Calgary Jams For Ukraine
Tell us about your recent mission to Ukraine?
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n November last year I organized a benefit concert at Saint David’s United Church in Calgary and part of the money that we generated was used to buy a diesel generator for an orphanage near the city of Lviv in western Ukraine. Canadian NGO Amigo Relief Missions partner with the Lviv Theological Seminary to support a network of 14 orphanages including the one we bought the generator for. I was invited by the Lviv Theological seminary to spend two weeks with them. During that time I gave English and guitar classes to the seminary students, visited internally displaced people in refugee settlements, visited orphanages and spent time with disabled soldiers. I also organized a benefit concert that was live streamed on YouTube with the participation of many international artists including Calgary’s Rush tribute band YYC whose drummer Christian Dallaire lives in Chestermere. YYC actually recorded their video from Christian’s studio and because of the power of their performance they were chosen to open the concert My two weeks in Ukraine gave me experience and the tools I need to continue to more effectively support the people over there.I verified for myself the excellent way the projects are administered by Amigo Relief Missions and the Lviv Theological Seminary and the careful way donation money is used. It gives me a lot of confidence with my fundraising to support their work. Western Ukraine is far from the battlefront but it has come under Russian missile and drone attacks. How did you prepare for visiting a country that is at war? What’s next for you and your Ukraine volunteer work? I was fortunate to get excellent counseling to prepare me for my trip from Father Troy Nguyen in Calgary and Padre Juan Luis Calvo in Santa Ana, Costa Rica. It helped to manage my fear and put things in perspective. Father Juan Luis told me not to give into fear and to be cheerful and focus on my mission. This helped a lot. The seminary where I stayed had a basement bomb shelter in case of air raid alerts but during the two weeks I was in Lviv we did not hear a single air raid siren.To be honest, I didn’t sleep much during my first week there, waiting for the air raid sirens, which normally sound in the middle of the night. It was a battle of nerves but what can you expect when you visit a country at war eh? What’s next for you and your activities for Ukraine? With the support of the Calgary Jamming Community I have helped put together a Ukraine themed day on November 26 which will take place at the Royal Canadian Legion Jubilee Branch and the Lighthouse Pub. Check out the poster for all the details. Chestermere Anchor News Magazine: Home Grown, Well Anchored, Reaching far beyond Chestermere’s Shores
November 13, 2023
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