Report #6 – October 1, 2021

Featured Photo: John and Denys with the Vice-Director and Supervisors of the Infectious Disease hospital in Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine

(Note: Hopefully today’s report will be lacking any “typos”! ?)

The activities of toady began with visits to medical facilities and hospitals where our shipments have had an impact. The deep gratitude that is expressed is beyond description—you need to be face-to-face with those who have received commodities that were impossible to obtain.

I want to give a special focus to a container that we shipped into Ivano-Frankivsk and which was coordinated by Dr. Denys Volynskyi from Ivano-Frankivsk Medical Institute. I met Dr. Denys through the medical seminar program that Gary Jerkins, Ron Swang and John Durham initiated when our brother Emmo was in the Ivano-Frankivsk Medical Institute. Denys is very sincere in his efforts.

The communication on this container began on November 18, 2020, and the container was shipped; but its approval and release were stalled until August 2021 after Ivan and Andrew had to make three trips to Kyiv to appear from the commission that gives approvals. There is no way to condense all of the communication regarding this container, so let me just say it is voluminous! It sat locked up in storage for seven months! Only those involved understand the irritations, anger, hopelessness and a myriad of other negative emotions that accompanied this shipment.

The project began when we received a shipment of medical supplies that included a number of COVID-19 applications. Charita posted this as available and I sent personal emails to various locations. One of these was Dr Denys. He immediately responded and after a number of back and forth exchanges he wrote:

“Dear John,

First of all, thank you for such a quick response to my previous letter. I have already had the honor of talking to Ms. Tatiana and Ms. Charita, and they have helped me a lot in understanding how to properly start the process of getting help.

At the moment I am trying to find sponsors and I have several potential candidates.

I’ve read the supply list you sent in the last letter. However, most of the people I spoke to here on the spot wanted to know more about the anti-COVID-19 package. Please tell me if it is possible to specify in more detail what exactly the item includes: “Medical Disposables / PPE / COVID Testing (see Tab).”

I’m sorry if my question seems trivial, but when I was asked here on the spot, I could not fully explain what is on this list. I am not an infectious disease specialist and am not familiar with the composition of possibly standard kits.

I realized that the list included systems for testing for COVID-19, protective suits, masks, and gloves. However, I don’t know if there are PCR testing systems or antigen tests (for IgM or IgG).

Sorry again. Just a little more information about the goods would help me better explain it to potential sponsors and get their help.

Thank you for everything you do!

Denys worked diligently to secure funding for the container. He instantly did everything we asked in order to get the container approved and cleared. Ukraine’s Minister of Health (MOH) had mandated that any humanitarian aid entering that had COVID-19 supplies was to be cleared within one day. This container had a great amount of COVID-19 supplies but someone missed the MOH’s memo and it arrived and sat for SEVEN MONTHS.

Finally, after irritating delays and shunned pleas to deaf politicians we received approval. Denys had a distribution plan that included three hospitals. Brethren from the Ivano-Frankivsk Church of Christ worked with Denys to sort the shipment into these three groups. (Seep photos below of items from shipment)

Today, I visited two of these hospitals. The first visited was the Infectious Disease Hospital (see the featured photo). I was warmly greeted and appreciation was generously given for our compassion and concern. I was shown the storage units where the supplies are kept until others can come and pick up what is assigned to them. The contents may look in total disarray but they know what is where in the storage! These units are behind the security gate of the Hospital and are dry.

This Hospital is the main care facility for COVID-19 patients.

Denys said that some of the supplies included do not fit the hospitals in the distribution plan but these supplies will be sent to other locations where they are needed. Especially will the orthopedic supplies be useful in the Trauma Hospitals in this Oblast. Every item shipped will find a welcomed place!

The second stop was the Tysmenytsia District Hospital. This town is located on the highway where the Church building is being built. It is a growing population area. The hospital here is one of the COVID-19 treatment centers. It was here that the first case of COVID-19 was diagnosed in Ukraine (incidentally the doctor that diagnosed it was Dr Natalia Volynskyi—Denys’ wife!).

Once again, we were met with the most gracious greeting possible. The Chief Doctor took us on a tour of the facility. We ended in the vaccination center where the Doctor in charge of vaccinations give us details of the ongoing response to the pandemic. The Chief Doctor thanked us for the masks, isolation gowns, sanitizer, gloves and every item shipped. He specifically said the gloves in our shipment were far superior to the gloves they are able to purchase. He would love a container full of gloves! As we talked about the items in the shipment the Chief Doctor said they were able to learn of commodities that they had never seen. He specifically mentioned a cryogenic item. At first, they thought it was to be used for athletic injuries but then researched it and discovered it was to “freeze” certain kinds of skin cancers! They were very thankful for the gift of the container. I told the Chief Doctor that with this hospital being so close to the new Ivano-Frankivsk Church building there should be a mutual understanding and assistance. He agreed. This town may be closer to the Church building than Ivano-Frankivsk.