Christmas in Lviv

 We had a white Christmas in Lviv. It snowed Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. The city center was busy with tourists, vendors, and good old Christmas music... (mostly Bing Crosby) all day and night.

St. Nicholas Day is a very special holiday for Ukrainian children and adults. Unlike Western Christian countries, where it is celebrated on December 6, Ukraine and other Eastern Christian countries celebrate St. Nicholas Day on December 19. The tradition to celebrate this holiday came to Ukraine with the Christianity during the rule of the prince Vsevolod Yaroslavovych (1088-1089). Saint Nicholas has always been considered to be a patron saint of children.

St. Nicholas Day had been one of the main holidays in Western Ukraine for many centuries. The tradition of giving gifts to children, relatives and those in need was specifically celebrated on December 19 (St. Nicholas Day) and not Christmas or New Year.

Lviv is one of our favorite cities in Ukraine with the European style buildings and the warmth of the people. 

It seemed like all of Kiev came for the holiday. It was busy at the restaurants and all the streets were full of tourists and excitable children. Everyone was bundled up and the streets were very slick. We woke up Christmas Day to 9 degrees F and walked to church in 13 degree F.

Lviv’s opera house is built on top of a river. The Poltva River flows beneath the stage and continues through centre deep beneath the asphalt. By the end of the 19th century Lviv was an increasingly rapid growing city with intentions of opening a European-class theatre. The project was put up for bids and many top European architects tossed in their bids. It was Polish architect Zygmunt Gorgolewski - designer of Kaiser Wilhelm Bridge in Berlin, the Gemäldegalerie in Dresden and the Vienna State Opera - who proposed the radical and intriguing idea of burying the small river beneath the opera. His plans also included the use of a concrete foundation, a first for Europe. The Opera House was completed in 1900. The building began to sink right away, but settled in the decades that followed. The Opera house seats 1,002. There are over 700 employees and over 200 performances are given annually.

Tour of Opera House

On Christmas Eve we helped the missionaries put cookie plates together for members. The missionaries delivered them later. 

Elder Blau helped cook breakfast for the Lviv Branch on Christmas morning. We enjoyed a breakfast, music, and the movie "Klaus" (in Ukrainian) with the branch members.

On Dec. 27th we ate dinner at a fun restaurant in the city with the 4 Lviv missionaries. One Sister was on her way home to Utah the day before. We missed her at the dinner. 

Ukraine celebrates the Christmas holiday all the way through January 7th. 

We wish everyone a Happy New Year.

May 2022 be filled with Health and Happiness.

Humanitarian in Riga, Latvia-- Motis Vita, and Children's Hospital

 MOTUS VITA is a nonprofit voluntary organization for people with limited abilities founded in 2009 in Riga, Latvia, to support persons with limited abilities affected by neuromuscular diseases (NMD) and their families.

LDS Charities provided mattresses, a medical bed, wheelchairs and parts, therapy equipment and other medical equipment to this organization.

We have not been able to get into the country because of COVID restrictions, but we hope to soon. 

"The main goal of our association is to prolong life of persons with limited abilities and to improve their quality of life."

Children's University Hospital in Riga, Latvia

LDS Charities is providing a Cardiotocography machine for the continuous recording of a fetal heart rate via an ultrasound transducer placed on the woman's abdomen especially for high-risk pregnancy.

"Specialists of Children’s Hospital provide a wide range of treatment and health care in the treatment of complicated and complex illness cases. All the processes in our hospital are organized so that the patient receives the most effective, safe and the best  quality treatment and care. It is realized through following the international experience and achievements in medical science and research, and by implementing these principles in the practice."

Humanitarian Visit-- Lutsk, Ukraine

We visited Lutsk Municipal Clinical Hospital. LDS Charities provided an arthroscopic stand for the traumatological department of the district hospital in Lutsk, Ukraine.

The head of the trauma department, Kurovets Taras Ivanovich, said: “To be honest, I didn’t believe until recently that this was possible. Yes, we receive help from charitable organizations, and it is several times less than what we received from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. This equipment will help the clinic to carry out a number of surgical interventions that were not available due to the fact that the equipment in the clinic is technically outdated. "

The Blau's are standing next to the machine.

                                  Facebook    The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Ukraine Site

The surgeon's used to use rope for drainage during the surgeries, however, with this new machine they won't have to rig up the rope.

Just to add to the amount of surgeries they do:

Only last weekend:

102 patients applied to the hospital...74 hospitalized, 28 outpatients, and 26 specialists were required. 

66 injured people applied to the trauma center, 10 of them with fractures. 5 patients were in a state of intoxication, 2 were bitten by animals. In the operating room, surgeons performed 30 surgeries

Lutsk is a city on the Styr River in northwestern Ukraine.

Lubart's Castle--the most prominent landmark in Lutsk began in the mid 14th century. Named after Gediminas'  (Grand Duke of Lithuania)son Liubartas (Lubart) who was the last ruler of united Galicia-Volhynia (known as Kingdom of Ruthinia)

The castle also appears on the 200 hrynia bill.

The walls of the castle formerly enclosed St. John's Cathedral, a palace of the grand dukes, and an episcopal palace. Of these, only the Neoclassical palace of the bishops still stands.

On 2 July 1941 1,160 Jews were murdered within the walls of the castle. There is no monument or marker for this tragedy in the castle.

200 hyrnia is about $7.50 as of November 2021

Humanitarian Visit--- Cherkasy, Ukraine

Cherkasy is located in central Ukraine and is on the east bank of the Dnieper River. The city is surrounded by forests and there are many parks and biking and walking paths. The city is polluted because there is one of the biggest manufacturer plant there called "Azot" The plant manufactures nitrogen fertilizer.

The hospital consists of 3 different wings. One of the wings--the cardiology recovery wing--- LDS Charities delivered an oxygen concentrator. We walked inside the building to see what else LDS Charities could donate.

These beds were donated by a hotel in 1974 and they have never changed the mattresses. Now the beds are sagging and the mattresses need to be replaced. There are 8 beds in 1 room. There are 5 other rooms (men and women separate) and the patients share one bathroom (each) in the hall. The frames of the beds are coming apart. LDS Charities will order new beds and mattresses for this hospital. 

This is a historical building of the former Slovyanskyi Hotel in Cherkasy.

In the summer it is difficult to get into the city. There are many tourists who visit to take advantage of the river and water sports.

Humanitarian --Odessa, Ukraine--City of Cats, "Way Home"

Odessa is located in the southern part of Ukraine next to the Black Sea. Odessa is a tourist town in the summer season because of it's beautiful beaches. The beaches had soft sand but also jellyfish. 

There are many parks, especially for children. There is one main park, Taras Shevchenko, which includes a Ferris wheel and carnival type rides. There is a haunted house and an upside down house. This park was our main walk to and from the city center to our hotel. There are a lot of roaming cats.

Each day we walked about 7-10 miles. It is easy to get around and so many things to see. The restaurants were amazing. Even though the looks from the outside may not be appealing, inside the restaurants were quaint, clean, and each one had some sort of a theme.  We find that with every Ukrainian restaurant. 

There is a long walking, skating, scootering, and biking path on the hill next to the beach which no cars are allowed. The path starts at the end of the Taras Shevchenko park and through a forest of trees overlooking the Black Sea.

We visited a project that LDS Charities provided mattresses, pillows, and linens, and a washing machine. They take in orphans or children who have social problems at home. The home has about 9 boys and 8 girls living in these dorm type rooms from ages 7-17. 

"Way Home of Odessa" teaches the children different skills so by the time they are 18 they can go out in the world. There are other children who visit the home that might have some troubles at home and need some psychological counseling. There is also a preschool program. LDS Charities, in 2020, provided some hideaway bunk beds and mattresses they use for the children to take naps. 

"Way Home" has classes such as: pottery, art, gardening, farming, karate, health and fitness, cooking, etc. They have 8 centers and around 300 children that participate in the various centers. 

The home we visited used to be a Soviet manufacture building that was converted it into this home. The walls are painted with all sorts of colorful children's pictures. The tree post is a load bearing pillar that has been plastered over to look like a tree trunk.

The children who live there have duties each day to clean, wash, pick up, sweep, and all sorts of chores. There are 2 young adults from Germany to help at this center for 1 year. They learn the language and help the children. 

One of our favorite things to do is to walk around the town and take as many pictures as possible. We love to go into the churches. Spaso-Probrazhensky Cathedral is one that we visited. Inside we witnessed a blessing of the people and also a baptism for a baby. The prayers were lovely as they sang to bless the people. 

Odessa has some of the most interesting architecture. It is called "The Pearl of the Black Sea" It is a warm water port. In 1794 the city of Odessa was founded by a decree of the Russian empress Catherine the Great. 

Potemkin Stairs is one of the famous sites which we climbed down. It is considered the formal entrance to the city. There are 192 steps. 

We took the train from Kiev terminal to Odessa terminal. On the way there we had some nice seats with a lunch box. On the way home we took the sleeping train and slept our way home. We can't decide which we liked better, or which one we liked least. 

Humanitarian -- Sofia, Pazardzhik, Buhovo, and Plovdiv, Bulgaria

 St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral is in the center of Sofia, capital of Bulgaria. Walking on the streets and sides walks are tricky. They mostly have cobblestone paved roads and sidewalks. We tripped on almost all the walkways throughout the city. The streets are mostly one way and very skinny. There was a park where street vendors sell their artwork. 

It is very easy to get around this city. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-days Saints' church and mission home is about 6 blocks from this cathedral.  

It was 80 degrees when we arrived and the day was lovely. At night we walked across the street to the Doctor's Garden Park. This monument is dedicated to all the doctors who had lost their life during war times. 

Many families and children were at the park till all hours of the night. This park is about 2 blocks from the city center.

The Church of Latter-day Saint missionaries helped us with translating. We are thankful for their time and knowledge of the language.

We visited four organizations that serve the people in Bulgaria. One was a children's hospital for diseases. Another helps the homeless and the disabled children. One was the University Hospital that is public and in need of medical equipment. The other was an organization that works with refugees, Roma/Gypsies and helping children with education to learn the Bulgarian language.

Here is a good site to read regarding Roma People

One of our projects (ADRA-partner) was in a small village called, Pazardzhik. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints donated  toward building this medical center for the city. The city has a lot of Roma People. They are in a very poverty stricken state. The medical facility will have one GP doctor and one dentist. The rest of the building will consist of social environment and psychological Therapy, bathrooms and showers, and it is even set up for handicap. There is also a children's room. This project will be open in February of 2022.

Plovdiv is one of our favorite places. Bulgarians refers to Plovdiv as "The City of the Seven Hills". We walked the hills. 

Plovdiv was known by the name Philippopolis and founded as far back as 359 BCE. There still remains walls and part of a Roman colosseum.

Our last project is just outside of Sofia. This hospital was situated by the mountains in a lovely area. However, this place is a hostel for homeless along with rehabilitation patients. The village is called, Buhovo. 

We are heart stricken at the poverty level of the building and facility. The concrete and tiles are crumbling, the paint is chipped, there is rust on every window, the mattresses are sagging, the rooms are very small with up to 4 people in them. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have donated some medical equipment and mattress covers for some of the beds in the past. We were told by the head doctor that some of their homeless were just dropped off by family members or others and never were heard of again. This project is probably one of the most emotionally felt humanitarian efforts we have encounter so far. 

Because this hospital does not have heaters the staff put all the women in one room and the men in another just to keep them warm during the winter time. LDS Charities will be donating heaters for 30 rooms, and 2 for larger rooms. LDS Charities will also supply them with new mattresses. 

St. Sophia and The Golden Gate--Ukraine

 The Golden Gate of Kyiv was the main gate in the 11th century fortification of Kyiv. The structure was dismantled in the Middle Ages. It was rebuilt by the Soviets in 1982.

The golden gates were built/constructed by Varoslav the Wise, which we can trace our ancestry back to him. It was built in 1017-1024 at about the same time that Saint Sophia Cathedral was erected.

St. Sophia- Kyiv

The first foundations were laid in 1037 or 1011. It took about two decades to complete. It is one of the famous sites to see in Kyiv.

Yaroslav the Wise constructed this cathedral in theory. He is buried there also.

St Sophia survived  WWII. It is the first heritage site in Ukraine to be inscribed on the World Heritage List. 

This artwork is made of completely of eggs. We think they are painted wooden eggs. 

An egg is one of the oldest mythological symbols of the world. The Ukrainian's have brought back and preserved the painted egg