April 7-13, 2024

Fastiv, 07.04.-13.04.2024

Christ is risen!

I’ll start with a story. Between Mykolaiv and Kherson there is the completely destroyed village of Posad – Pokrovsky, until March 14, 2022, 2,400 people lived in the village. Now residents are slowly returning to the village, after demining. During the occupation, this area was a “grey zone”, so that the occupying troops could not move further to South. We drove by these destroyed houses dozens of times, and immediately after the deoccupation, it seemed that this village had died, because there was no “living place” there. A girl, Maria, wrote to us from this village and asked for a washing machine for her family. Just yesterday we were able to visit her and get to know her. The girl is 16 years old, her mother, a person with a disability of the 1st group, is seriously ill and is currently in a hospital in Odessa, and her father is fighting and defending Ukraine. The girl met us with a friend, the house was damaged by the war, but tulips and cherries are blooming all around. It is incredibly moving that this house and other houses are being rebuilt from the ashes of war by the faith of people, and even children, who live and want to stay on their land.

Another important component in the reconstruction and restoration, in particular after the explosion of the Kakhovka HPP, is helping people with seeds of vegetables, cucumbers, carrots, beans, radishes… We visited villages of the long-suffering Kherson region and distributed packages with selected seeds – 1,100 households received seeds from Poland from our Friends of the XENIA Association Charitable Fund. We would like to thank the director, Mrs. Agnieszka Tombinska, as well as the partners of the Fund, NGO “Public Active Lviv”. We also sent household chemicals and hygiene products to Kherson from this charity fund, as well as toothpaste, which will be distributed among the needy by our partners “Strong and Free”.

In Kherson, we have set up a shelter and delivered the necessary things and products for the social kitchen and bakery. It is very unfortunate that the city cannot live normally because of this constant shelling. This time, the military refused us to enter the city, since the city and its surroundings are the site of hostilities. We promised to stick to the humanitarian route that was in our documents and to be careful. We would like to thank our volunteer drivers from Poland and Fastiv, who are tirelessly by our side to the Victory! Mr. Ireneusz Hajlun has been delivering lunches and our bread to the lonely, elderly, and people with reduced mobility in Kherson for several weeks.

This week, we received a charity shipment from the United States of America – thank you Matthew 25 Ministries, for your remembrance of us. There were diapers, sanitary hygiene products, wet wipes, clothes, all this is now at the price of “gold” and much needed by those who who lacks wealth or have lost mobility. Thank you to our Friends of “Charitable Fund” and “Charitable Freta” Foundations for the charity fair and for your support and efforts to support us in the most difficult period. Charitable donations collected during the fair will be used for children’s recreation this year.

This week, we provided 1,475 basic food kits to the needy and distributed 15,000 kg of humanitarian aid to those affected by the enemy’s military aggression.

Thanks to Frans van der Heijdt and the community of secular Dominicans from Zwolle, who support humanitarian missions with their donations. Thank you to each of you who reads our reports, prays and helps, calls and is by your side. Thank you for every repost and donation!

With prayers,

Fr. Mykhailo Romaniv OP