Wednesday 17th April, 1996.

The three doctors arrived early at the Intourist Hotel with breakfast and we toasted our farewells with Vodka. We set off with Eugene Vasilyuk our driver for the 500 mile journey from Chernigev to Khust in Transcarpathia, arranging to stop half way and stay overnight at Hoscha, 20 miles east of Rovno.

Victor has a cousin who lives at Hoscha, Sascha Krygin, once a proud communist deputy on his town's committee. He is a doctor working as a statistician and epidemiologist in the local hospital 800 metres from his home. They live on the top floor of a low block of flats. The roads had not been repaired for decades with the biggest potholes ever. The buildings were poorly built, poorly maintained if at all and dreary. The swings and roundabout for the children were bent, rusty and worn. With no buds yet on the trees even they looked dejected.

We were warmly welcomed by Sascha Krygin who took our cases up the stone flights of stairs. We entered a clean and orderly home furnished with beautiful carpets both on the floors and walls and furniture varnished to a glass like finish. We all took our shoes off at the door as is the custom and sat down in comfortable chairs in the main room surrounded by plants and the afternoon sun diffusing through the net curtains. Sascha is a graduate of Kharkov Medical Institute and his wife Elena was a nurse. They have two daughters, Irina 19 years old, who is an English teacher at the local school and Julie 10 years.

Sasha described how times have changed for the worse. His hospital has nothing, the equipment in it dates from Brezhnev's time. They live 3 km away from the edge of the 4th zone. While people have suffered from the effects of radiation they do not live in an officially designated radioactive zone. There are 40,000 people in this rayon, during the first quarter of 1996, 111 babies were born and 213 of the population died. The cancer incidence is 121 per 10,000. If a patient needs to be admitted to hospital they have to supply their own linen, dressings and hypodermic needles. Sascha has had no salary for four months. His daughter Irina needs to continue her education and would like to attend Kiev Language School but $ 3-4000 has to be paid in advance. At present Sascha's parents help his family with a contribution from their pension. They have no car and the broken bicycle is too expensive to repair. The lavatory did not flush because the water was turned off. When the water came on, the electricity went off. We sat around a kitchen table and had chicken soup, followed by chicken, potatoes and tomatoes, then home-made decorated sponge cake, sparkling white wine and coffee. It was all thoughtfully presented and an effort had been made.

We appealed to Sascha, No more Vodka please, so he brought out a bottle of gin instead. Sascha said "Vodka stops radiation" but he said it with a smile.

Seated in the main room Sascha explained the dosage of potassium iodide which should be taken immediately there is an isotope leak from a nuclear power plant, he stressed, Immediately.

Children up to 2 years old 0.25 mg once daily for 10 days

Children 3-6 years old 0.5 mg once daily for 10 days

From 7 years old and adults 1.0 mg once daily for 10 days

He gave me a phial of potassium iodide, which is always kept in his medicine cabinet. Sascha continued his description of his hospital. It has no facsimile machine, but it does have one computer which calculates the non-existent payroll. Wages and salaries money is being kept in the banks by the government to earn interest. Money has been replaced with certificates which are worthless. If humanitarian aid is sent to the government then it will go no further than the top officials. Aid must come from individuals to individuals who need it and not to government bodies. The major problem with Ukraine is that there is no overall manager in control and no strong laws. They do not care about the people. If one needs an operation a patient has to bribe with a chicken etc. first.

Of a population of 52 million, only 5 million are comfortable. The KGB (Committee for Internal Security) is alive and well and it is still necessary to be careful what one says. People are leaving Ukraine in droves. The planes out are fully booked for the next three months.

We sat chatting until late into the night and we admired his albums of the past. He told us that there had just been a radioactive leak from the nuclear power plant at Zaporozhskaya 550 miles south of Kiev. Nothing to worry about they say. Too much holiday Vodka perhaps. There have been five major nuclear power plant accidents in the world so far. Urals 1957, Windscale October 1957, Goiana, Three Mile Island March 1979, and Chernobyl April 1986 and probably others we are not informed about. Ukraine must have nuclear energy because it only has one hydro-electric power plant. He added that the Poles have built a nuclear power plant for their own use in Ukraine! When people left their homes after the Chernobyl accident they were looted and stripped of everything and contaminated goods were distributed everywhere. On the lst May five children were on parade in Hoscha with blood coming from their noses and complaining of dizziness.

The economic troubles have worsened over the last 3 years and the middle class have moved downwards so that now there are a few rich and many poor. There are too many restrictive laws which discourage business.

A national joke is the scene of a boiling cauldron in hell. Jews will help each other out. Ukrainians pull each other back in, while Russians will send for a bottle of vodka.

It is the custom to wash the feet before retiring. There is only a cold water tap in the bathroom so a kettle of water is boiled.

Thursday 18th April, 1996.

This morning we walked the 800 metres along the potholed road to the Hoscha Central District Hospital, which has 510 beds, 60 of which are surgical, 30 paediatric, 25 gynaecology, 35 obstetric, 30 traumatology, 4 ITU and the rest medical.

We met the head doctor Volodymir M. Rudyuk who welcomed us with coffee, cognac and chocolates. He explained that the doctors of the Hospital were highly qualified with 20 years experience but they needed help in all departments. Intensive care, he said, was almost laughable as they had no drugs at all. They had no scalpels, sutures, gauze, giving sets or tip up trolleys. Although they were not officially in a radiated zone yet last year there had been an increase in oncology cases to 500 patients with cancer. The Hospitals in the radiation zones are better off because they get financial help yet we are accepting patients from the radiation zone. It is easy to answer what we need - everything. The whole oblast is the same. There is insufficient business to generate income and so there is no tax base. There is a pioneer camp nearby with 21 children who are sick, without shoes or food, who will be referred to us. The City Hospital is in an even worse state.

In came the surgeon Dr. Anatoloy Yankivsla and the anaesthetist Dr. Bohdan Pomeranski and together we toured the wards. In the post natal ward we met Dr. Tatyiana Polischuk, Paediatrics, she was embarrassed by the lack of their equipment. Two new born babies lay in their cots wrapped in old linen bindings. The head nurse, Ludmila Petrenko stood by. The gynaecologist Valentina Rudyuk joined us. They said the people are undernourished. The soil generally is good and there is plenty of meat and fruit, but no money. They said they would be happy if we could help. They need help. Help us to get on our feet. We left deeply moved by their plight.

Later in the morning we travelled about 20 miles along the cobblestone Hungarian made roads into the 16th century - to the small village of Borbin in the Rovno oblast. Here people had nothing yet were full of smiles and welcome.

On to visit Ostrozhetz Hospital. This is in a radiation clean zone. Waiting for us were Dr. Volodyme Mazehon, Director and Dr. Yuri Misko. Nobody had been to visit them before although the Japanese had sent antibiotics and Lydia Bauer had sent other drugs. The Hospital needs another surgeon and anaesthetist, including a general anaesthetic machine. They need antihypertensives, hormones, antibiotics, vitamins, minerals and iron therapy. They said they were fed by Turkey and clothed by China. Many come to Ukraine but leave and they are alone. They keep their spirits up because the future must be better. It has gradually become worse since 1992. There have been no reforms in this country. We live as we did 100 years ago. We have not been paid for four months. The people in the West know nothing of our problems.

If Ukraine returns to Russia it will go back 20 years and it was not all that good 10 years ago. Many radiation people have settled here. We have more staff than needed. One job is divided between 2 people but the salary is divided also. They need to help each other. The system has made people mean to each other and people are divided. Invited to coffee, we entered a small room and found the table formally laid with a beautiful lunch. Such courtesy.

This afternoon we visited Victor's relatives in Dubno, the oak city. Irina Krygina his second cousin came with us. Vera Kubik, aunt and the matriarch of the family welcomed Victor with hugs and kisses followed by Vasyl Kubik, cousin and her children, twins Tanya and Evanka 9 years, followed by Olga and daughter Alyona 7 years, then Lydia Kysil (sister to Vasyl Kubik) cousin and her husband Velodia and son Sasha 8 years. A happy and noisy afternoon was spent reminiscing and laughing around a table of Ukrainian specialities such as veriniker, a ravioli with liver and kholputsi or rice in cabbage leaves, and of course, several toasts with plain Vodka and Vodka with red peppers. In came a neighbour Volodya Bovchaluk, 74 years, a real tough Russian Army old soldier wounded in the Patriotic War (WW2). He took command with more toasts to our eternal friendship. The theme of Ukraine emerged - let's live without being slaves, we have lived in slavery for one hundred years, we are free but look at us now. There is a lot of work to do but there is no pay. This is an inspiring family, generous in spirit, noble in attitude.

Late evening, visited the home in Rovno of Eugene Vasilyuk and met his wife Helena and seven children, Victoria the eldest, Tanya, Paul, Ivana, Margaretta, Esther and Eugene. All in a two room top floor flat. When we in the west want a home we choose from a selection of completed houses and usually buy our choice with a mortgage. In Ukraine the method is to buy the materials as money becomes available and the house is built in stages, which may take many years. This is why one sees so many houses in different stages of construction. Eugene had almost completed the building of a home for his family and they were all looking forward to moving into it soon. A room for each child would be luxury but the greater achievement is a happy family in difficult and crowded circumstances.