Orange Revolution, next blog the end game

I was in the tent city and Kiev city centre in freezing conditions all night waiting to see if special forces would arrive to break up the massive demonstration of people power.A photo journalist friend escorted me as I talked with the tent city demonstrators, surprisingly many of them understood English. There was a young lawyer with her brother and a friend in one tent, wrapped up well against the bitter cold.She said they were worried about the possibility of special forces arriving but were resolute in their determination that elections must be corruption free. Young and old alike had come in the thousands filling Kreshatik Street the main square and surrounding areas. At regular intervals the chant "Yushchenko, Yushchenko,Yushchenko, began the noise increasing as more voices joined in. My friend's girlfriend arrived from another part of Ukraine, she and some others had been detained by security forces on their way to Kiev and held for a few hours while being questioned why were they going to Kiev. I understood her concern as I had been to Dnipropetrovski a large industrial city 500 Km. East of Kiev during the previous 48 hours.I went with a group of friends and they were worried in case our vehicle would be stopped and they would be detained for questionong. Coming from the West I was not used to travelling with this type of potential threat present at the many police roadside control posts. Fortunately we made it through without being stopped.
On arrival at the city we were able to get accomodation in an apartment,when the old person who lived there,moved in with a nearby relative and allowed us to use the apartment. Next day we went round various polling stations, one polling station with loud music playing through speakers outside had women running a temporary tea room inside with tea,coffee, soft drinks, and food. I think this idea could work in UK!
I was allowed to film voters in the polling station,and also later in another larger polling station I filmed the ballot boxes being opened and votes being counted.

Orange Revolution. part one. more on my next blog

I was in Ukraine in 2004 during the demonstrations against fraudulent elections. I watched as hundreds of thousands of ordinary citizens blocked central Kiev. There were families with their children, old people, students, lawyers, homeless people, farm workers, many had travelled to Kiev from other towns and villages. Tent City which started in Kiev's main Street was expanding by the hour, as more and more protesters arrived. During the night I had to admire the Tent City residents enduring freezing temperatures, in their determination to change the Political landscape in Ukraine. In
the Mydan ( Kiev's main Square ) a huge screen loomed above the crowds. The live show taking place on the stage below,with singers and political figures was also on screen.
The enthusiasm of the crowds listening to the singers,and political speakers was amazing, but when Viktor Yushchenko appeared on stage to speak to his supporters the crowds went wild, cheering and chanting his name. A strong rumour was circulating that at railway sidings east of Kiev a train full of Russian troops had arrived ready to be sent to disperse the crowds.Was this true,if so on whose orders. People became apprehensive,what to do.

Vigil Photo 24 April 2009.

The Lord Provost of Glasgow, Bob Winter came over to my 23 Chernobyl Vigil to offer his support.

The Incubator second attempt.

I was determined to get the life saving Incubator to the hospital despite it being returned to the UK. Edinburgh has a Ukrainian Consulate and when I contacted them they
offered to help me get the Incubator into Ukraine without having to pay the import tax of £320. Although it took a few months the Consulate were able to obtain the neccesary Custom clearance which would allow the Incubator free entry into the country.
I contacted GB. Medical, paid £250 for a second international transport to Kiev by TNT International Transport and began making arrangemants for my annual visit to the Ukrainian hospital in Malin. When I eventually arrived at the hospital I would be able to see that the maternity Dept. had at long last received their incubator.
In November 2006 I arrived at the hospital with money to buy medicine and I also had some small medical items. The Doctors were as usual happy to get the aid I had brought for the children, but when I asked about the Incubator they were distraught. I was taken to the maternity Dept. where I saw my Incubator so badly damaged it could not be used. I was shattered by this,all those months of planning,and donated money wasted. When I contacted TNT International regarding compensation they told me that as around ten or twelve days had elapsed between the Incubator arriving at the hospital and my arrival I would get not a penny of compensation. I told them that the Doctor who signed for the Incubator had to sign at the Zheetomir Customs holding area without seeing the Incubator, she did not know it was damaged. When the Incubator was collected from the Zheetomir Customs by the hospital,they had to wait until I arrived to show me the damage. On my return to Scotland later that month I tried contacting various TNT Depots in the UK for help regarding compensation but to no avail. However Claire Grant a Reporter for my local newspaper, Cumbernauld News,
contacted TNT and asked them to reconsider, the outcome was that TNT told her that
if I was able to buy another Incubator, TNT would transport it to Ukraine free of charge. This said TNT's Mr.Walker was not an admission of guilt on their part. There
was no way for me to be able to get another Incubator as I had no more money,and after all the bureaucracy and not our problem, its your problem with TNT I put this project on hold until I work out a better plan of action.

Annual Chernobyl Vigil. April 24 2009.

On Friday April 24th. 2009. My Annual
Chernobyl Vigil will take place in Glasgow’s
George Square, from 08:00 hrs. till 20:00 hrs.
If anyone would like to come along at some time
During the Vigil I would be happy to meet them
Cheers Jim.

The Incubaror, first attempt.

During my 2004 hospital visit,I was shown round the Maternity section old broken down equipment was all they had. Their one Incubator was more twenty years old and broken, no parts to try and repair it were available,and the hospital had no money to buy another one. How could their Maternity section function properly without an Incubator to help new born babies to survive. I made up my mind to try and get them an Incubator,but how to begin? Back home in Scotland I found out the cost of a new Incubator was too expensive. I asked around various hospitals about the possibility of them donating an Incubator that was being replaced by a new one. Unfortunatly none of them were able to help despite me following the various tel.Nos. I was given when initially calling to be told: "this office does not deal with obsolete Incubators" "You could try this number" "the person you want does not work in this Dept" and so on. One day as I carried on with my quest for an Incubator I was told by a hospital stores manager that due to changes in the legal system any unwanted, obsolete or surplus medical rquipment from hospitals could not be disposed to a private individual.The reason being that in event of an accident involving such equipment, the hospital authorities could be sued for damages. However he told me that such equipmant was collected by registerd disposal companies,one of such was a
company called G.B.Medical in England.
I got in touch with this company and they told me that they had two refurbished Incubators I was happy to be told this good news after so long. The cheapest one was £500 and I was able to buy it. However the cost of sending this Incubator to Ukraine by TNT International carriers was £300 a total cost of £800. This would use up all the money I had left,but I knew it was a life saver and I arranged transport using GB
Medical to contact TNT ( one of the carriers their company used )to finalise the deal. Before I set off for Ukraine in Nov.2005 I contacted GB Medical and TNT to make
sure that the Incubator would be delivered to my friend's address in Kiev when I would be there .My friend would arrange with the hospital to have the Incubator taken from Kiev to Malin. In Nov. 2005 I awaited the Incubator delivery,but it never arrived. We phoned the TNT complex in Kiev a modern State of the Art warehouse to be told that the Ukrainian Customs wanted £320 to release the Incubator, I was stunned by this news, unbelievable how could this be. The following day we went to see the Customs Officers at the TNT Depot my friend pleaded with them on my behalf to no avail, he was asked by the Ukrainian Customs Officer to submit a written appeal. This letter was translated for me,and I signed it, submitting my passport details. We then left and after a couple of days,were told, that I must pay £320 no mercy, no money no Incubator for Ukrainian babies. Everone including the Media thought it was a bad situation but nobody could help. It was time for me to return to Scotland and my work. Maantime my friend in Kiev continued to try and get the authorities to free the Incubator.While back home I also tried to get answers as to why the Incubator was being held. There was also according to TNT a possible storage charge. Then in January 2005 TNT sent the Incubator back to GB Medical with a bill of £140
payable by me, thankfully GB Medical paid this for me as a donation. After all my work,my Ukrainian friend's work, many phone calls, personal visits to Ukrainian Government Depts. £800 donated by kind people the Incubator was back at source. What to do now. I have to try again, and succeed, but how. My next blog will second attempt.

Yana

I first saw Yana when she was 3 and half years of age abandoned in Malin hospital. She was a lovely little girl,who had trouble walking due to medical problems. It was sad to watch her wandering about the childrens department, smiling when people talked to her, what did the future hold in store for the sick orphan girl.
I found out a year later, Yana had been sent to a state orphanage because she was now too old to continue to live in the hospital she called home. There are many orphanages in Ukraine, the children in them desperately need help. The staff at the hospital do their best, but without funds to buy medicines,medical equipment,food,and many other items it is a never ending struggle.
Among a list of medical equipment the Doctors asked me to try and obtain for them was an Incubator for the Maternity ward, as the only one they had was broken and unrepairable. I will feature the Incubator story in my next blog, the bureaucracy
involved is unbelievable.