November slowly dips towards December and what kind of soldier’s mother would I be if I did not do one more Remembrance Day post? I cannot imagine what is going on in Ukraine. So much fear, hurt, loss. All women of the world have an incredible responsibility to pay attention to what is happening during this war on Ukraine. What happens to one can happen to any of us. Women remain the most victimized and impacted when there is war and all its horrible incidents of what happens, during war, to women. We are but a heartbeat of it ever happening to us. To borrow the phrase from Native American thought: The Honor of One is the Honor of all.
The women of Ukraine have no resources and no recourse, they are living in fear as the bombing takes place and the enemy soldiers run over their villages, towns and cities. Those not in the bombing and takeovers reside in fear of what is happening to their neighbors, their relatives, their people in the midst of the gruesome war. There are women who are racing towards the fight trying to help their sisters, mothers, grandmothers and children. There are women who have had to run for their lives, dragging what little they can, as women do, to keep food, possessions, and children to safety, or what they hope is safety.
Women of Ukraine bear the weight of war, who are delivering babies in the midst of horrible circumstances, being dug out from hospitals, from schools and buildings they thought were safe. There is no where safe when bombs are raining down on an area.
Women try to get to safety where there are ways to find food and care. Women are taking in orphaned children. There are women who are fostering other women’s children in safer areas.
Women are the spoils of war. They are raped, there is sexual violence of all kinds, pity the beauties as they are the first. When their towns are occupied, they men are killed and women, before they are killed are being violated. They are the spoils of war. They are nothing more than collateral of war. If the bombs did not get them, the soldiers did/do.
We, women of the world need to realize, in sorrow and horror that we feel powerless to do else but pray and send love and light to our sisters in war. We can do no more than give what we can to good and honest organizations that are going over to help. We need to support the men and women who are going over, as civilians to help. We have a close family friend who is going over for a second time to work with a medical team. He has left his wife, two daughter sand a new born son to go do what he can.
Governments take their cues from us, from those of us who have voices and use them. We have to speak up, to speak out, to protest and to do whatever we can, even write a post to remind our sisters we have sisters in grave danger.
Please keep the women in your prayers…send all you can in any way you can. Let them not die and experience the being spoils of the war without our notice.
If you can find ways to support them, in any way possible, please do. Do not become numb to the idea that there is a war in Ukraine and we are too far away to do much. There is much. Let us raise our voices in every way we can.
©Carol Desjarlais 11.27.22
