Who Am I, Anyway?
I’m a freelance children’s book editor with the luxury of being able to operate as a digital nomad, except that sometimes I need to go home so my husband so we remember what each other look like (we are both very fond of alone time, so this works well). This also means that I spend time in coffee shops livin’ the hipster life with my laptop as well as reporting on more obviously warlike activities. Bombs or no, Kharkiv and Kyiv both have even more coffee shops per square inch than London. (There’s gyms, too; I’m not the gym bunny type but it’s good for bad knees.)
How Did I Get (Figuratively) Here, Then?
I have a degree in Russian Studies from the School of Slavonic and Eastern European Studies, and had a good friend in Ukraine before the war, hence the original connection. We were intending to take a road trip to visit her friend in Mariupol in March 2022… This did not work out, but something else came from it.
How Did I Get (Physically) Here, Then?
In March 2023 I came over here for three weeks to document Freefilmers’ humanitarian activities (some of which material I will extract over the summer for archival posts) and collect money for a fundraiser. This felt a whole lot better than sitting at home feeling helpless. I have discovered that if I don’t come to Ukraine regularly I get wound up; miserably so. That’s a little alarming, but at least there’s short-term medicine available for it. As long as there’s something useful to do and I’m not just using up now-scarce electricity, I’ll come back. (That and the old people at the shelter insisted until I promised to return in October, which was flattering.)
What’s With This Blog, Eh?
That’s an evolving question. My previous Wordpress blog complemented that first fundraiser; this Substack kind of is the fundraiser as, third time around telling friends, ‘Hey! I’m going to the war zone! Donate to my JustGiving!’ loses its novelty (my second JustGiving is ongoing, mind). Donations to Ukraine are down across the board, but I have made about as much this time by blogging, and inspiring people either to subscribe to it or give lump sums for specific projects, as I did in spring by running a JustGiving. I currently have 136 subscribers, about 10% of whom are paying. Some posts get 600 impressions: big leagues!
I don’t have any media profile. I did once try to attract the attention of a journalist but she read my intro text (where I claim to offer insights that you don’t get in the media) and informed me tartly that journalism is a difficult and low-paid profession, and it’s trying when people don’t recognise as much. That didn’t seem entirely relevant, but I’m sure it’s true, so it’s lucky for me I don’t have to make any money from blogging and can write what I like. That results in material that is less organised than a commercially published article; but the mess and detail is part of the point. It often is the point.
If any media coverage ever results, though, it will be welcome, for fundraising and awareness.
Now What, Then?
Sashko and I are about to head to a village in the Kharkiv region – to the south of the city, away from the recent Russian incursion – to deliver some aid kindly funded by the BEARR Trust. Report to follow. Then I’m returning to Britain at the end of this week.
After a holiday period, my aim is to keep posting here once a week on subjects of interest. I’ll probably have more to say about my experiences on this trip after I’ve thought for a while. And likely I’ll be back in Ukraine in the autumn.
And another £200 raised here just went to feed Frodo and sustain his contribution to keeping Ukraine alive. Thank you.
Thank you for turning the mirror and letting us see the other side! It is amazing to me how you can gather who and what you are and all your personal story so far (I know a little bit of that, and I like it very much) and engage it in doing what you are doing. You are a witness, from a point of view one doesn't get from other sources, and much more than a witness, because you get in contact and do things and help to a degree which goes above and beyond. I am tempted to say, you work for Ukraine (and the people you meet) up to the same level as your writing. Because both come from *you*. Thank you for doing what I, and many others, cannot.