Greetings from Merita, Sid and Cathy, the 2026 team from Hands On Global (HOG). We arrived in Ukraine on June 2nd and will fly back to the USA on June 30th. Our driver, and friend, Sasha picked us up, and all 12 bags with medical equipment, and stuffed us in a van. First stop was Lviv.
An annual tradition since 2023 is to have dinner with friends of Merita. The son, his girlfriend, and their daughter (in their 30’s) give us the perspective of the impact of living in Ukraine during the invasion. At the beginning of the invasion the girlfriend left to live in Spain. After six months, she felt she needed to come back to Ukraine. She decided to not live in a state of fear but “acceptance” of the situation. The young couple shared they knew only one couple out of 100 friends who have decided to have a child and buy a home. They said, “No one talks about the future.”
The daughter works for an architectural firm. Some of her colleagues have been drafted and serve in the military. She said this is the first year where her firm has been able to identify people in the firm as essential workers. If these people were drafted into the military, it would be a threat to the firm’s existence. Registration for the draft is still 18 to 60; and service is required beginning at 23 unless there is an exemption. Ukraine is not drafting all the younger generation as they are needed to keep the economy going and lineage for the future as a country.
