Report 11 | May 12, 2010
Today I was scheduled to spend the day in the town of Yarenche and its surrounding villages. It was a full day. We left Ivano-Frankivsk after an early getting-up (5:00 a.m.) and arrived back after 8:30 p.m. I am giving a brief description of the major events and will post pictures of these happenings.
Yaremche Emergency Room Refurbished
Today we visited one of the hospitals that we have been helping with supplies from containers. Their ER was in terrible condition and Ivan worked with the Chief Doctor and Mayor to help provide some beds and other items while some of the local businessmen supplied materials for renovation and the government of Ukraine helped secure some of the more expensive diagnostic equipment. It was really a great partnership and the Church was able to be recognized as making a significant impact in the community. I am sending some pictures of the renovated ER—it now has three beds, an overnight room, and a roomy toilet and shower room. All is brand new tile!
I was presented a letter addressed to the United States Department of State that reads:
The Executive Committee of the Yaremche City Council would like to express their sincere gratitude for humanitarian aid that was given through Operation Provide Hope and was collected by churches of Christ coordinated by John Kachelman.
The furniture and equipment was used to supply the Central City Hospital of Yaremche and for refurbishing the emergency room.
Inspection of Flood Damage Repairs in Yaremche
Two years ago there were historic floods in western Ukraine . At that time we were asked by the State Department if we had any Consignees in the Ivano-Frankivsk Region and, if we did, could they use them to help deliver flood relief. Ivan Skoleba was perfectly positioned and was a great asset in helping thousands finds relief assistance from the floods. One of the hardest hit areas was around Yaremche and the village of Mekulichin. We are still continuing follow-up inspections on these efforts and today were taken on a tour and shown how the mountain streams have been reinforced so that the destructive floods would not happen again.
Excursion to Yaremche
Almost the last to-do item on the list was an excursion on a mountain top and a cookout. After the long process of inspecting and reviewing and follow-up on distributions, I was ready for a good cookout. We arrived at the meeting place and Andrew (the host) told me that cars could not get to where we were going so we would have to go by truck. He pointed to an old Soviet Union era military transport truck and asked if I wanted to ride inside or outside. I opted for outside as the meat was sitting in a pot on the inside along with other items we were to eat (fish, veggies, and some kind of corn mash stuff covered in pork fat). We climbed aboard and for the next hour bumped, banged, and bruised every limb on our bodies. The transport truck is very high and the tree branches are very low. With that military transport vehicle we could go anywhere—up the mountain streams, over boulders, through deeply rutted roads and down steep embankments. We swerved, jerked, and bounced. The only thought I had was not comforting…the longer it took us to get wherever we were going meant it was going to take that long going back! We finally arrived and it took each of us about 5 minutes to get our legs back under us so we could walk once again. Tanya had chosen an inside seat. When she emerged from the truck’s cab she looked worse than the rest of us. She said that her right foot was on fire because the floorboard got very hot. She could not move because the pans of food and meat to cook were also there (I guess such an hour long ride in the heat and dusty floorboard added some seasoning to the food we were to enjoy). The table was set with the customary beverages (vodka!). Ivan, Tanya, Andrew, and I instantly grabbed for the water and juice to fill up our glasses before anyone tried to fill them with something else. The meal was enjoyable but about half way through I started feeling sprinkles of rain but we sat and continued eating!
The day illustrated once again how hard Ivan has worked to develop contacts in the communities that are most appreciative of our efforts.
On the way back I called to see if John Durham had arrived and I found out that he had and was waiting for the connection flight from Kyiv to Ivano-Frankivsk! Tomorrow we are to see the Governor of the Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, meeting with the Director of the School of the Militia, meeting Anatoly the Mayor in Staryy Lisets and distribute some benevolent items that have been shipped, and we are to have our shootout with the militia marksmen. Today Ivan said they had put us off with the shooting contest because they had learned that “we” were expert marksmen with serious training and they were trying to find someone qualified to meet us on the target range…interesting logic…
John L. Kachelman, Jr.
Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine
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