MoldovAnn

We spent 3 days this week in Korosten for the end-of-year CRDP retreat, with all of our regional coordinators, representatives from partner organizations, and a representative from the the Ukrainian Ministry of Emergencies. We had our meetings at the Korosten Center for Social-Psychological Rehabilitation. In the lobby was a fantastic display of dioramas created by local school children, with scenes of the Chornobyl station, the abandoned town of Pripyat, and some beautiful depictions of village life. The intricacy and handiwork is incredible.

Monday night, after a long day of meetings, we all headed out dinner. One guy had a chance to check the news on the internet before dinner, and read a report that a wall on the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant had collapsed, releasing a bunch of radioactive dust into the air. The report advised to keep children indoors. No official government statement had been made. My first thought was “Shit, what an idiot I am to be living in this place, so close to this disaster waiting to happen.” We all had a stressful thirty minutes or so, wondering what was really going on. I couldn’t have been with a better group of people, though – top experts and ministry officials whose work is focused on mitigating the effects of the Chornobyl catastrophe. Within a short time our colleagues were in contact with numerous officials, both at the station and in the town of Slavutych, where all the station workers live, and we were assured that it was all a rumor, nothing had happened. We all relaxed, sighed with relief, and then the jokes started – it must be a coping mechanism, joking about horribly frightening things. I couldn’t quite lose the feeling though that I’m playing with fire here. I like Ukraine, I’d like to stay here for a long time to come, but I’d like to live farther away from Chornobyl!

I will have my first trip to Western Ukraine over the next five days. Igor and I are going to Lviv to a 2-day conference on volunteerism, coordinated by Caritas of Ukraine (that website is only in Ukrainian, and looks like it hasn’t been updated since 2004, so if you are interested, here is the site of Caritas International, the parent organization). Igor and I will make a presentation about the role of volunteerism in the recovery and development of Chornobyl-affected communities. I’m hoping we’ll have a chance to see some of the city of Lvov, as I’ve heard it’s a beautiful place with a very different style and “feel” from other Ukrainian cities.

After the conference, we head a couple hours south to the city of Ivano-Frankivsk, where Igor attended university. He loves the city, and everyone I have ever heard talk about it has only great things to say about it. I’ve been wanting to visit it for over a year now, and am finally getting the chance! We’ll stay just one night in I-F, then head a couple hours up into the Carpathian mountains, to a lodge/resort for a long weekend. I’ve seen photos of the area, and they are breathtaking – I can’t wait! The weather forecast is calling for -20C (-4F), which I’m not very excited about, but as long as it’s not storming, we are hoping to go on some excurions in the mountains.

Orthodox Christmas is January 7, so not too many people here celebrate December 25 as a holiday. The UN offices will be closed on Monday, but Igor’s center in Korosten isn’t closed. He’s taking the day off on Monday, but has to be back to work on Tuesday, 26 December. So, we’ll spend Christmas Eve and part of Christmas Day in the mountains, then take the overnight train back to Kyiv on the 25th. I’m looking forward to seeing new places, to some quiet days in a beautiful place, far from the big city.

I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!