, please get in touch—we have a job for you.
Sitting in the cool air of the UK while Ukraine burned in searing temperatures up to 113°F (45°C), the journey home on the “Volcano Express V2.0” seemed like a diminishing memory. What was burned into our minds were the experiences and the people we met. We were currently planning our next phases of support while working with Adam, Colin, Kelly, Alex, Avery, and Lawrence from the Burlington Sister City Delegation—we looked forward to sharing the video from the trip once Lawrence had worked his magic.
If you wish to donate to any of our work, or specifically to donate $500 and build a new pod at “The Place Under the Sun,” please get in contact or donate directly at www.actionsbeyondwords.org/donations.
Finally, we should give a HUGE shoutout to Lockton RE for fundraising for the truck transportation from Norway to Kuyalnyk, and for sending their amazing team of volunteers to help us with this endeavour – you can read more about this here.
You can follow us on social media:
No Comments