Lviv - the second look

The city, the region, and the country are difficult to understand. There is war and there is celebration, there is a lot of hopelessness and the streets are full of colorful life, the military cemetery grows daily and has long been expanded to a large area outside the actual area, and young people happily enroll in studies, the breakfast bistro offers delicious croissants, and the emergency power supply stands ready in the corner as a matter of course.

We have been to the region several times, this time with time, just the two of us and only with two small missions. We wanted to see Dima, our dear interpreter who fled from the east, a teacher and now an online language teacher for women learning German. And we wanted to advance the handicapped accessible expansion of a container accommodation with funds from Saxony.

With Dima, it was as always exuberant, but also critical. We can speak very openly with him and he takes us into the Ukrainian soul, explaining a lot to us. The patriotism or nationalism in Ukraine is understandable to us, but very alien. The lack of openness to other opinions and other paths is dangerous. A free Ukraine needs not only integration into Europe in the economic sense, but also a strong civil society. It needs to start growing now.

The inclusion action in the container village was primarily an exercise in patience at the hardware store. If you want to experience bureaucracy, you can do so here between cable drums and faucets. 😊

The facility for displaced people accommodates up to 1,300 women, men, and children from the destroyed areas in the east. Many of them have disabilities. Therefore, it is necessary to retrofit the sanitary containers so that people in wheelchairs can also use them. We received funding from Saxony for one facility (thanks to the state government), and so we started buying everything necessary at the hardware store - almost everything was on the delivery lists four hours later, and we were relieved to be able to leave the hardware store (with four blocked Visa cards because our banks found the payments suspicious, but we were able to clarify that shortly after). The reconstruction is being done by the people in the container village and the employees themselves. We are eagerly awaiting the pictures. However, we are convinced that the construction measures will not only be completed soon but also produce satisfactory results, just like the entire facility (and others we have visited in the past), which is well maintained, well organized, and solid.

Lviv, the second look - an impressive city with many young people, with great strength and a strong will to persevere - BUT also with a heaviness, a feeling of exhaustion, and an apprehensive look into the future.

We continue our journey to the Carpathians...

Kathleen