Yesterday was a bit emotional for me but I wanted to share a few thoughts.
As I watched the memorial service from Kyiv
of the 1st anniversary of the 1st victims of the revolution, who are
now known as the Heavenly Hundred, I couldn't help but to think back, the
brooding person that I am. It was one
year ago on January 30th that I stopped by Independence Square in Kyiv to see
what was going on with the Maidan protests before boarding a flight back to Canada. You can read more what I wrote at that time and see photos
here http://blairs-page.blogspot.ca/2014/02/the-revolution-in-kyiv.html I vividly remember the sights, the smells and
how surreal it felt to be there.
Little did
I or anyone else know at the time how bad it would get just a few weeks
later. As it was, I was on Hrushevskova
Street just a few metres from the spot
where only one week prior the very 1st deaths occurred. When standing on the barricade I was speaking
to a man and I'll never forget how his face lit up when he found out I was from
Canada and how he thanked me for being there. I now wonder that when I was there if I may
have rubbed shoulders with anyone who is now gone. Please forgive me if I sound morbid.
After I got
back to Canada I remember the horrible feeling
watching the live feeds when everything did get worse between February 18th and
20th. I found out that 2 of my friends
were on the square when it was all happening and I felt so helpless watching it
all knowing they were there. My friends
are okay but they, like all Ukrainians and myself, are forever changed. I won't go into a description of the events
that continue in Ukraine.
I'll leave that to the media.
People say
to me that I'm better off here. All I
know is that I want to get back to Ukraine to pick up in my work there. Ukraine as well as Kyrgyzstan has become my home and that's where
my heart is. The russian terrorism has
not come to Krivoy Rog and if anything there is even more work to do because
refugees have come to live there as well as children orphaned by the war. They have lost everything and need to rebuild
their lives from scratch. Most escaped
with just what they could carry and they need a lot of support. I pray that I can get back soon.
Please keep
Ukraine in your prayers. Please also keep me in your prayers that
doors will open up.
Thank you
for seeing my heart. Till next time...я
люблю вас!!
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| I took this photo standing very near where things got bad between February 18th and 20th |
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| I'm standing on the barricade at Hrushevskova Street. I still had the smell from the burning tires on my clothes when I got back to Halifax 2 days later. |
