Our Ukrainians Visit a Farm

Recently I organised with a local farmer, Mme Marchoux, for some of 'our' Ukrainians to visit her family farm. She and her grand daughter Anna were there to welcome a dozen Ukrainian mums and kids and the goats and horses got more attention than they get most days. At the end of the visit we had the opportunity to buy some of the farm's cheese, as well as other local produce.

Anna was very excited to have visitors, especially as a couple of them go to the same school as she does. She loved showing everyone around and telling them about the farm. Earlier in the day she had run up to me in the market to give me a drawing she had done. She is a thoroughly engaging and charmingly sociable child. Her grandmother is justifiably proud of her, and I can tell that Anna will look back on her upbringing on the farm, with unlimited access to her doting grandmother and all the animals, and remember how lucky she is.

'Our' Ukrainians are all city slickers, from Kiev and Mykolaiv mostly, but they all love animals and really value getting out into the countryside.

 Anastacia, Milana and Valeria make friends with the Percherons.

Photo courtesy of Olena Kirpa.

Me with the albino riding hack.

Photo courtesy of Olena Kirpa.

Alicia, Maria, Anastacia, Milana and Valeria, with Vita, meet the dairy goats.

Photo courtesy of Olena Kirpa.

Anastacia patting 'her' goat, which she did her best to convince Olena to allow her to take home. The goat definitely liked the attention though, and rushed from one end of the pen to the other to make sure it got petted as we moved around the shed.

Alicia and Maria, with Vita, feeding the goats.

Alicia feeding a goat.

Two of the girls, Anastacia and Milana, got brave and climbed in with the goats, with some encouragement from Anna.

 

Liudmyla with a Percheron. 

These big gentle horses are bred on the farm and used for carriage driving and agricultural events.

Liudmyla, who is a pastry chef and spoke French before she arrived here as a refugee, was very interested in the goats and cheese production and asked lots of questions about how they are managed.

Maria and Vita with the goats.

Anna showing Vita, Valeria, Inna, Alicia and Liudmyla how to feed the goats with hay grown on the farm.

Maria meets a nanny goat.

Many thanks to Mme Marchoux, and Anna, from Limouzin freres, a prize winning goats cheese producer at Le Petit Pressigny for hosting this visit.

This outing cost us nothing, but if you want to support the activities of the Association d'Acceuil et d'Accompagnement des Réfugiés en Sud Touraine (AARST) please send me a message and I can give you the bank account to make donations to. We help refugees who arrive in the Sud Touraine with their paperwork, medical visits, housing, employment and schooling, as well as the occasional social outing. Alternatively, if you live locally you can support 'our' Ukrainians by buying their baked goods and handmade goods when you see them at fairs and markets. The funds they raise go towards buying drones, generators, medical items and other things desperately needed back in Ukraine.