Last week Dave and I returned from a whirlwind “partners visit.” Now is the time when the loan funds MCC works with (run by Ukrainian Baptists throughout Ukraine) are writing year-end reports and plans for next year. The planning process has changed recently, so Dave has been visiting most everyone to help out. I had a one-week break from classes, so I went along for the first time. On this trip we took the train to Cherkassy (central Ukraine), then south to Odessa, took a bus west to the village of Kilia on the Romanian border, then the train back to Odessa, up to Kiev and home to Donetsk.
The biggest impression the trip had on me was the contrast of life in the village to life in the city. Back home, in the part of the Midwest where I’m from, the standard of living in the “country” is no different from that of the city. That is not the case in Ukraine, and I often forget that. Running water is not a standard in the village, it’s a luxury. Hot water comes from the top of the stove after you’ve heated it in a pan. Houses are heated with coal or wood-burning fireplaces that double as ovens and sometimes as beds. (The traditional “Russian Stove” is a huge affair with a large flat space on top to sleep on). The toilet is usually, as they say in Russian, “in the street” (an outhouse). Potatoes, noodles or kasha (porridge made from grains or oatmeal) are standard fare – fruit is a luxury for special occasions.
People were very hospitable and I especially enjoyed meeting the people Dave has gotten to know since beginning this job last year, and putting faces with the names he’s talked about. The photo is a gathering of babushkas in a village north of Kiev. Notice everyone is wearing their coats, boots and headscarves. Although we sat around the stove (the small door in the wall to the left), it wasn’t warm enough in that house not to stay fully dressed.Laura
