We hear stories and watch the news, but what is it really like to be in Kyiv? To live under the constant threat of being attacked again and bombed?
Here is a proposal for those who really want to share this experience with the people of Kyiv.
- Download one of these apps.
- Set the location for Kyiv
- Every time the alert sounds, stop and just imagine what is going on. Do you go to the shelter? Do you just go on with your day?
- Send a prayer or a thought to the people living there, they just got the same alarm.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ukrainealarm
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ukraine-safety-alerts/id1613373267
If you are in a store or business, they will ask you to either leave or go to their bomb shelter.
My first night in Kyiv
My first night in Kyiv the alarm went off at 1:00 in the morning. It’s loud and scary. Got up shaking, got dressed, grabbed my bug-out bag and headed downstairs. There was security at the door letting people out but not into the hotel.
Walked a half a block to the metro with another client from the hotel. We walked through the under ground mall to the entrance of the metro. All the doors were bared except for one and there was a beeping to direct you to the enterance.
Inside the metro there were about ten shoulders putting on their gear and taking up a defensive position at the top of the escalator. It is a very long ride down to the metro platform on a very fast moving escalator.
Once we got to the platform I was expecting the crowds you see on the news. People huddled on the steps, watching their mobile phones. There were three of us in the whole metro station.
Waited awhile and went back up into a very cold and windy night. The roads were partially blocked with solders monitoring traffic. A family was off to the right and a news truck parked with the doors open and lights on. Finally, returned to the hotel and they told me the alert was over.
After a year of constant alerts the people of Ukraine have become numb. They tell me at first everyone rushed to the shelters, but now, in Kyiv, there is less concern, at least for now.
In the more active areas they still rush to the shelters and the children are so traumatized that they cannot sleep. As this journey continues we will see how Ukraine and Rotary are helping the children and Ukrainians get through this war.
The saga of Dan continues
Follow the journey at https://voicesandstoriesua.com/ We are uploading a boatload of videos, songs and stories.
