December 5 of each year has been formally designated as “International Volunteer Day for Economic and Social Development” by resolution of the United Nations General Assembly.  It is a special day to celebrate the spirit of volunteerism and the important contributions volunteers are making around the world.

This year in observation of International Volunteer Day, my friends at the Chasiv Yar nursing home gave me a special gift:  a shout-out on their Facebook page!  

I really appreciate this gesture, because I highly respect all of the people who work at this home – they are truly answering a calling and “doing God’s work!”  I don’t really know how to express my role in this work, because I’m still feeling my way.  I’m learning a lot from these people about what matters in this world.  

Even though there are no clear-cut, black-and-white answers, one thing is fairly certain:  as a patriotic American, I feel a deep-seated duty to come out of my comfortable “cocoon” in North America, interact personally with people who are living through really difficult and perilous times, and do my best to understand their hopes and fears with all due humility and respect.  

We live so well in the United States, compared to most of the rest of the world, and I strongly feel that every patriotic American should be proactive about finding ways to share our good fortune equitably with our brothers and sisters around the world.  Americans should engage with the rest of the world on an even footing in a collective effort to maximize humanity’s opportunity to enjoy a sustainable and peaceful future.

In any event, I feel fortunate and privileged to be able to participate in the work of this nursing care home and learn from the experience and interactions with these people!

Let me now provide short explanations for each of the photos included in the Facebook post:

Photo 1: 

This is the local village bus stop.  I’m waiting to catch the bus into the nearest town, where I’ll catch another bus back to Khmelnytskiy, where I’m also working with the August Mission team.

Photo 2: 

Peeling carrots in the kitchen.  I’m helping prepare one of the meals for the residents.

Photo 3: 

Testing the soup.  Yeah, full disclosure, this shot is completely posed.  When I’m “sneaking a taste” in real life, I generally don’t use such a big spoon!

Photo 4: 

Sitting with the residents in one of the dormitory rooms after lunch.  One man in this room will walk out to a table in the dining area for meals, the other five guys all take their meals at their beds.  Every one has their own eating “style.”  A couple of them sit up with their legs hanging over the edge of their beds.  One man simply sits bolt-upright in his bed without putting his legs over the edge and without any back support.  One man eats in the same semi-reclined posture that he spends most of the day in.  He can hold a cup and drink by himself, or a slice of bread, but anything in a bowl or on a plate needs to be spoon-fed to him.  One of these men is completely blind, but he still eats by himself with minimal assistance, and I’ve never seen him knock over a glass or spill anything.

Photo 5: 

Helping wash up “tin cups” after a meal (they’re actually stainless steel, but you get the idea – this isn’t a fancy place). This particular day, we were washing up without running water because the power was out.

Photo 6: 

Helping split wood to be burned in the heating furnace.  Unfortunately, their wood stock is still pretty “green” and not quite ready to burn, because these folks just moved from their original home (In Donetsk, near Bakhmut, where some very fierce fighting is currently going on), to this location in late spring.  With all the logistical work of moving 35 elderly folks across the country and setting up housekeeping in an old building that had sat vacant for several years, they got a bit of a late start on laying in wood for the winter.

Photo 7: 

One of the neighbor ladies from the nearby village baked sweet rolls filled with fruit for the residents of the nursing home.  Several of us went over to her home to help fill and wrap and lay them out in pans ready for the oven.  We also taste-tested the results right away when they came out of the oven!

Item 8 (video clip): 

Some of the ladies in one of the dorm rooms have a “song circle.”  They often sing a folk songs or two together before bedtime in the evenings.  Here, the night before I was going back to Khmelnytskiy after a weekend visit, they invited me to sit with them.  At the time, I had no idea what they were singing about, but I did my best to play along.  Later, I asked some local friends to explain the song to me.  It’s a romantic and tragic story about a young man who is called away to serve in the Cossack military, and the girl he leaves behind. 

Happy International Volunteer Day everyone!  Own the effort, wherever, whenever you can!