Blog

We received a truly special leaving gift last night but need to put it into context for you. We are fully emotional about this. Some of children have come on this trip from a town called Borodyanka. And this is central here.

Borodyanka was hit particularly hard by Russian attacks, suffering the most massive destruction of any town in the Kyiv region. The situation in the now liberated city was utterly devastating.

The destruction of residential buildings in Borodyanka, about 50 kilometers northwest of the Ukrainian capital, is significantly greater than in other towns in the Kyiv area. Fierce fighting broke out in the small town of 13,000 residents right at the start of the Russian invasion.

It became a symbol of resilience during the russian invasion after a photo of one of the houses in Borodyanka went viral: despite the flat being almost completely destroyed, a kitchen cabinet on the wall survived. Upon closer inspection, a decorative ceramic maiolica rooster was noticed atop it.

The kitchen cabinet with a rooster, which survived the bombing and remained on the wall, became a symbol of fortitude and perseverance. A meme appeared: “Be as strong as this kitchen cabinet” It is also mentioned as a symbol of the indomitable Ukrainian spirit

And this is why these replica ceramic roosters are such a significant gift. They are rare and only made in the original place. We feel so honoured to receive one. Truly special, beyond precious. During our last three visits, we’ve seen this resilience and fortitude reflected in every Ukrainian child and adult we’ve met. Remarkable strength. Astonishing hope.

Unbelievably we have reached our final day with the children. After breakfast they settled down to some crafty crafts

When suddenly

<jingle bells>

<jingle bells>

HOHOHO!

FATHER CHRISTMAS!!

He came with a bag of little presents and a chocolate selection box for each child. And while they knew that it was Michael there was an adorable sense of suspended disbelief amongst the youngest!

There was a break to pack suitcases before more dancing and games. Including the Mummy Game!

Enormous fun, leading into the concert. Beautiful singing and entertainment. Which included much audience participation and much hilarity.

Time for our party tea! We had a pizza delivery, true luxury and enormously exciting! You may have seen our earlier post as we set up the tables. It was as Festive as a festive thing!

All over far too soon. It’s been such a joyful week, full of joy, laughter, friendship and happiness. Hugs and tears, we will see them at breakfast, but it felt like a good bye tonight. Lots and LOTS of selfies.

So the children went off to bed, will they sleep? Possibly, a lot of excitement to see families, pets and just be home. But deep sadness it’s over. Hopefully some sleep will be had it will make tomorrow easier.

We set about packing all the resources and equipment into the coach.

Our last night here. We’ve said this for the last three years, but next year in Ukraine? Oh how we hope. So much.

Such excitement! It was McDonald’s Day! An opportunity to go and gather and chill and chat over McDonald’s for lunch. The scene could not have been more ordinary yet for our Ukrainian friends this is wonderful and super exciting! So so happy for them to have this time.

We all needed a good walk after that! And it was lovely to stretch our legs and walk across Lublin to Jarmark Lubelski, which is a crafting/activity type centre. The children had a great afternoon with organised activities, games, pizza making and a wonderful drum workshop. The staff were fabulous, really engaging and the children loved their second lunch!

During this time, we loved talking to the English teachers about the peculiarities of the English language. She was saying the children adore using superlatives, currently ‘awesome’ and ‘gorgeous’ and we were saying how much we love using the words ‘amazing’ and ‘delicious’ She said that English is so rich in words and often it will just translate back to the same word in Ukrainian. We were also telling her that by inserting the word absolute in front of any noun made it an insult eg You absolute prawn! She was loving it. Most of their opportunity to listen to English spoken by native speakers comes through online platforms like YouTube which just isn’t the same as people on front of you. Even if that is us!!

Such a fantastic afternoon! And the fun didn’t stop here. We grabbed a spot on the Ukrainian children’s coach to travel to Lumina Park

It was dark by the time we arrived at the beautiful Botanical gardens in Lublin to see their annual festive lights display. It was based largely around a theme of Alice in Wonderland this year and the displays were stunning! The children loved the luxuriant lights, stopping to take photos of each singular  light it seemed. They were so keen to share with their families back home. A gorgeous way to spend an evening.

Then back on the coach and back to the hotel. It had been a busy day and unsurprisingly a lot of the children fell asleep. 

We did too!

Just finished helping pack the van tonight for Ukraine. Amongst all the humanitarian aid are all our blankets going to children in Korosten and Borodyanka. Also added in is the rest of the fabric strips and metal wreath bases so that the teachers can repeat the activity with more children. Every strip is going to be used! We’d hoped to be able to extend the activity in this way and reach more children. Everyone’s cutting was relentlessly epic and made it happen! Thank you again. They will be driven over by the wonderful Roman. Safe journey to him. He leaves here at 2am on Friday morning. There is an optimum time for arriving at the border, and a 2am departure will mean he makes this. He goes with our love.

We were all still on a high after last nights wonderful Scottish and Ukrainian country dancing. If you missed our film clips on Facebook, do seek them out. Utterly joyous!

First activity was gingerbread decorating. The children loved it, embracing their creative imaginations, turning biscuits into works of art. Intricate and less intricate. Obvious themes and then… um…. quirky. Some gingerbread even having interesting personalities. Which is saying something for a biscuit!

So the children weren’t that hungry for lunch but we muddled through!

The afternoon was spent in Lublin town, which was about a 45 minute drive. First up, the trampoline park! The children adore this. They get to rampage and throw themselves around, explore and PLAY in a safe environment.

By the time we had finished our session it was already dark. The plan was to park the coach, walk up to the old town and see the lights. The children were given glow sticks which was a super exciting start! Then up the ancient cobbled streets we climbed to find beautifully floodlit buildings and Christmas lights.

Do remember that on average these children and teachers have no power for 16 hours out of every 24 hours in their area of Ukraine. So as stunning as this was, it must be bewildering to see such exuberant use of electricity. When their every day activities are planned round having or not having limited functional power.

On average the children took nine million photos to share the beauty of the festive lights and floodlit buildings with loved ones at home. I’ve just included a few. It’s was so beautiful.

Such a lovely day for us and the children. So glad. These children deserve everything!

Having been wreath making in the morning, we launched into blanket giving out after lunchtime. Such a privilege to do this on your behalf.

We did as we’ve done in previous years, we put a selection of blankets out on chairs and the teachers brought them into us in small groups.

They are always a little overwhelmed by the beauty and the generosity of the gifted blankets. Honestly the most enormous thanks for making this happen. Means the world. Some children instantly spot the blanket they love and others will spend a long time choosing, it’s such a delightful process to be part of.

This little lad is just nine and a half years old. And so tired, it’s been a lot. Busy long travel yesterday, full on activities today. Look at him though. Look how he’s really feeling that Woolly Hug. Magic really isn’t it.

Fifty five blankets have their new owners tonight. They are already on beds. Some children are already asleep and tucked up. Some children were saying they had felt cold at night, so our blankets are already in action. Full of love and cosy comfort.

The rest of the blankets will be distributed to several Ukrainian refugee communities in Poland. And that’s a lovely lovely thought. Every blanket will be loved and treasured. Thank you so so much!

Everyone seemed to sleep well, or well enough and there was a lot of busy and friendly chatter around the breakfast table

We had CAFFEINE which will not be a surprise to anyone!

The day started with a getting to know you game. We’d been sent various questions in advance and the children had to interview us. Where do you live, do you have any pets etc? They had to only use English, and honestly they are so impressive. Some more confident than others, but all taking part! Amazing.

Then it was time for our wreath making! You were all with us as we laid out the tables. Thousands of strips. MILLIONS! Maybe. A lot definitely!

This was the most enormous success!! All the children had huge pleasure taking part with the activity. They were super focussed and engaged, right across the age spectrum. Thank you so so much! All those strips, different fabrics, different colours, metallics, patterns, textures. Awesome. The children loved it, and we’d factored enough so that the teachers could join in too. There is a kit of frames and strips too which will be taken back into Ukraine to use with children who were unable to travel. There were 5 who couldn’t come last minute, illness, travel docs and someone broke their fingers. Poor things.

Some children used all the colours, one child stuck with tartan, another alternated red and white. Some turned into little magpies seeking out all the glittery and sparkly strips. So much fun.

There are some clips live from this crafting session, if you haven’t seen them, do try to find them!

Literally 30 minutes after finishing this session we were handing blankets out. It was a gallop dear reader and will come in part 2!

But in short. A fabulous activity only successful because of all the legwork you put in. The cutting was worth it!

Thank you!