And as winter settled in, five days into the new year, it was time to leave Seattle and head to warmer weather. And so after saying farewell to these lovely people above, it was back to Thailand via Seoul on Korean and after a couple of days in Chiang Mai onward to Maehongson. One unique thing I had never experienced before was that our flight path from Seoul to Chiang Mai took us literally over (or so close by) that I could see the lights of Shanghai, Hong Kong, Hanoi and Luang Prabang! I thought this was very cool!
Back to some of my favorite views in Maehongson.
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| Note, cool season blue sky still evident! |
Ironically...after being in Seattle for the nine months last year, months that sometimes dragged on, when I would have been happy to travel anywhere for work...ironically, I was just getting over jetlag (I hadn't even been in Thailand a week yet!) when I received a call asking if I would be willing to go support a team from Ukraine that was having a logistics and planning week in Poland and they wanted some mental health support on the side. While the timing wasn't ideal, this is the life I have and the life I want - to be able to have the freedom to travel when needed to support the mental and emotional health of people working to make the world a better place. So my January airport passthroughs grew from SEA-ICN-CNX- HGN to include HGN-DMK-BKK-MUC-KRK-VIE-BKK-DMK-HGN! Whew! And I traded in my views above for...
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| View of Wawel Castle from my hotel window |
It was a good week (hello, any new travel adventure tends to be a good thing:-)) and it is always a privilege anytime I am invited to provide even a small amount of psychological support and resilience to individuals in difficult places who are trying to make the world a safer, healthier place. And as with every conflict when you know names and faces, it makes it that much more real. It was no different with this team. Some had sons and husbands actively fighting. All live with the daily reality of trauma and uncertainty.
Yet they were meeting to actively plan and coordinate what must happen for Ukraine's health system to be restored after the war is over. Safety and job security must be guaranteed. Infrastructure must be rebuilt. These are necessary for doctors and other health professionals to even hope to return. And only then will the real work happen of attending to a country traumatized by aggression, to soldiers who will carry the literal and psychological scars and wounds of war and PTSD. Addiction of various forms will skyrocket. And the general health of a population that has not received regular check ups and care will need to be considered.
This team has been part of planning for the unimaginable reality of nuclear weapons being used against their cities. How do you plan for this threat, for mass casualties, for thousands of deaths and even more thousands dying slowing of radiation and whatever other destruction nuclear weapons unleash? I don't know - but they show up for work every day, determined to not let evil win.
Lies and misinformation are real. As are monsters. As is evil. All very real threats to their country and to the world, whatever country we live in. And, in the face of this evil, courage and resilience are also very real. Kindness is real. Bare knuckling grit and resolve to get the job done are real.
Today as write, I remember the courage of those fighting for their survival in Ukraine. Sláva Ukrayíni!
Though January is still the end of the 'cool' season in Thailand it was much warmer than either Seattle or freezing snowy Krakow! In spite of the cold, I ventured out as much as I could to see a little bit of the city. I told my taxi driver when I arrived that I was literally clueless knowing nothing. Poland wasn't on my must get to list of places in the world. Medieval Krakow is Poland's second largest city (though it doesn't feel like a large city) and still Poland's cultural hub and significant tourist attraction. I did know it was the birthplace of Pope John Paul II and you can still pass by the house he live and I attended a beautiful but freezing concert in the 400 year old church his parents were married in. And of course Auschwitz is only about 30 miles away. Though life continues as normal, it is sobering to feel the weight of history pushing up against the reality that is happening across the border in Ukraine.
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