By now people in the US are finally starting to hear about what is going on in Ukraine. They see pictures of burning mountains of tires, of molotov cocktails being thrown around, and reading reports of the number of people (26 at this writing) that have perished as well as the hundreds (thousands?) that have been injured. It’s truly a tragedy to watch…my stomach has been in knots since this all began in November. This post isn’t a recap of all the events that lead to this (hint: it’s not simply about a few Ukrainians being upset about not joining the EU) but instead this is to help put some perspective on things and let you know why I’ve been following this so intently since November last year.
First off, Ukraine is a beautiful country with beautiful people (beautiful inside and out). Every day families who are struggling to survive in a nation with a fairly poor economy. Once a rather stable and powerful country it has sadly fallen behind the times thanks to years of corruption from the top.
Now picture your friends or family in New York, Miami, Atlanta, San Francisco, Toronto, Sydney…wherever you may have friends and family. You may not talk to them every day, but they are dear to you and when you suddenly see that many are gathering in the town square, you take notice. You check to see if they are ok. You follow the news more (which isn’t always easy because the news is filled with more crap about Kanye or Bieber than it is of a nation on the bring of revolution) trying to see what’s going on. You try to get more news from your friends to hear about what’s really going on (i.e., you may not hear from them in a while because the government is talking about shutting down the phone systems, the internet, and all TV stations except for the state-run ones). These aren’t things that sit well with you while hoping your friends are doing ok.
Are you still picturing your aunt and cousin in Philadelphia now? And beginning to see how each progression of tension makes you more and more uneasy? So far things have mostly been peaceful, just a few clashes between police and protesters here and there but for the most part, peaceful.
Peaceful until yesterday. When all hell broke loose, when the clashes got extremely violent with dozens of people getting killed and hundreds of getting injured. Was that your cousin in that mess in Atlanta? I hope not. Are things going to escalate even further? Please no.
When you have ties to a particular place, it stings even more. For many, seeing clashes in a remote place is just another spot on the nightly news (if they aren’t busy talking about Bieber’s latest incident). For others, when you see yet another friend or another common resident simply stating “Please pray for us and our beautiful country”, it stings bad.
Send your prayers and good thoughts to the people of Ukraine. They need all the help they can get right now.
