If purely naive good intentions could resolve human conflicts . . . what a wonderful world this would be!

Today I helped the August Mission team unload a NuDay container filled chock-a-block with humanitarian aid materiel. Everything was donated by American families, and shipped across the ocean to Poland, shipping also paid for with donated money. It’s heartbreaking to see American families putting out this kind of effort to to “save lives” at the same time we are tacitly aiding and abetting our government in shipping tanks and all manner of other war materiel into the country. If we would just tell our government to engage in diplomatic peace negotiations with Russia, many (perhaps countless) innocent lives would be saved and American families could be truly proud of their resolve in upholding the liberal ideals our society is grounded in. Handing out switchblades with one hand and band-aids with the other and then sitting back to watch the resulting melee from a safe distance just doesn’t level up.

The NuDay container had been shipped from Boston to the Polish port of Gdansk.  Then everything was transhipped from the container to August Mission’s semi-trailer truck and trucked across Poland into Ukraine.  The shipment included a lot of used clothing and shoes; diapers, soaps and other hygiene supplies; some first-aid and medical supplies; quite a large pile of crutches, walkers and other personal mobility aids; several hospital beds; some chair-style commodes; and some non-perishable foods.  There was even some pet food and a travel crate for transporting a cat or a small dog.  My favorite item was the big, super-cute plush stuffed dog. 

Everything had been collected from household donors through the NuDay network.  This organization does amazing work!

August Mission had lined up a team of about a dozen local volunteers, so they didn’t really need my help with the heavy lifting.  But I was able to help out a little bit with sorting and stacking in the warehouse, because I could read labels on boxes faster than the Ukrainians.  

Also, I think the Ukrainians appreciate seeing Americans actually helping out in Ukraine.  I wish for every thousand or so Americans who aid Ukrainian civilians through donations or volunteer efforts close to home, just one American would actually come to Ukraine to do volunteer work.  If we could attain even such a lopsided ratio as 1000:1, I believe there would still be a lot more Americans volunteering in Ukraine than there actually are now.  Considering all the biased messaging delivered through the various media channels (including mainstream news media), I think it would be immensely helpful for more Americans to actually experience first-hand what life is like here in Ukraine.  

For instance, I have a feeling that many in the U.S. have an overblown sense that Ukraine must be a dangerous place, just because there is a war going on here.  I’ve been here in western Ukraine for over three months, and based on my personal experience, I am much more fearful of being injured in a traffic accident (just as if I were at home in the United States) than I am about a missile attack. Actually, as it becomes evident that the U.S. government’s attempt to crush the Russian war effort by throttling it’s economy with trade sanctions is not going to work, and as the military brinksmanship continues to escalate, I am much more concerned about suffering from radiation sickness in the aftermath of limited-scope “tactical” nuclear warfare than I am about being struck by a missile.  If our brave nation’s leaders don’t sit down soon with Russia and negotiate a peace deal, that’s exactly where we’re going to end up.