Early on Wednesday morning, Gabriel, President of Banca pentru Alimente, picked us up, we drove through Romania for 400 kilometres and eventually stop at a warehouse in Roman. Thing is, the warehouse is part of a bigger complex, which includes a kindergarten and a brick factory. The complex is managed by Father Lucian, a tall and smiling Franciscan priest who offered us lunch inside the school’s canteen. The stairs were crowded with excited children brimming with life, all coming from poor families. “Unlike other children, they love school times and hate holidays. For some of them, the one they get at school is the only meal of the day.” Lucian said. We had a quick coffee with Romuald, President of Banca pentru Alimente Roman, and helped him load the truck headed for Chernivtsi, a Ukrainian city just across the border.
That is when our first travel to Ukraine began.
Custom’s procedures took very long, as you can imagine, and for the whole time you see these young boys and girls wearing uniforms and carrying rifles.
We bounced across potholed tracks until we reached Chernivtsi’s main storehouse. Which we quickly learned was managed by a civil servant who didn’t speak a word in English, and we didn’t speak any Ukrainian.
For a lucky twist of destiny Nicola appeared, another Franciscan and friend of Fr. Lucian. Nicola was born in L’viv and studied in Rome. His fluent Italian helped us to get a clear understanding of how the supply of food donations were supporting the crisis in Western Ukraine. Sometimes you instantly become friend with someone you’ve never met before, and with Nicola was one of these rare times. “I manage a children school in L’viv, please come see me for a coffee when you’ll be there” he said, “We’ll hopefully see you next Monday then” we gratefully replied.
