Tuesday, March 15, 2022

I need to be in a helping relationship with SELF



Norway. Love the humans.



Update from Ukraine ymca

Dear International Friends!

Please, find below the update about the war in Ukraine as on March 14.

Since the start of the war, about 25% of Russian servicemen who entered Ukraine were destroyed, wounded or taken prisoner by Ukrainian defenders. This assessment was made by the Independent Analytical Center for Geopolitical Research Borisfen Intel (founded by Lieutenant General Victor Gvozd, former head of the Military Intelligence Service).
According to the Center, the Ukrainian army also destroyed at least a quarter of Russian  military aircrafts (77), more than 30% of helicopters (90), tanks and armored combat vehicles.
Because of such big losses, the Russian troops are bled dry, unable to attack and went on the defensive.

Situation in different regions of Ukraine

Kyiv
Today a few missile strikes were implemented at residential districts of Kyiv. There are dead and wounded among civilian population. 
The Russian military still have plans to surround Kiev. But Kiev is ready to fight even in this situation. A two-week supply of necessary products for the residents of the Ukrainian capital has been prepared in Kyiv. "The city has prepared for possible actions in case of a blockade.  Those two million Kyivites who have not left their homes will not be left alone if the situation worsens.  The city authorities, in cooperation with business, did their best to keep open shops and pharmacies, and keep their prices at an affordable level" - the statement of City State Administration says. Earlier, the mayor of the capital Vitaliy Klitschko (famous sportsman, world absolute champion in boxing) reported that about two million people remained in Kyiv (that is every second person left the city).

The medical institution - Nikolaev regional oncological dispensary got under attacks in Nikolaev.  This was announced on Facebook by the head of the regional health department Maxim Beznosenko.
 "Only a freak can attack the weak.  About the weak - it's not about us, it's about our patients.  These bastards have just fired on an oncology hospital.  The hospital which provides the help to patients with oncology from all Nikolaev area», - Maxim Beznosenko wrote.He also added that if Russia sees in cancer patients an equal opponent who poses a threat - Russia is not just sick, it is already in agony.  

Provocation to involve Belarus into war with Ukraine.
Russian troops bombed the border settlements of Kopany, Bukhlychi and Verkhny Terebezh in Belarus.  No one was injured in the bombings on Belarusian territory. The insidious provocation was carried out in order to involve the armed forces of the Republic of Belarus in a military operation against Ukraine on the side of Russia.

In Melitopol (South of Ukraine), a group of 10 occupiers kidnapped Mayor Ivan Fedorov, who refused to cooperate with the enemy.  He was given a plastic bag on his head during the abduction.  Enemies detained him in the city's crisis center, where he was dealing with the livelihood of the Ukrainian city.  The Ukrainian Flag stood in Ivan Fedorov's office.

YMCA response

YMCA Kremenchuk
The aim of the activities is to develop skills of psychological survival in dangerous situations in wartime. Preserve meaningful life support and faith in the future.
The tasks are:
- To increase the level of social activity of the city's youth through volunteering with the YMCA Kremenchuk during the war programs.- Increase the level of stress resistance in different target groups.- Increasing the level of involvement and sense of unity with the city community and the country.- Overcoming shock in children and youth.- Formation of the concept of the meaning of life
The target groups:
- young people aged 11-23 (reached about 80 teenagers people);
- women 24-60 (reached around 30 people);
- mothers of children from 2 to 7 years (reached around 20 people)

Zaporizhia YMCA (Eastern Ukraine)
In this area the active hostilities are still being held. There is also a difficult situation with internally displaced persons (IDPs). The local YMCA there reached about 200 of IDPs, mostly children and women - evacuated from Mariupol (a sea port, which is half destroyed because of constant attacks dog Russian military). The YMCA supply people with the items, necessary for life, such as : food kits (priority: packaged water and freeze-dried food, daily cakes, canned food, bread, tea, sugar. The following things are needed: warm things, sleeping bags, wet wipes, dry wipes, first aid kits, baby diapers, detergents. 

YMCA Carpathians

The local YMCA has already received more than 300 refugees, some for only one night on the way to the border, some stayed to live in a hostel for the second week. We provide food for all, and the hostel has everything needed for comfortable accommodation (common areas, showers, warm rooms, wifi, tea, etc.), refugees sleep in rooms with beds, and in the halls on mattresses and mats in sleeping bags.
Together with the local community, the YMCA provides people with food, clothing, medicine, baby food, diapers and try to meet all their requests. YMCA volunteers works every day without weekends and rest to help our military, such as to weave camouflage nets, sew military clothes, hand over food, warm clothes and shoes to the military and victims, arrived from the Eastern Ukraine, cook food and take it to the territorial defense base and checkpoints. YMCA also provide transport to carry the necessary humanitarian aid into Verkhovyna district. The volunteers produced more than 5,000 blanks on Molotov cocktails (bottles with foam inside) bought oil and gasoline and transferred for storage to the fire department. Also the trainings on first aid are being held for the volunteers and refugees.

Ukraine is continuing to fight fiercely for its independence!
We are very grateful to the International YMCA Family for solidarity and great support!
Together we will overcome!

Viktor
Did you know that addiction is classified in the DSM-5? It’s a mental illness that lives in the brain stem: the same brain stem that serves a critical role in regulating certain involuntary actions of the body, including heartbeat and breathing. Addicts feel that they need their drug of choice (DOC) the same way they feel they need to breathe. 

Did you know that our society treats addiction as a moral issue and pawns it off on law enforcement to “control”? The average stay in jail being 365 days or less. Where addicts are left to detox alone ?

Did you know the detox process can be violent and result in death if not monitored by medical professionals?

Did you know the addict is many times released, and at that time, their serotonin levels are at their lowest, leading to a high crime rate and a higher chance in relapse.                                                                                                          It’s a pun to say that this is criminal but that’s exactly what this really is ....criminal.                                                                                                     

It takes an average of 14-16 months of sobriety for an addict’s brain to balance serotonin levels to that of a neuro-typical brain. Did you know that? 
                                                                   
Did you know that 136 people die everyday from opioid overdose? That’s one person every 10.58 minutes. By the time you’re done reading and processing this post, someone will have died from an opioid overdose. 
Someone’s child. 
Someone’s spouse. 
Someone’s parent.
Someone’s brother/sister.
Someone’s friend. 
Someone’s aunt/uncle. 

Let that sink in. 

Did you know that the two biggest factors that “make” an addict are 
1. Genetic Predisposition 
2. Childhood trauma
There’s not that “one hit” or that “one decision” that will make an addict. You never really know who is or is not an addict before they ever even pick up. It’s NOT a moral problem. I repeat, addiction is NOT A MORAL PROBLEM. 

Just for a minute let’s take this in a little bit of a different direction.                                                                                                          Did you know that the BRCA gene for breast cancer has a 5-10% genetic predisposition rate? People every day undergo testing and life changing surgeries to avoid it but addiction genetic predisposition is over 50%. 
O V E R  5 0 %. Let that sink in.                                                
You still think addiction is a moral problem?                                                           A parenting problem? 
Too bad there isn’t a surgery to remove addiction huh ?                                                                                               

If there’s one thing an addict would say….it’s that they’re still in there. 
(I know because I’ve asked.) The person that you knew and loved is still in there. 

They are not their disease. 

THEY ARE NOT THEIR DISEASE. 

Addiction is a disease. Much like diabetes. It has to be monitored everyday. For the rest of their lives. And it’s HARD. It takes support and unrelenting diligence. Like cancer in that it can always reoccur.

The blaming needs to stop. We need to do better. 
The paradigm needs to change. 
The NHS provision needs to change. 
Public awareness needs to change. 

Period. 

The next time you hear someone say “ they have a choice “ or you hear others refer to addicts as “a junkie“ start by educating them because that really is how this works.                                                     

You can make a difference you can change things. It starts with educating yourself and then spreading that knowledge one person at a time. Please I beg you join me in this.

Copied and pasted.  Please do the same... 
Be a part of the change! 💜💜

#wedorecoverchallenge

Saturday, March 12, 2022

Monday, March 07, 2022

So used to being & becoming with European wide young adults



I miss you all so much. 
Hundreds of you
Large gatherings
Sometimes small groups. 
They have been so great with me
a teenager amongst them & loving it. 
Often I have visited & facilitated alone. 
Other times I led a large team of teens & other times specialists bursting with life experiences to share widely. 

All this separation hate damage & the lack of love cuts me to my heart. 
Let us love until it hurts. 
The world needs everyone of us in loving mode. 

YᛜЦ ᚤᚱᛊ ᛒᛊᚤЦᛏᛁᚫЦL 

Pip BHP 

Sunday, March 06, 2022