MoldovAnn

Our volunteerism promotion camp has finally reached Korosten, our last site of the program. The group is doing their presentation with a group of school kids right now, and I snuck out to check my email for the first time this week.

We are all exhausted, full of impressions, happy, grouchy, overwhelmed, goofy and very very dirty. In fact, I think we are all so dirty we’re not even dirty any more - at least we don’t seem dirty to each other any more.

We could not have had a more remarkable stream of bad luck with water. Absolutely everywhere we have been there has been a problem with water. We knew that one or two villages wouldn’t have running water, so we planned the itinerary to intermix those with villages that have running water and indoor plumbing. But in every single village, there has been one problem or another and we had no running water. In one, the sewage system was broken and thus we could not use the indoor toilet or brand new shower in the Youth Center. In another, the water pump broke two days ago and the entire village is without water. In a third, even though they had told us they had running water in the youth center, it turned out to not be true. 2 villages ago we bought a big basin and a bucket. After heating well water with our electric tea kettle, I tried to teach everyone how to bucket-bathe. They didn’t catch on, to say the least. Judging by the amount of water splashed all over the washroom, I can only guess exactly what they each did in there.

In Korosten, the local Youth Parliament arranged for us to stay in the building of the local Red Cross chapter. Apparently the building used to have hot water and working showers, but no one thought to double check. When we arrived, of course the first question from everyone was “Where is the shower?” The workers informed us that they have no showers anymore, and just one toilet. They suggested we go across the street to the local banya (public bathhouse). I hurriedly went to the only hotel in town to check into a room so everyone could use the shower there. Guess what? There was some kind of accident there and they have NO WATER. I nearly burst into tears, and I didn’t have the courage to tell our group yet.

I decided to check out the banya and reserve it for us for later this evening. Guess what? It doesn’t work today! Our luck is really absolutely unbelievable.

Our local partners, the Korosten Youth Parliament, had arranged for us to do our presentation today in the town park, after which we would all participate in a trash-collecting action to help prepare for tomorrow’s “Town Day” festivities. I’d been watching the clouds gathering all morning, and just as we walked out of the Red Cross to head to the park, the downpour started. The Youth Parliamentarians hurriedly made arrangements for us to use a room in the Culture House, while we called for taxis to drive us there. I feel like someone is having a great laugh at our expense - no water where we want and need it, and tons of water where we don’t want it.

It’s been a great week with this group, and I have come to love each and every one of them, but I also am ready to finish our program, go home to my own bed and shower, and sleep for a week. I felt myself on the edge when I found out the hotel has no water, honestly not able to take anymore - it feels like it’s just been one thing after another this entire week, and I am exhausted. Fortunately, I have many friends here in Korosten, via Igor, and I called Vlad. I already don’t remember what I said to him - he later told me he didn’t understand what was wrong, but he could tell from my voice that I really needed help. He managed to figure out where to meet me, and drove over immediately. While the group went off to make their presentation with the school kids, Vlad took me to another banya on the edge of town and helped me reserve it for 8-10 pm tonight. I took a quick look around, asking all kinds of questions that seemed to surprise the manager, like “Do you have showers?” and “Do you have hot water?” She answered everything with “Of course!”. I was SO relieved!

Vlad and a couple other friends will join us tonight, and not only will we have an evening of hot running water and showers, we will also have a cool cultural experience - I doubt any of our group has been to a Russian banya before.

My mood has picked up, even as the rain is coming down harder. We won’t been cleaning the park today, but we’ll be cleaning ourselves, and I think that will be much more fulfilling for our volunteers than anything else could be today.