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Trip To Dnipro - Steven Carr's Report
So I arrive at Edinburgh Airport and meet up with Colin, who has already been passing the check-in desks for 2 hours, as he had to get dropped off early. Between us we have 8 cases of donated items to take over and as soon as we load them onto trolleys we can see that it will be no mean task to transport these to Dnipropetrovsk. Our journey is to be split into three legs, the first being a Wednesday night flight to London, the second a Thursday morning flight from Heathrow to Kiev and the third, and most daunting, a train journey from Kiev to Dnipropetrovsk.
British Airways are fantastic though and not only do they book the cases right through to Kiev for us but they also book us onto the early morning flight to save us a bit of time on the Thursday. With everything booked in we head to the departure lounge and are soon sitting on the flight to London. In no time at all we have arrived at Heathrow and, courtesy of Mark at Frutin Travel, we have a hotel near the airport booked. We head out to the taxi rank ready for the 3-mile journey to the hotel.
“Quality Hotel, that’ll be £50 please!”
“Eh? £15?”
“No mate.. £50!”
“Errr, can you point me in the direction of the bus station please?”
So we head to the bus station and £6 return gets us on a Heathrow Hoppa which stops right outside the hotel within a matter of a few minutes. We book in to the hotel and after a brief spell on the hotels internet facility we settle down for the night. Colin gets a good nights sleep and I discover how loudly he can snore!
A 6 am rise and it’s down to reception to get the bus to Heathrow. As British Airways already have us booked on the flight to Kiev we head for the departure lounge. We board the plane at 8am and the flight over gives me a chance to catch up on some lost sleep. We arrive in Kiev around 1pm and get through passport control surprisingly quickly considering the delays experienced on the previous visit to the Ukraine. We collect our bags and head through customs.
Unfortunately this doesn’t prove to be as fast as passport control when the number of cases we are carrying attracts a bit of attention. Language differences cause a delay as customs officials query the contents of the cases. I get the impression that they feel the donated items are about to be sold on and are looking for a cut of their value in taxes. Thankfully Mike Pratt had organised an interpreter, Sasha, to help us out and he was ushered through to customs as we appear to be at a stalemate. Not sure what he says to them but the outcome is we get ushered through with all the donations intact. Sasha leads us out of the airport, where he has a car waiting, and into a temperature of around -25 degrees! The small investment made for thermal underwear looks like money well spent.
A car journey of around 30 minutes has us at the train station. We get all the cases booked into left luggage before heading into Kiev for a bite to eat. Sasha takes us to a local restaurant, the name of which roughly translated to “The Fat Belly” or so Sasha informed us. It’s a buffet style restaurant and he we get to sample some of the local Ukrainian dishes, delicious and just what’s needed in the cold weather. After we’ve finished eating we head for the Irish Pub and settle ourselves down for a couple of hours before we have to head back to the train station for the overnight train to Dnipropetrovsk.
Time passes fairly quickly and we soon head off for the overnight train. Transporting 8 cases around the train station proves a bit of a struggle but we somehow manage and eventually get them all loaded into the small cabin we’ll be using for the trip south. Not much space left for manoeuvring but we do manage to utilise 3 of the 4 bunks and get some form of interrupted sleep. We arrive in Dnipropetrovsk around 7am. It’s not any warmer and it’s blowing a blizzard. Mike Pratt meets us on the platform and we grab 2 cases each and fight our way through drifting snow to get to his mini-bus. With all 8 cases loaded we head off to the apartment we will be staying in where Sashas’ wife, and our interpreter on the first visit, Ira is waiting for us with a warm breakfast. With some hot food inside of us we are ready for a bit of shopping.
Mike has already done some preliminary work for the needs of the orphans at the centre and has a number of items pre-ordered. Colin heads off with Mike to collect 2 pieces of medical equipment required for the sanatorium. On the purchasing list is another inhaling machine, similar to the one purchased on our first visit, and also a UV lamp. The UV lamp has apparently been highly recommended to assist in the treatment of TB in the sanatorium. I head for the offices of a magazine called Pan Football who have asked for an interview about the help the Hibernian supporters are giving to the children of Dnipropetrovsk. In return they have organised the donation of 2 football strips autographed by the Dnipro FC football team. Colin and Mike return with the medical equipment and we then head off for some more shopping. We head off to an indoor shopping complex and collect slippers, underwear, clean towels, bedding and a load of games. The next stop is for items required by the pregnancy crisis centre so we collect some baby bottles, bibs and rattles. We then move on to the Metro “cash and carry” where we use the Appeal funds to purchase nappies, baby food, shampoo’s, soaps and lotions. For the orphans we purchase various games as well as a large TV and a DVD player (for playing the Hibs and music DVD’s brought over). We put in a good shift and, despite places shutting early because of storm warnings, we manage to get everything we had set out to buy. Mike has invited us to his apartment for an evening meal so we head back to his for a rest and some home cooking before heading back to our own apartment where I reckon we are out for the count within seconds of our heads hitting the pillow.
We wake up on Saturday morning and it’s not any warmer. At least the winds have died down and the sun is making an attempt to break through the clouds. The intention is to head out to the sanatorium nice and early but it doesn’t quite work out that way. The roads are packed solid with snow and it takes its toll on the minibus. Less than 10 minutes into our journey we get a flat tyre. With temperatures still below -20 degrees we have a fair bit of trouble getting the frozen wheel nuts off. One broken wrench and a fair bit of assistance from a passing taxi driver later we manage to swap the wheel over and an hour behind schedule we hit the road. The next hour is spent tentatively travelling over poor road surfaces fearing another flat tyre that could scupper the whole visit and our chances of getting the items to the sanatorium. At one point we have to drive down a footpath as a road is blocked by dozens of lorries that have ground to a standstill as their diesel fuel freezes in the sub zero temperatures. We manage to get there though and are met at the door by the director of the sanatorium. He is obviously pleased to see us again and Colin receives a very warm handshake. We start unloading the minibus and head for the main hall as the kids are ushered in. I have been practising some recently learned Russian but standing in front of the kids I start to freeze. Thankfully I had my speech written down so a bit of prompting and I manage to get it down. The round of applause from the kids when I’m done brings a huge smile to my face and a warm feeling to my heart. Ira once again takes over and tells the kids about everything that we’ve managed to get for them. We finish off the presentation with some group photos and the kids all head off for their lunch followed by an afternoon nap whilst Ira, Colin and myself are invited to the director’s office for a spot of lunch and a chat.
By mid afternoon the kids are starting to surface and Colin and myself head out to mix with the kids. We are given a tour of the classrooms and the games and toys purchased are on display for the various age groups that the classes are split into. I spy the table tennis table we bought them on our first visit and ask for the bats. Colin and I start a game off but I soon step aside to let Colin take on one of the kids. I’m challenged to a game by one of the other kids and they must be getting plenty practice in because I take a hiding! Time is getting on and we have to drag ourselves away from the kids, which isn’t an easy thing to do.
We head back to the apartment for a quick wash and change before meeting up with Mike and Ira and their families and heading into the town centre for a Mexican meal. We find out how much the weather conditions are affecting things when the waiter informs us that a lot of the menu isn’t available, as deliveries haven’t made it through the snow. Still, after all that we’ve been through after the past few days relaxing in a restaurant with any sort of meal in front of us is a welcome luxury. After a lovely meal, and some excellent company, we head back to the apartment for a good nights sleep.
We are up and about early Sunday morning as Mike has invited us both down to his church for the service. Apparently a few of the regulars were keen to meet us and pass their thanks on to the Hibernian support for the help given to the children of Dnipropetrovsk. Mike arrives and we head down to the town centre for the service. First time I’ve been to church for a long time and listening to a service in both English and Russian was certainly something new! After the service Colin and myself head into town. When we were at the Sanatorium we’d noticed that the table tennis bats had lost their rubber surface, so Colin had decided to purchase some new bats for the kids. The main square looks so much different covered in snow. We find a sports store and purchase the bats needed. We then head over to the Hotel Dnipropetrovsk for a trip down memory lane. It doesn’t seem like the same place with the snow piled up outside the hotel and even more spectacular is the view over the Dnipro River. Snow covers the steps and walkways leading to the river and the river itself is frozen solid from one bank to the other. I take a walk out over the frozen river and can see some people even further out sitting with fishing rods over holes they’ve drilled in the ice!
Mike picks us up outside the hotel and we make another trip out to the Sanatorium to deliver the table tennis bats for the kids. We have just enough time left to head back to the apartment for a shower before heading back down to the town centre to catch the overnight train to Kiev. We board the train and find that all the work done over the weekend is finally catching up with us and neither of us have any trouble sleeping through the starts and bumps of the train travel this time around. We arrive in Kiev to a temperature of -23 degrees and decide that the best place to head for is the warmth of the airport. It’s a good few hours before the flight but an internet café in the airport helps kill the time. Eventually we are on board the plane and a chance for a bit of sleep before a quick change at Heathrow and a welcome return to the relative warmth of Edinburgh. View All News Items
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