Mary and I
arrived in Ukraine on Thursday September 22.
It is just under one year since we left and it quickly became apparent
to us, that we felt like we had never left the place. Twenty-four hours after
we left Winnipeg, we were settled in our apartment in Molochansk. After a meal of borscht, provided by Ira, our
cook at the Mennonite Centre, we settled in for a night’s sleep. Our room was warm and we opened the window so
that we could drift off to sleep with the usual sounds and smells of Molochansk
wafting over us. The usual night sounds
in Molochansk are dogs barking in the evening, trains passing through the town,
and roosters crowing in the morning. The
usual night smells in our apartment are the faint odour from the septic tank
outside our apartment building reminding us that Molochansk does not have a sewer
system.
This is the
fifth time that Mary and I have served as volunteer North American Directors at
the Mennonite Centre. We know that this
trip will be very different from all our previous trips to Ukraine. It will be dominated by one event. On
October 12, 2016, we will be co-hosting an event with the Ambassador of Canada
to Ukraine, Roman Waschuk, at the Mennonite Centre. All Mennonite organizations working in
Ukraine have been invited to attend. The
Ambassador wishes to use this opportunity to thank all these organizations for
their contribution to Ukraine. As well
as the Ambassador, we will also have two dignitaries from Ottawa in
attendance. These are Senator Peter
Harder and Senator Don Plett. We are
very pleased that they have shown a personal interest in coming to the
event. To ensure that the event will
have a good Mennonite flavour, the Men’s Faith and Life Choir will be coming
from Manitoba to perform at our ceremonies. They will also sing at a party that
evening to which the whole town of Molochansk has being invited. This party will mark the 15th
anniversary of the establishment of the Mennonite Centre. We are very honoured to be able to participate
in this event. Planning and arranging
all the details is keeping us very busy.
Mary and I can admit to feeling a bit of pressure to make sure
everything goes well.
We attended
the Molochansk Mennonite Church last Sunday.
Sitting through a one hour sermon while still feeling the effects of jet
lag, can be a bit painful. The church
offering was at the end. As I placed my
contribution in the offering plate, I noticed a number of people looking at me
and smiling. I was reminded that I have
the unfortunate gift of getting into trouble with off-handed comments no matter
where I am in the world. The background
to this is that during the week I was shopping and the clerk refused to let me
pay with one of the bills I handed him.
It was clear from his gestures that he could not accept that bill. Later I showed the bill to Oksana our manager
when there were a few other people around.
They all recognized the bill as being too old and knew it was no longer
accepted as legal tender. Obviously
someone had passed this on to me and as a foreigner I did not know that I
should refuse to accept it. It was a 50
greevna bill worth about $2.50 Canadian.
I was advised that my only option was to take it to a bank and see if
they would exchange it for a newer bill.
I responded by telling them that I really had another option - I could generously
place that bill in the church offering the next Sunday. That is why they all turned to me on Sunday and
smiled when the collection plate reached my place. Fortunately they saw me make my contribution
with legal tender. I did go to the bank
this week and the old rejected note was replaced.
 |
| Even the note looks rejected |
Every house
in Molochansk has a driveway – even if the house owner does not have a
car. Every driveway is covered with an
arbour holding up well trained grape vines.
At this time of the year, the grape vines are weighted down with
beautiful clusters of grapes. The grapes
come in a variety of colours – red, dark blue, and green. Most interestingly for us, they come in a
variety of flavours that we have not experienced before. The local people have been very generous in
supplying us with grapes from their garden.
We enjoy eating them even though they all have seeds and require a bit
more work than the seedless varieties available to us in Canada.
The biggest
change for us since a year ago is that the road to Tokmak, our nearest city,
has actually been paved. There was a
stretch of about 4 or 5 kilometers that can best be described as being one long
pot-hole. I used to think of it as doing
the Tokmak dance with approaching cars weaving and bouncing around one another
and using the whole width of the road with no regard for actually staying on
the proper side. A half hour drive can
now be done in 10 minutes. In a
discussion with the Mayor of Molochansk this week I thanked him for whatever he
had done to give everyone a better road.
He acknowledged that the road to Tokmak was not really part of his
jurisdiction but told us that all the trucks carrying the asphalt to pave the
road were driving through Molochansk and causing road problems for him. He worked out a deal with the contractor that
every truck carrying the asphalt through Molochansk would leave 5 shovels full
of asphalt to fix his own roads. Governments
in this area were once concerned with spreading the wealth. Now with very
little wealth left to spread, our pragmatic mayor is more focused on spreading
the asphalt. That is progress for
Ukraine.
If you wish
to know more about the work of the Mennonite Centre, you can check out our web
site at: http://www.mennonitecentre.ca/ or follow our daily activities on
Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/Mennonite-Centre-Ukraine-735361069838076/
