09 Nov Day 15 Photographing in the War-torn Region of Donetsk, Ukraine

Day 15 of a 26 day, 11 flight and 4 country adventure. Capturing grace in France, Ukraine, Russia and Spain.

Today I am photographing in the war torn region of Donetsk, towns such as Swetrodarsk, Kramatorsk and Toretsk. I am learning stories through Olha Prytula, my travel companion and interpreter for this part of my trip.

It is here, along a 300 mile strip, that 28 teams trained by Pastor Peter Dudnik’s Good News Church in Slavyansk bring food and supplies to those who are in need. The refugees here are IDP’s (internally displaced people). They have lost their homes from within their own country.

Their towns have shrunk since this area was attacked in 2014, in a war that took more than 10,000 lives. For the survivors, jobs are scarce and the mental trauma from that war lives on. The shelling I experienced at the front lines just a few miles away are reminders that this is not over.

I am grateful for the work of Peter Dudnik’s church and honored to help them tell their story.

[In August my daughter Carissa and I set off on a 26 day, 11 flight and 4 country adventure, Capturing Grace with our camera’s as we journeyed through France, Ukraine, Russia and Spain. I am now back at home in the US, posting about the experience of those twenty six days from my journal]