“We sing songs to lift our spirit.“

“We sing songs to lift our spirit.“

“Hi there!

I would like to write my first letter about the war. My name is Yuri and I am 21 years old. I am a scout and a student at Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU). I live and stay in […], this is my hometown. Now I am with the Plast scout volunteer center in […]. The war has been going on for almost a month and I have been here literally every day.

Before the war, I worked and continue to work as an office manager at Plast. In the first days, there was complete chaos, so many people with just a tsunami of adrenaline, and so much help from caring people. During the first 10 days of the war, no one could even sit down to eat quietly. There were constantly so many calls and people to answer and attend to that it was merely impossible to even think about one's own needs. All the forces were directed at the army. Even during the air raids, we ran a call centre in the basement, rather than keeping it as a safe place to think.

Now there is much less work, volunteers have partially returned to their studies and work. Many of them combine those activities at our headquarters, since everything has gone online again. In the basement we sing songs to lift our spirits and improve our mood. The structure of the work has become clearer, everyone knows what to do and who is responsible for what. It has all turned into somewhat of a routine and I'm not particularly happy about it.

My expectations of the war are quite pessimistic, and I sincerely hope that the war will be over by the end of summer.

I will send you photos and videos of my days - Peace,Yurii.”