Written by Joey Raso
I can’t believe that it has already arrived....it’s time for my departure from the country I have grown to love so much. 5 months is not a long time, it certainly feels like yesterday that I arrived in the land of interesting architecture, minibusses, ladas, wheat and too many things soviet. I said my goodbyes yesterday to the Lutsk group, my time with them was unforgettable and I managed to spend most of the day with Ivanna and Marta, two people who have become so dear to me over my 5 months here. I did my best to hold back the tears when getting on to the train...but sometimes emotions get the best of me.
At the moment I am sitting in a cafe in central Kyiv where 200 m from me people are protesting the unlawful detainment of opposition leader Yulia Timushenko. I spent some time with individuals there; they have set up tents and are doing their best to project their voices to the powers that be. The crowd certainly is home to people who 20 years ago stood in the same place fighting to an independent Ukraine, and today that are fighting to uphold the laws and democratic gains they have made since then. It is sad to see that only 50m from them an "opposition camp" has been set up, with far fewer individuals and what looks like a more expensive sound system and flags held by no one. The ruling party is trying to drown out the voices of freedom, but if I know Ukraine as well as I think I do...the people will not be silent. Slava Ukraiini!
