Report 3—03 October 2014…News from Ukraine
Today was spent in various meetings discussing how we can continue to assist those in need through the Lord’s Church. In one meeting I was told that our efforts to help the orphans were very important because the war has drained the government’s funds and most funding for taking care of the orphans and elderly have been drastically cut. The daily allowance per child in the orphanage is less than 5 grievna. Currently at the currency exchange booths, one US dollar exchanges for 12.90 grievnas. So that means each day only 21 cents is budgeted for the care of the orphans (this is to cover their food, medical, clothing)! The same amount is budgeted for the care of the elderly.
Adding to the problems of caring for the orphans is the fact that so many have been relocated from Donetsk and Gorlovka. Basically the orphanages that existed prior to the Russian invasion have ceased to house children—some are still “open” because the adults have no place to go. But the children have been moved to displaced housing centers.
Several have asked about getting money into Donetsk. Such is most difficult. I am including Andrew Zhuravlev report for September and he discusses some possibilities—wire to a card the person has which he can use as a credit/debit card, or take the money in personally. There are NO banks operating in Donetsk that will receive money. If you try to wire money from the USA into Donetsk your bank will tell you that the US Treasury has banned such wire transfers. Taking the money in personally involves an unreasonable and dangerous risk—the pro-Russian Separatists have murdered people for the cash they had in their possession. Both men and women are placed in danger when they carry sums of cash into Donetsk. Banks are operating outside of the restricted regions of Donetsk and Lugansk. But you can only withdraw $1,100.00 per day and prior to withdrawing any funds each day you have to meet with the bank’s manager and fill out forms. So if you have a large amount of US dollars to withdraw you will need several days to withdraw it all. So if you have someone in Donetsk you want to receive money you can tell them to go outside of Donetsk, open a bank account and receive the money. But then they have to take the money back into Donetsk and pass the pro-Russian checkpoints blocking the roads. If they are caught carrying a large sum of cash (which is not defined but is determined by the person standing guard at that time!) they can be arrested or even killed. So the wisest thing to do, do NOT take or send any cash into Donetsk. Understand that this is the situation now and I suspect it will worsen after the pro-Russian terrorists have secured the governing of the occupied territory.
Please click on the link below to read Andrew’s September report. Andrew offers insight into the situation in Donetsk and he provides encouraging news on the Church in other locations where he is working while unable to live in Gorlovka. He had some pictures but the file with the pictures was too large.
Among the comments Andrew makes is this: “The situation in Gorlovka continues to be unstable and dangerous for all those who stayed there. The city is still under control of armed insurgents, and the only law that’s been active there now is the law of force. It became common there that people get arrested and kidnapped and things get stolen.”
Be sure to tell others they can read updates on this mission trip at: www.kachelman.com/ukraine/blog
Thank you for your financial support and prayers for the brethren in Ukraine and for the welfare of the Lord’s Church in Ukraine!
John L. Kachelman, Jr.
Kyiv, Ukraine
