Direct Aid Day 5: Strengthening Our Connections

We woke up at the EmiGrand, a hip hotel dedicated to Andy Warhol whose family -  some here claim - is from the area even though Wikipedia clearly states differently. 

Today was our “official” day. We drove to the center of Uzhhorod, the largest city in Transcarpathia, to meet with the governor of the region. The government building is one of the few buildings in the world with a paternoster lift, small elevator cabins continuously move up and down which requires you to be quick on your feet. 

Entering the official government building shows the different priorities placed on security here. To enter the building, all you had to do was pass an unmanned turnstile - no X-ray machines, no pat downs, no soldiers standing watch. However, just to be safe, the windows all had sandbags in front of them. 

The governor of the region expressed his sincere appreciation for our visit and even patched us through to soldiers on the front lines to thank us for our contributions. 

After the official meeting was over, the governor decided to accompany us to visit the rehabilitation facility funded with our donations. The facility apparently got finished in the nick of time for our visit - a reminder that in order for aid to truly matter, you can’t just trust, you have to verify, which is a big part of the reason why we are here. We wonder whether this rehabilitation center would have opened and benefited wounded soldiers if we hadn’t decided to come back to take a look. 

At the end of the visit, we got the sense that the governor wanted to say something important as he sensed an opportunity. Through translators he leaned in and pressed on Alex the need for cooperation that goes beyond our humanitarian assistance for the war. He suggested a letter of partnership between his region of two million people and the Central Texas region of two million. He talked with passion about the economy, university exchanges, and business collaboration. 

Before the war, Transcarpathia was considered one of the poorer regions of Ukraine - since the war started, many families and businesses from the East relocated here to be safe and are rebuilding their lives in the peaceful west of Ukraine. The governor - perhaps wisely - was thinking longer-term than the war and realized that there was an opportunity for him to connect.  Alex mentioned that he is meeting with the mayor of Austin, Kirk Watson, next week and will relay the governor's desire for lateral economic collaboration with Central Texas. Life is all about connections - even at the governor’s level.

In the afternoon we were hosted by a National guard regiment at a field training center. The focus was on the various ways that troops' lives can be protected, and the optimum measures taken to mitigate against harm to personnel in the field.

We were given a demonstration of technologies used as a countermeasure to hostile drone attacks. Overall, the impression was that the Ukrainian defense forces place a huge emphasis on protecting the lives of their troops in every way possible.  We discussed how we might work together on future projects that could make drone defense more available to their soldiers.

It was clearly evident that not only were the Ukrainian National guard highly effective at protecting the wellbeing of their troops in the field, but also kind and generous hosts. 

To donate to Direct Aid for Ukraine through a registered US charity to receive a tax deduction, please follow the link below:

https://www.ger3.org (PLEASE ALSO EMAIL ALEX.DAVERN@YAHOO.COM SO THAT WE CAN ENSURE YOUR DONATION GOES TO DIRECTAIDFORUKRAINE.ORG). 

Thank you, On behalf of Team DIRECTAIDFORUKRAINE.ORG