Zalatoiy!
Today, we met the cutest little old lady we’ve ever seen. She lived in a small, old house in the small town of Belogrod-Dnestroyovsky. Although we were a little hesitant at first, once we saw her big smile and open arms, we immediately felt comfortable. We all sat together in her living room, which consisted of a couch and a small table. She shared with us the story of her life- how she taught French for 35 years, was a translator for several years, and (our personal favorite) her “golden” husband. Her husband died ten years ago and she constantly talked about him, sharing with us how amazing and special he was to her and to the lives of others. He was a righteous gentile, which means that although he was not Jewish, he swore on the Bible during a testimony under Soviet Rule that another woman from his town was NOT Jewish (although she was) and saved her life. So he not only had an amazing impact on her life, but on the lives of others as well. This woman had such a big heart and we immediately wanted to do everything that we could to help her.
She has a fairly large yard that she needed us to weed so that she could plant her garden. The three of us, along with the help of her social worker and our fantastic bus driver, raked and shoveled up the weeds from the yard. After a few hours of work, our time was up and she asked us to come inside so that she could give us a gift. First, however, she brought us to the bathroom so that we could wash our hands. What we saw was pretty shocking. This woman only receives water through her pipes early in the morning and then later in the evening. Since this was the middle of the morning, there was no running water. There was water set aside in a bucket that we used. We put some of that water into a new bowl and washed our hands. None of us had ever been in a position where we did not have running water to wash our hands. We then went into the living room where she gave us wall hangings for us to bring back to America. They were beautiful and we appreciated it greatly. She then kissed us goodbye and even followed us out to the bus! We sadly had to leave but we all absolutely fell in love with her and we all can agree that it was our greatest experience in Ukraine so far.
Hillary Jacobs, Lisa Easton, & Rebecca Marcus
Today, we met the cutest little old lady we’ve ever seen. She lived in a small, old house in the small town of Belogrod-Dnestroyovsky. Although we were a little hesitant at first, once we saw her big smile and open arms, we immediately felt comfortable. We all sat together in her living room, which consisted of a couch and a small table. She shared with us the story of her life- how she taught French for 35 years, was a translator for several years, and (our personal favorite) her “golden” husband. Her husband died ten years ago and she constantly talked about him, sharing with us how amazing and special he was to her and to the lives of others. He was a righteous gentile, which means that although he was not Jewish, he swore on the Bible during a testimony under Soviet Rule that another woman from his town was NOT Jewish (although she was) and saved her life. So he not only had an amazing impact on her life, but on the lives of others as well. This woman had such a big heart and we immediately wanted to do everything that we could to help her.
She has a fairly large yard that she needed us to weed so that she could plant her garden. The three of us, along with the help of her social worker and our fantastic bus driver, raked and shoveled up the weeds from the yard. After a few hours of work, our time was up and she asked us to come inside so that she could give us a gift. First, however, she brought us to the bathroom so that we could wash our hands. What we saw was pretty shocking. This woman only receives water through her pipes early in the morning and then later in the evening. Since this was the middle of the morning, there was no running water. There was water set aside in a bucket that we used. We put some of that water into a new bowl and washed our hands. None of us had ever been in a position where we did not have running water to wash our hands. We then went into the living room where she gave us wall hangings for us to bring back to America. They were beautiful and we appreciated it greatly. She then kissed us goodbye and even followed us out to the bus! We sadly had to leave but we all absolutely fell in love with her and we all can agree that it was our greatest experience in Ukraine so far.
Hillary Jacobs, Lisa Easton, & Rebecca Marcus
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