Bus to Kyiv

27-28.4. Volunteer organization Dobrobat supports the military hospital in Chernihiv. They arranged a tour with the chief physician. He is an eye specialist and the one who operated on Artem, whom we had met the day before.

Crowded and a lot of people who rushed inbetwen different tasks. We peeped into the hospital wards with about ten beds in each. A doctor earned €500 a month, a nurse €200.

Boel and I chose to walk back to our hotel along river Desna. Longer than I thought. Rivers often have the habit of meandering, now we also had to do the same. But very nice to walk through untouched forest with huge trees of linden, elm, and maple.

Bus to Kyiv  

Rented bus toward Kyiv. 21 seats for us 20 people with too much luggage, meant that some of the luggage ended up in the aisle. On the way we stopped in the village of Vyshograd west of the capital.

We were met by Yevheny with his little dog in his lap. He has long been wheelchair-bound after a diving accident in his youth. One of the many heroes in the resistance behind the front lines. He has gathered the whole village to assist the military with food packages, stoves, and surely much more that we didn’t have time to see. Schoolchildren come here after school to prepare dry food for soldiers in trenches. Just add hot water and a nutrious dinner is served. Yevhenys mother manages administration and finances, and a teacher interpreted for us. Here we also left all the used electronics we have brought. Myself I had 12 kg of used mobiles and laptops smuggled into Ukraine. If a device is broken they can use the chips.

On the way into central Kyiv, we could see storks with already hatched chicks on lampposts, where old wagon wheels had been traditionally placed.

We checked in at Ukraine Hotel, perfectly located above Maidan where so much history has unfolded. An ugly Stalinist palace, with a majestic view.