We are in Chernivtsi with Rebecca Harms. A politician who doesn’t need to be explained about Ukraine. For Harms, Ukraine is not an abstract country somewhere in between, in the zone of influence of the Russian Federation, which, for reasons that some Western Europeans still cannot understand, is trying to evade this influence. In contrast to some German intellectuals and politicians, who were just interested enough in this country before the war of aggression to be able to name the capital and perhaps the boxer Vitalij Klitschko as references, their further knowledge of Ukraine probably fed up the Russian narrative. But they had a lot of proposals for a solution for Ukraine – like the calls for surrender and “peace manifestos”.
Harms has a sober, realistic, and by no means glorifying view of Ukraine – and of current events. She tells how she was in Kiev for the first time in 1988. At that time she met, among others, Jurij Schtscherbak, who accompanied her to Chernobyl and talked a lot. After that, this country would not let her go. How many of the German intellectuals would know that name, I wonder. An eminent writer, co-founder of the Green Party of Ukraine in the 1990s and author of the first documentary about the Chernobyl nuclear disaster (1987).
The granddaughter has already made friends and would like to stay
Rebecca Harms focuses on the refugee situation and community reform. She is conducting talks about this in the city and regional administration. S. and I take turns accompanying her and interpreting. In the student village, S. talks about “our” internally displaced persons, then we drive together to Luzhany to see the Saint Olha shelter, the social café and the “Lebenshilfe” workshop for young adults with disabilities. On the way, Harms says the conditions in our dormitories are better than those in many mass accommodations in the East that she has known since 2014. I think our dorm number six is pretty borderline, but apparently there are worse things to do. In any case, the big advantage for the residents is the free accommodation. In contrast, the shelters in Luzhany, which belongs to the municipality of Mamayivtsi, could compete with mass accommodation of Western standards. The former company hotel was renovated within three months with the help of “Eleos-Ukraine” and offers up to fifty places for internally displaced persons, and most recently also for women who have been victims of domestic violence.
We have known the resolute managing director I. for a long time, our donations are currently being used to buy sports equipment for active leisure activities outdoors, some of it is already there. A tennis table and several benches made of pallets are in front of the house, as well as some flower pots. As a small souvenir from us there is a box of children’s books. I. leads us through the house and talks. Back outside we get to know a resident from Kharkiv. I. shows us a small plant that she grew – an avocado sprout. She talks to Harms about how beautiful Kharkiv is. I. misses her hometown very much, but her family is doing well here in western Ukraine. Her daughter and son-in-law have found jobs. Your granddaughter feels at home here and would like to stay. Now she has made new friends and finds that the local children are less spoiled than those in the big city of Kharkiv. An interesting finding.
We visit the workshop in the other part of the building, where the tailoring and sewing is done diligently under L.’s guidance. The parents’ initiative “Dreams of special children” could be a showcase project and proves once again how much can be achieved where the will and a strong partnership are present. We have been working with “Lebenshilfe Ostallgäu-Kaufbeuren” for several years. But the best thing about this social facility is the atmosphere – you can’t fake a good mood. The barista in the wheelchair makes excellent coffee for us. This is followed by a joint lunch, during which eight different homemade fruit liqueurs are tasted. The mayor tells the German visitor that they are looking for a German municipality for the partnership. Harms promises to ask around in Lower Saxony, where she comes from. As we say goodbye, the mayor tells me that they really need a children’s playground in Luzhany, because of the internally displaced families they now have many more children. “I heard you,” I reply. A hopeful sign for the wartime community when the children’s playgrounds are full and not empty.
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