Mission
Organizer Sue Jahns'
Impression of Mission Ukraine '99
Photo Album of the Mission
Wednesday, Jan. 27 through
Friday, Jan 29
We got off to a rocky start
today. Bob Silverman, Dave McCreary
and I boarded our flight from Philly to JFK as scheduled.
We pulled away from the gate made a circle & came right back.
There was a mechanical problem and we had to disembark. The flight was
then cancelled. This caused us to
miss our flight from JFK to Budapest, with the rest of people of our group. The
complication of this was that due to the small size of the plane from Philly to
JFK, Bob had sent the extra pieces of supplies to JFK to put directly onto our
flight from there. Also, Bob had Ed
Mazer's passport in Philly and Ed was in NY.
So now our supplies were circling JFK and we were in Philly. So Bob
contacted Ed in NY and asked him to go out and flag down the driver , and return
home to Bob's house with the driver. Bob returned home also, with Jim, and made
plans to travel the next morning. Dave
and I got the next flight out and flew to Budapest via Amsterdam.
We arrived three hours after the rest of the group.
We had sent a message for them to wait for us, so we all got on the bus
and set out to claim the glasses for the VOSH group.
Suzan Johns
I had been told that all we had
to do was to show the air bill No. and claim our glasses. WRONG!!
WE ended up spending 6 1/2 hours getting the glasses.
They opened every box and counted every pair of the 6000 glasses. It also
took about 2 hours for paper work. WE
got on our way and first thing on the agenda was to find a place to eat, since
most had not eaten for about 15 hours. We found a small shopping area that had a
Mc Donald's and Pizza Hut.
We finally go our way, in some
think fog which ad settled in. This
cleared up after a couple hours.
We made our way to the border.
We cleared The border after about 3 1/2 hours- there was some difficulty
with getting the med packs into Ukraine.
We got underway again, over
very bumpy roads, in places slowing to a crawl.
The pot holes were very bad due to the recent flooding. We finally arrive
in Khust about 7:00 Friday morning and we had thought we would get in about 6:00
the previous evening.
We got everything unloaded at
the Mission and got everyone off to their host families, to be fed, bathed and
to get some sleep. We met back at
the Mission at 2:00 for a planning session.
This lasted until about 5:00. We
headed back to our host families home. Vic,
Bev, and I are staying at Vasyl and Svetlana Mondich's home, the pastor of the
church here. It is a hectic time
for them as their daughter Luda is getting married on Tuesday.
Our whole group has been invited to the wedding.
It was now sunset so the
rest of the evening was quiet. There
was a Friday evening service, but we did not go.
Photo Album of the Mission
Saturday, Jan. 30
We went to both services today.
Vic & John Merritt both spoke at services.
The congregation here really liked John sermon and they have kind of
adopted him...The evening service was centered around the blessing of Victor
& Anna's new baby girl. First Anna then Victor P then the grandfather, then
Victor K prayed for a blessing and guidance on raising the new baby.
The VOSH group went to the
hospital today to fill prescriptions for a group of people who cannot drive the
distance to Khust. So they will
pull out eye glasses according to prescription and send them back--no fitting
possible.
In the evening after church we
returned to Mondich's house and the whole dental gang has finally arrived.
Bob Silverman made after his excursion to Kiev to help someone get their
visa straightened out. Ed Mazer has finally arrived after being detained at the
border-having all the extra stuff--Ivan had to send a fax to get him through
since we came in two groups. We
spent the evening talking , getting acquainted and beginning to make plans.
Sunday, Jan 31
Today was crammed packed with
activity. The dental people had a
conference from 12:00 till 4:00. The
VOSH people began setting up their clinic at the mission at noon.
This involved quite a bit of work. They took down most of the chairs in
the mission and set up rows of tables to set their glasses on.
The pensioners coming to get glasses were given tickets.
The tickets have dates on them--so they are supposed to come on the day
they are assigned. The people began
gathering around the door. It is a
very difficult job for the people posted at the door.
There are more people out there than have tickets and it is difficult to
tell those who do not have them we cannot help them.
Beverly has been assigned the job of handing out the tickets.
The VOSH group filled about 180 pairs today.
It is very rewarding when those who get their glasses come out smiling
and thanking you.
Dr. Merritt began giving flu
shots with the help of Bryan and Ruthann Santry, as well as Dr. Olga and Dr.
Vera (two of the Sabbatarians who are medical doctors).
They are very thankful we brought the vaccine. They had an epidemiologist check the vaccine to make sure it
is for the correct strain of flu. It
is for 3 different strains. Including A Sydney 97 --the one that is currently
breaking out here. We have heard
reports that the flu is breaking out all over the country, and that a number
have died, so they are very anxious to get their shots.
In the evening we had a concert
at the school which Maria had arranged. The
first two numbers were several adult violinists playing very beautifully.
This was followed by a number of children playing various pieces on the
violin and piano. There were also some pieces on guitar, dancing with accordion,
and a quartet of men accompanied by accordian.
It was a very well planned and beautifully conducted concert.
It is amazing what can be accomplished with so little. The music teacher
told Carla Gehrig that they can not get sheet music here. She is going to see
what she can do to get some sent.
After the concert we headed back
to Mondich's, had dinner and relaxed. Their
house is quite active with wedding preparations. There are cakes here and there,
Luda's wedding dress is hanging upstairs, ready for Bev to press it for her.
Monday, Feb. 1.
Today is the first full day of
work for everyone. The VOSH group
went right to work at 8:00. The
crowds are getting bigger- it is still difficult to turn people away but it is
very necessary to do so. The doctors and team can only do what is humanly
possible. They filled 300 prescriptions today.
It is quite a process -they bring the patient in first taking their
ticket- they then proceed up the steps where there are seats for those waiting. There are about 30 seats. After they are registered, they are
then examined by one of the eye doctors and given a prescription.
They then proceed to the area where they are fitted with the proper
prescription and then on to the adjustment area.
Most are satisfied customers, with the occasional one who wants a more
stylish frame, but that is a request that cannot be filled.
John Merritt is off today to Uzhgorod
to visit some facility there - I am not quite sure what so I will write about
that tomorrow.
We were also very busy in the
dental area. We can only do
extractions, we cannot do restorative work. Dr. Bob Silverman and Dr. Don Santry
are off to Lipovitz. Dr. McCreary
and Dr. Mazer are staying here. I worked assisting Dr.
Mazer. The patients coming
in are absolutely terrified. We
have been told that most of the time there are no anesthetics available and they
pull teeth here with none. The
patients are assured that their tooth will be asleep and that following the
injection, they will not have pain. Most
are very surprised when the doctor talks to them - explains what he is doing and
reassures them. The doctors even
joke around with them. This they
don't know quite how to handle because their doctors are very stern and not real
friendly. By the time they leave, they are quite happy and relieved that they
had no pain. All the communication
is possible because we have some terrific translators from the school here.
They do not have to attend classes this week- they are getting credit by
helping out with the project here this week.
Photo Album of the Mission
When we are finished today, we are
invited to Victor Pavliy's for dinner. When we finish, there are a group of
people waiting for us who want to take Vic & Bev & I out for coffee. The
one woman is a cousin of George August - we head off to a little restaurant.
First thing they bring are some bottles of mineral water and a bottle of
vodka. I asked for only a little -
and manage to make to last through the toasts. Well, coffee turns out to be a
full dinner. After we talk for
awhile, we catch a taxi and head off to Victor's house. There we are met with
another full dinner. After dinner we have them open their gifts.
We stayed and chatted a little then off for another taxi rode back to
Mondich's.
Sending email has been very
difficult - so I am now typing this on Wednesday- and plan to get it out today.
The trip really is going
well--just a lot of minute to minute problems that need to be solved, which
everyone seems to be handling fairly well.
Hope all is going well with all of you back there- be thankful for being
there...and having access to good food, good medical care and all the
necessities of life......
Tuesday, Feb. 2, 1998
Today everything was in full
swing. We had the VOSH group going
-
they handed out about 300 pairs of glasses today.
The 4 dentists were busy with extractions - 2 in Lipovits and two at the
Mission. Dr. Merritt was busy at the mission giving flu shots and doing
consultations. The crowds outside
for the glasses are quite unbelievable. Everyone
wants tickets- but there are not enough to go around. The eye docs can only do so much. We
also heard reports that the tickets have hit the black market.
Apparently this is inevitable here.
People sell them for money....then the person who gets the glasses has
actually paid for them--but to some unscrupulous person on the street.
One story I forgot to tell about
Sunday evening - going to the concert. Vic
dropped us off at the front of the school.
We went on in- while he was to park the car. Well, he had to do a U-turn to get in the right direction to
park. Seems this was illegal and he
got stopped by the police. When he
told the cop he was an American- he was not believed--seems his Ukrainian is a
little too good. He went to show
his driver's license and it wasn't there- he thinks he left it in Amsterdam when
he rented a car. Then he didn't
have his passport with him either--it was back at the Mondich's house. So he ended up showing his Visa credit card- then the cop
believed him...as well as seeing our Mission Ukraine 22 name badge- which he
also apparently recognized. Also about that time, Ivan Yurishko- whose car Vic was
driving came running down the street and told the cop it was his car.
So Vic got off the hook.
Some of us cut out early today- to
go to the wedding of the Mondich's daughter Luda.
There has been a lot of preparation going on. It has been interesting being in the middle of all the preparation.
Bev pressed her gown for her...and helped her put together her veil. The wedding was to start at 2:00 but didn't actually get
underway till about 2:45. When we
arrived- there was a group singing and they continued to sing.
Vic and John were asked to speak, but we didn't know if Vic was going to
make it but he arrived before the ceremony was over and was still able to give
his talk. Several ministers spoke,
and there is more praying than in our ceremonies.
The bride prayed the groom prayed and so did each of the four parents.
These are out loud for everyone to hear.
The ministers also prayed. The
ceremony took about 2 1/2 hours. This
was followed by a dinner during which there was lots of music, poem reading,
toasts. The dinner was non stop - course after course was served.
For dessert there were all kinds fancy pastries- which we have been
seeing appear at the Mondich's house the last couple of days.
The wedding was at the
"Wedding Palace". It is
actually the old hat factory--and it is not heated. It was quite cold during the
wedding- with everyone wearing their coats, boots, etc.
Trouble was no one told us it would be so cold- my legs from the knees
down were frozen--since I had not worn boots- but regular shoes.
We headed home early as we had
been told the celebration would go on till midnight or so.
Wednesday, Feb. 3, 1999
Today was the final full day of
activity for all the doctors. The
VOSH group finished up their work- handing out over 1000 pairs of glasses
altogether. Their goal was 750--so
they did very good. The mobs
outside were bad today--they are not at all polite in their desire to get in.
When it was time to close down shop - Vic K and Victor P went out to
announce the shut down--there were some police on hand when this was done.
Some were not happy- but it was explained that the remaining eye glasses
would be left at the poly clinic and would continue to be distributed.
The crowd slowly dispersed.
The dentists were hard at work
again today too...it is their last day also.
They saw a total of about 300 patients--most of these had multiple
extractions. Most of the VOSH group
leaves tomorrow. and some of the others as well.
Dr. Merritt and Bryan were hard at
work in the clinic too.
The newspaper came by and
interviewed several of us...I hope to get a copy of the article if it comes out
before we leave.....
Thursday, Feb. 4, 1999
Today we went and took a tour of
the hospital. Compared to our
hospitals it is a scary place. There
is not the sanitary conditions of our hospitals and everything seems kind of
dark and dreary. They do seem to
have more equipment than last time. The
same doctor who is head of the children's ward is there as when I visited
before- they still have the same requests.
For respirators and antibiotics, particularly cephalosporin.
Dr. Merritt has brought some with him.
We gave the hospital one of the med packs as well as extra antibiotics
and other meds. We have distributed
the other med packs to some of the other Sabbatarian church areas, leaving each
one to someone with medical training to distribute.
Photo Album of the Mission
In the evening we went out to
another town to a Sabbatarian church to give flu shots.
Since we are coming they decide to hold a service.
They asked John to speak as well as Vic.
When they finished speaking - we went out and the flu shots were
administered while the rest of the service went on.
After the service we went next door to Ivan Yurishko's sister home for
dinner. Once again we are treated
to a huge dinner.
It has been snowing today and the
trip out and back was through the snow and all.
Friday, Feb. 5, 1999
This morning we went to the
mission, rounded up the vaccines and headed off to Rokosova. Dr. Johnny, Bryan, Dr. Olga, and Luba worked on giving the
injections. They gave about 200
this morning. This only leaves about 100--and 50 have been promised in Khust and
50 in Ugly. Dr. Olga will take care of the rest of those.
John & Vic also went off to see a man who is a paraplegic--from a
work accident. By the time all this
had been accomplished it was afternoon and we headed back to the mission for a
meeting. After the meeting we headed over to the internet office and SUCCESS--my
messages were finally sent!!! I
don't know when this one will be sent. Most
everyone has headed out already--with more leaving tomorrow morning.
John & Bryan Merritt and Don and Ruthann Santry, and Brenda Plonis
leave in the morning. When we got
home this evening, Svetlana had a wonder meal made for us.
One thing I have forgotten to
write about---Frantz Klaussen, the pastor of the group of
He explained how God helped him to
be able to leave. He sold his home
on a Friday-went to the ticket office to buy tickets to leave on Sunday (cost
was $1000 for 9 people) as it was getting quite dangerous.
The person there took his phone number--something they do not usually do.
He went home and when he arrived he got a call he had left two of the
children's birth certificates at the ticket office. If the person hadn't taken his phone number, they would not
have been able to reach him the next day---if they had tracked him down another
way, because he would have been at church.
And the ticket office would not have been open on Sunday, so they would
not have been able to leave on their flight-without the two birth certificates. Shortly after
they left, the rebels took over the airport. They left with only some suitcases
mostly containing food for their trip.
30 families resettled near
Kherson. Frantz's family lives 5
minutes from the church building. He
said they have formed a brigade- where one person in each family works--wherever
work can be found. They mostly work
on collective farms--bartering for most of their wages- but also receive money.
Talking with Frantz is a wonderful experience.
He is so happy-always smiling. He
could live in a number of other places- including the U.S. but chooses to stay
with the group of people he has been serving, through some very adverse
conditions. For those of you who
sent some money with me---I have given it to Frantz--as the people here in
Khust---though far from wealthy- have most necessities---it seems appropriate to
give it to him to help those still struggling in their resettling efforts....
Saturday, Feb. 6, 1999
This morning we take advantage of
the opportunity to sleep in a little and relax.
We decided to go to just one service today- this afternoon in Rokosova.
It is the first morning we have been able to do that- we have been going
to the mission by 8:00 each morning. We left for church--heading over to pick up
John & Bryan at Dr. Vera's home. Then
off we went- with 6 of us piled into a car not meant for more than 5. When we
arrived we were the only car there--as they do not drive to church---but walk,
but seem to be accepting of the fact that we do drive, we are met by singing as
we are a few minutes late. We had a delightful service with John and Vic each
speaking in addition to the pastor - Vasyl Roman.
There were several wonderful musical pieces. There is a group of children who play the mandolin--while
some others sing--also with an accordion. It
is wonderful music. There were also
some pieces--with four children singing - while one of them played the keyboard.
There was another group of young adults who sang to a guitar
accompaniment. A group of smaller children sang, and the adult choir sang.
One thing about the children. They
are not shy- they sing right out--and sometimes recite a poem.
They have a sense of confidence which is not of pride, but that they are
there to worship God and are not shy about it.
They do not seem to have some of our hang-ups.
Children and women are more apart of services here than is our custom-
though they do not give any of the messages. When services are over, pastor
Roman asks if anyone has questions for us.
There are a few--they ask for a few words from Bev and from me....they
want us to sing-we decline, then they tell us they will sing a song we also know
and ask us to join in English. We
have been invited to the Romans' home for dinner- so we head over there.
His wife has prepared a wonderful meal--more food than we can possibly
eat!! They have four delightful
daughters. We hear children singing
in the next room and ask for them to come an sing for us--which they do.
The last song---Dr. John knows in English--so he goes and joins in- which
the youngest daughter just gets the biggest kick out of.
We asked Vasyl how they choose their pastors.
He and another older man who is present explain that they do it by the
New Testament example. In
particular they site Timothy's qualifications for a minister.
The congregation chooses 3 or 4 men who meet the qualifications.
These are mature men. Then
the congregation votes on who they think best fits the qualifications.
They have no schools to train their ministry---they have men who are
known by all so a wise decision can be made.....they do not put novices in
charge--nor are their pastors paid. This
makes it a real job of service. Vasyl
said he could be paid some, but does not want to be--like the Apostle
Paul--earned his own keep. We find
their approach refreshing.
Photo Album of the Mission
We have to cut our stay short- as
Dr. John has been asked to go and visit a woman 45 miles away--who has three
young children--and now has some major physical disabilities --and no one knows
why. So we go back to Khust- get
dropped off and off go Vic and John with a couple of other men who know the
way.....
Sunday, Feb. 7, 1999
This morning we find out about
more about John & Vic's visit last night.
They returned at3:00 AM this morning. John found that the woman has a
condition which could most likely be helped by an operation in the U.S.
She does not have proper control of the muscles in her body---this is
from a problem in the cerebellum which could be helped with an implant which
would provide the proper stimulation for her to regain this control. I am sure
John will write more about this.
The lady who I bought crochet
items from comes by as we are eating breakfast she is in the bedroom laying out
her wares on the bed to display for us. After breakfast we begin
bartering...Bev, Amy and I all buy some stuff from her-as usual she is quite the
business woman, but didn't haggle quite as much as last time.
Monday, Feb. 8, 1999
Today Bev and Amy and I went with
Maria to a craft shop in a town about 12 miles away.
We all bought some things- I bought a bunch of wood items to bring back
to sell. Among these were carved plates and boxes. Wooden spoons and spatulas.
Some wooded candle holders and little vases. I also bought a bunch of Matroshka dolls.
These are little wooden dolls with smaller ones cradled inside- each one
getting smaller. They are very
colorful. The we also went to a young woman's apartment who does crocheting
where I bought some additional items. This
young woman lives in a small apartment with her husband and daughter.
She is an accountant- her husband an engineer -- but neither of them have a
job -
nor expect to be able to get one soon. This
is a typical problem in Ukraine--some very educated people--but no chance of
employment in their field---or in any field for that matter--a huge problem with
no solutions in sight. No wonder
everyone wants to leave. And yet
this country has a lot of natural resources if only they could get started in
using them.
We were invited to Vera's home for
dinner. She is a physical therapist
and attends the Khust congregation. She
lives in a home with her parents and two sons.
She does work as a therapist, but also must maintain a small farm in her
back yard to make ends meet. They
show us their assortment of goats, ducks, chickens.
Most of the people also grow their own food- canning and drying food for
winter.
When we returned from Vera's we
went over to Yurishko's for a short visit.
Then home to Mondich's--which is just a few house away. Nina Yurishko and
Svetlana Mondich are sisters.
Tomorrow we leave.......so it is
time to finish packing.....
Tuesday, Feb 9, 1999
Well, this morning we had a
meeting with the mayor. We spoke
about our work while we have been here. We
also talked about how we could help in the future.
Everyone agrees that and educational program in dental hygiene would
begin to help to improve the dental state of the people here.
I suggested a two pronged program---to target new mothers and educate
them...and in the schools. They
said they would like us to come back and assist with starting a program like
that.....
The TV station was present for
most of this visit- walking around filming us....
Vic, Bev, and I were also given
some thank you awards for coming......
Then we were off back to Mondich's
to get ready to leave. Vic & Bev head of to catch the train to Kiev where
they will get their flight to Estonia. Ivan
was to pick us (Amy , Galena and I) up at 11:00--he was to drive us to the
border.... Well we didn't actually
get on the read till close to 1:00 the train leaves Zahoney at 2:30--it is an
hour earlier there- but it takes about 2 hours to get there--plus whatever time
it takes to cross the border....When we arrived at the border....there is a
problem with my passport--they did not stamp my visa when I entered.
They gave Ivan a hassle about this- he paid them $20 and they let me go.
Then there was a problem with Galena's visa at the Hungarian border--but
this did not take too long. But it
did mean we missed our train. so
Ivan decided to drive us to Budapest. Well
shortly into Hungary we ran into the snow storm.
This is the same storm which closed the all borders between Ukraine and
Hungary sometime on Wednesday or Thursday.
There have been reports of 13 foot snow drifts since we have been home.
I sure am glad we got out when we did.
The roads were very bad during this drive.
It took several hours to get to Budapest.
when we got there the first little hotel we stopped at was full.
Ivan drove to another little town about 10 miles away and we got rooms at
a nice little hotel there. We are
all tired and glad to get to bed.
Wednesday, Feb. 10, 1999
We got up this morning to find
about a foot of additional snow on the ground.
We ate in the little restaurant a the hotel then headed to the airport.
Our flight is still on- we were worried it would be cancelled due to the
snow....but it wasn't. It took off just a little late...but we arrived in NY on
time. I got thru customs as quickly
as I could, but not quick enough. I
missed my connection to Philly--but got the next one 45 minutes later....I was
so happy to be back and to see Jim when I came thru the gate......
It makes you appreciate all that
we enjoy in this country. From
clean bathrooms with running water to the good roads, and everything in between.
I would say that Mission Ukraine
99 was a success!!
Photo Album of the Mission