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Oleksandra’s Story
This is the third in a series of brief profiles of some of the internally displaced people (“IDP”s) who have sheltered at the assisted living home where I am volunteering as a nursing aid. Every morning beginning in early spring, Oleksandra Ivanovna goes out to pick a small bouquet of fresh flowers for the dormitory…
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Nursing Home Diary – WiFi Upgrade!
Today we began enjoying a significant upgrade in our internet service, here at the nursing home in the village of Cokilets, Khmelnytskiy oblast, Ukraine, where I am doing voluntary humanitarian aid work.Like everywhere else in the world now, internet access is perhaps a more coveted utility than running water. After all, without piped water, one…
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In Memory of Leonid D.
This is the second in a series of brief profiles of some of the internally displaced people (“IDP”s) who have sheltered at the nursing home where I am volunteering as a nursing aid. Sadly, we lost a friend today. Leonid Dmitrievich Tkachev was 82 years old. He was born in the peaceful town of Chasiv…
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Galina T. – Warmly Welcome
This is the first in a series of brief profiles of some of the internally displaced people (“IDP”s) currently sheltering at the nursing home where I am volunteering as a nursing aid. Galina T. was born in 1939 in the city of Toretsk, in Ukraine’s Donetsk region. At the age of 16, she began training…
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Dressing Room Redux
As I described in my post “Bottlenecked in the Bathroom,” we are hoping to upgrade washing, bathing, laundry and general sanitation facilities at the nursing home for elderly and disabled IDPs (internally displaced people) where I am volunteering here in Khmelnytskyi, Ukraine. We would like to have hot running water available for the residents at…
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Evac Team Visit
Yesterday our shelter for elderly and disabled IDPs (internally displaced people) in Ukraine enjoyed a visit from Ignatius Ivlev-Yorke and one of his partners. Ignatius runs a civilian evacuation team in eastern Ukraine. The members of the team are all volunteers. Some of them are Ukrainians, others are foreigners. Ignatius himself holds a UK passport. …
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Bottlenecked in the Bathroom
Disclosure: We are looking for help with a facilities upgrade here at the nursing home. The content of this post is an accurate description of the situation, but the facts are presented with the unvarnished purpose of persuading you, dear reader, to contribute something to the effort. Those who are just generally curious about the…
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Dog Biscuit Diplomacy
Disclaimer: Unlike most of my blog posts, which are painfully true-to-life, in the following post I have taken complete liberty to stray from a strictly truthful record of the facts as I recall them. I make no pretense of reporting in this post anything that actually happened in real life. Whether this story is inspired…
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Nursing Home Diary – Grandma Lena was Lost
I was sitting in the canteen with Ludmila just before lunchtime today when Grandmother Lena shuffled in, all by herself. I was surprised to see her, because the elderly residents usually do not come up the stairs to the second floor. Also, Grandmother Lena usually stays together with her close friend (who occupies the bed…
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Nursing Home Diary – Home from Hospital
In my “Victory Over Flu Day” post I mentioned three men who were in the hospital: Avtandil, Yevheni and Leonid. Now, almost three weeks later, all three men have finally returned home. Leonid, the man who fell and hurt his leg, was the last man to return home. He returned just two days ago. Unfortunately,…
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