Another Trip to Ukraine - This time by Himself

This trip needed its own post - a lot of work went into the things going to Ukraine in this load! It’s our first of the quilts heading there!

Well, as I write this, my husband isn’t home from his trip to Ukraine. This time he went alone. The other trips he was with someone who spoke Ukrainian riding ‘shotgun’.

He may push through and arrive about midnight - we’ll see. He also may stop and rest somewhere and come on in the morning.

He took our first big load of your quilts in to a place called Lutsk. We sent about 70-80 of those vinyl cases and about 50 baby quilt sets! Here’s the crew that helped load it up! Included is a group of four from one of the places where I’ve taken a lot of help - plus our neighbor guy - he’s my oldest son’s age - and then people you’ve seen before. All in this photo except the two on the left are Ukrainians. My husband is on the far left.

The food goes on the bottom as it is the heavy stuff. I know that quilts, collectively are heavy, but compared to a kilogram of flour or sugar or cans of peas and corn - they are light.

Here you can see underneath all that fluff - what the bottom of the trailer looks like. The trick is trying to keep things even - not too much weight on either side, and from front to back. There’s an art to packing such a trailer. It is only rated for 2.5 tons and it’s so big, it would be easy to overload it - with food. So, I’m trying to make sure we have a mix of food - which is heavy and dense, mostly- and lighter weight things that take more space (like quilts, bedding and things like ladies’ hygiene products) or disposable diapers.

Here I am trying to keep Mike from moving things or lifting or carrying things as I don’t want to see him make backward progress with regards to his back/nerve/leg. He is supposed to be just supervising the helpers!

And so…I’m waiting for him to come home. I am eager to hear about it and see photos. This time he went all the way to a refugee camp of sorts and a distribution center in Ukraine. In the past he just met people and they transferred stuff into their vehicle.

Here are a couple of photos of some amazing quilts I’ve seen come this way already. I think I will try to take more photos like this - just to give us some quilt content! :) We need the eye candy! I’ve been ‘not taking photos’ thinking that if I share only some, someone is going to feel left out. But I think I’ll do it anyway. :) Every quilt is appreciated, but sometimes when I see one, it strikes me as extra special!

Thanks so much for coming along with me on this journey!

Becky Petersen7 Comments