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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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New RAYA Project: Humanitarian Volunteer Census
RAYA is launching a new long-term project to systematically evaluate the impact of humanitarian volunteer work in Ukraine. Although this pilot project will focus on Ukraine, analytical results of the study may be used to guide volunteer utilization channels and increase the impact of volunteer efforts when other humanitarian crises occur in similar contexts in…
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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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Nursing Home Yoga
It’s my longstanding habit to spend 20 or 30 minutes every morning right after I get out of bed doing some simple yoga stretching exercises. Since volunteering here at the nursing home, I’ve been doing this routine most mornings downstairs in the main entry hall. It’s the most wide open space in the building and…
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War in Ukraine – Another Year In
On February 24, 2022, Russian military forces launched a blitz invasion into Ukraine with the intent of quickly capturing Ukraine’s capital city Kiev and effecting a regime change. The blitz fell short of the mark and today, exactly one year later, we are in the midst of a protracted “war of attrition” between the NATO…
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Nursing Home Diary – “Victory Over Flu Day”
Gennadiy declared “Victory Over Influenza Day” at the nursing home this afternoon, and brought in cake and soda to celebrate. Indeed, it does feel like everything is almost back to normal now, here at the nursing home. Residents are still taking antibiotic tablets, but nobody appears to be suffering from uncomfortable symptoms anymore. All of…
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Nursing Home Diary – Feb. 18, 2023
Today the power went out during breakfast and remained out for most of the rest of the day. I didn’t really pay too much attention, because the weather was warm and sunny and the internet service was still working. But then at dinner time I wanted to use the food processor to blend some borscht…
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Nursing Home Diary – Flu Season Day 7
Today seems to be a very calm, normal day at the nursing home. Except for the antibiotic treatments that nurse Yevhenia is administering throughout the day, there is no evidence of a health crisis. Here’s hoping that this flu season winds down quietly over the next few days.The new hire, Ailiona, appeared as hoped this…
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Nursing Home Diary – Flu Season Day 6
Today Gennadiy brought in the doctor again. The doctor spent a couple of hours examining the residents again, and identified three men and three women who appear to have pneumonia or similar serious conditions. He prescribed antibiotic injections for each of them, in addition to tablets. Most of the other residents are also taking antibiotic…
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